A new tavern restaurant is under development on Blackwood-Clementon Road in Gloucester Township, remodeling the former Favorites Off-Track Betting parlor into a local casual spot.
About a year ago, the Favorites OTB facility closed after operator Penn National chose to shut down Freehold Raceway, which was the partnered location for the Blackwood site.
This is a large building on Blackwood-Clementon Road near College Drive/Laurel Road. Decades ago, this restaurant operated as a classic diner called the Diamond Diner, and for several years afterwards it became The Stone Grill—where a hot stone was delivered to your table so you could cook your own steak!
The building also has a large downstairs level which, while I’ve never visited, I understand operated as a nightclub for many of those years.
Going back to The Stone Grill era, the property also features a really nice patio and bar area at the rear of the building. Another signature aspect was inside restaurant the space featured a massive oval bar!
While this building was most recently operated by Penn National Gaming as Favorites, the property ownership has not changed over the decades. Today, those owners operate dozens of restaurants and catering facilities across the Delaware Valley region. I’ve been speaking with them over the last several months specifically about the Favorites project, and they had only been saying it was available for lease and seeking a new operator.
That being said, in August I noticed a new HVAC system had been installed—an unusual upgrade for a vacant building supposedly up for lease. It was an early sign that something was planned.
In recent weeks things have moved into high gear. Last week, I noticed the entire interior of the building had been gutted and stacked in piles behind the property, awaiting removal to the landfill. And now this week, numerous vehicles, dumpsters, and plumbing contractors are on site.
Clearly a decision has been made for the Blackwood property. A new restaurant, perhaps?
The answer was confirmed when the property owners’ corporate website—where they list all of their restaurants and catering halls—was updated to include:
The Flying Pig Tavern & Tap
The Flying Pig Tavern & Tap is a locally owned restaurant brand with four locations currently open in New Jersey (Bordentown and Riverside) and Pennsylvania (Bethlehem and Limerick), with new locations coming soon to Bensalem, PA and… Blackwood, NJ!
The offer a casual dining menu with a large selection of beers. A perfect place for a casual diner, catch the latest sports action, or just a could beer with friends.
The most recent Flying Pig location to open was in Riverside NJ. The restaurant and catering company purchased The Madison on Lafayette Street, which included a closed tavern. They converted that tavern into a Flying Pig. I’ve been meaning to check it out since they opened several months ago but haven’t made the visit yet.
If you’re unfamiliar with the Flying Pig, they’re in the same casual-dining category as P.J. Whelihan’s and Ott’s.
The Flying Pig says they’re “mixing up some seriously tasty food with a laid-back vibe.”
A 2022 article at Community News covered the then opening of The Flying Pig Tavern in Bordentown. Principal owner Tim Kalavruzos remembers when as a teenager he would help out his father’s restaurant “Town and Country Diner”… and while Tim has branched out into other businesses and careers, restaurants and catering have always been a big part of his life.
Tim and his partners own a variety of well-known catering halls and restaurants including; the all new Olga’s Diner in Marlton, The Colonial Diner in Woodbury, The Mansion on Main Street Wedding Event Hall in Voorhees and Lucien’s Manor Wedding Event Hall in Berlin
The article at Community News states that as we all headed into the 2020 Pandemic, the company had a large focus on the catering halls and with those events shutdown for a while, the decided it would be a smart move to diversify with more restaurant options… which lead to multiple Flying Pig Tavern locations, as well as more recent acquisitions such as The Hollywood Cafe and Geets Diner.
For the Flying Pig Tavern restaurants, looking at the Riverside menu I can see sections featuring pizza, Mexican-style street tacos, sandwiches, burgers, and larger entrée plates. Of course, there’s a full selection of appetizers, salads, soups, and sides.
Pizza seems to be a highlight, with 12-inch thin and crispy pies.
Sandwiches cover the full range, including a buttermilk fried chicken sandwich, a pulled pork sandwich, and of course a New York sirloin cheesesteak with Cooper American cheese.
Their burgers come in eight varieties, including a Trenton Burger—yes, pork roll and American cheese with a sunny-side-up egg—served on a delicious “never frozen” patty made from Angus chuck, brisket, and sirloin.
The larger entrée plates include 10 different options such as fajitas, chicken parm, brick-oven cedar plank salmon, and a 12-ounce Angus sirloin.
Of course, these menu items are from the Riverside location, so we don’t yet know the full plan for the Blackwood restaurant. But I do know the Blackwood building is larger, with a bigger restaurant and bar area, a full outdoor bar, and a very large downstairs level.
One thing I’d love to see is live music. I don’t know whether that’s in the plans, but recently it feels like we’ve been losing some live-performance venues in the Camden and Gloucester County areas. One can only hope that the Flying Pig in Blackwood brings that back.
Links and Location
The Flying Pig Tavern & Tap – Coming Soon (former Favorites)
1300 Blackwood Clementon Road,
Clementon (Gloucester Twp), NJ 08021
The Flying Pig Riverside
The Flying Pig Bordentown
