Runnemede has several new restaurants “in play” all along Clements Bridge Road and we’re catching up on three of them in this post.
Capt’n Chucky’s Crab Cakes signage is already up although interior remodeling has not started, Cob Fathers Roasted Corn & BBQ announces they are at the final inspection stage before opening, and the Irish Hill Tavern has completed their upgrades with a new covered outdoor patio and more!
Scroll on down to read what we know about the new restaurants.
We’ll have more on these restaurants later, specifically as Cob Father’s and Capt’n Chuck’s Crab Cakes get closer to opening!
Capt’n Chucky’s Crab Cakes
Well this one snuck up on us! The signage is up already for a new location of Capt’n Chucky’s Crab Cakes, which is taking over the former Gerace Jewelers building at the point of W Clements Bridge Road and Evesham Road.
This is a prime location that sees a lot of traffic from cars traveling from the Deptford Mall retail area, and Route 42.
Capt’n Chucky’s Crab Cakes is a growing local empire of take-out crab cake and more restaurants, with 15 locations! Runnemede will be the 16th, but we don’t know if any others are planned.
They are based out of Newtown Square PA, and local to 42Freeway they have a location in Mullica Hill (at the Amish Farmers Market), as well as North Wildwood and Ocean City.
Crab Cakes!
Of course their signature item is crab cakes!
Smith Island Crab Cake: They use Colossal Jumbo Lump crab meet, spiced with a mild cream sauce… and no filler! This is an all meat crab cake! They do add a small amount of ingredients to bind the crab together, such as wheat, milk, soy and egg.
Rock Hall Crab Cake: A breaded variety which is lightly seasoned, folded in a buttery cream sauce, egg washed and breaded.
Imperial Breaded Jumbo Lump: All Jumbo Lump Crab Meat in a mild cream sauce. Lightly breaded.
The Captain’s Mega Colossal Crab Cake: Colossal Jumbo Lump Crab Meat, sweetened with Hellmann’s mayo, gently spiced, coated in unseasoned American bread crumbs, flashed browned to perfection.
They also offer Shrimp cakes, Lobster cakes, Stuffed shrimp, crab imperial and more!
Steamed shrimp are also on the menu!
Actually there is an really big selection of items for lunch, dinner or your holiday party.
The Crab Bowl is simply awesome, where they fill an Italian Pub loaf of Italian Bread with crab meat that has been folded into seasoned creamy cheese sauce!
King Crab Legs, Lobster Tails and more!
Plus they step outside of the seafood realm, and offer Talluto’s Pasta! All your favorite varieties from raviolis, capellini, tortellini and more!
I’m rambling on… check their online menu (Mullica Hill) for all of the delicious options.
Background
From their website (and internet searches) we see that they are owned by Nancy and Chuck Wojciehowski, who both grew up in Chester Pa.
They opened their first restaurant in the 70s, and had two restaurants running before they moved to Phoenix.
They opened five restaurants in Arizona, bringing the Philly tastes to the Southwest.
In 1987 they were back home in the Philly area and again running a full restaurant.
But in 2001 they decided to focus on some of their top selling recipes… featuring crab cakes.
As mentioned, when Runnemede opens they will have 16 locations and who knows if others are planned.
We did reach out to management last week but they were unavailable.
I will say… while the signage is up, the interior of the building is largely untouched. I did see some kitchen equipment sitting on the floor in one area, but it seems they have a ways to go.
We’ll post again on them when it gets closer to their opening
Cob Fathers Roasted Corn & BBQ
Cob Fathers is a new restaurant opening soon on Clements Bridge Road, featuring fresh Roasted Corn and BBQ!
We met up with Cob Fathers owner Michael back in August!
Mike is a super nice guy who was just a pleasure to talk to. At the time I had told my wife I was stepping out for 15 minutes to get a photo of the building… Mike was on site with his construction crew and we got chatting… and an hour later I am getting texts from the misses “Where are you?”
And then in classic Mark style, I didn’t get the post up… and then see that the Courier Post put theirs online recently. Ugh. Well go ahead, if you are a Courier subscriber you can read the Courier post also.
Well back in August it looked like Cob Fathers was opening just a few weeks later in early September so I thought I would wait a little.. but supply chain issues are tripping up every business, and while the building was mostly ready to go, Mike was in a holding pattern waiting for the last pieces of equipment to arrive.
But it looks like opening day is coming soon! In a Facebook post this week Mike says “Getting final building inspection this week, then waiting for board of health. Coming Soon!!”
The building is a small, cute, but cool looking spot on Clements Bridge Road (at Oakland) close to the Black Horse Pike, basically behind Phily Sports Bar and across from Rita’s Water Ice.
The building was a deli forever… Bridge and Vince’s were two of the names.
Mike and the team have done an amazing job remodeling and styling the building.
It’s tough to drive by and not notice the really cool exterior painting mural they have on the building!
it’s a smart way to advertise the building!
Plus Mike has been growing corn on the site. It’s not really making its way into their Roasted Corn, but Mike just thought it was another interesting way to advertise the business and grab the attention of the thousands of drivers buzzing by on Clements Bridge Road.
Cob Fathers Background
Well first.. he’ s local. REALLY local. Mike lives right in Runnemede and is so close to his restaurant he can practically fall out of bed and land at the counter in Cob Fathers!
And I know 42Freeway fans love to support the local guy!
The roasted corn aspect is an interesting one! A business model I hadn’t considered.
For years Cob Fathers has been a successful event truck food business, showing up at fairs and other events (like Cowtown Rodeo), roasting on site delicious corn-on-the-cob!
Mike says the roasted corn business has been very successful, and many times when he sets up its just a non-stop line of people waiting to purchase!
Mmmmmm I really can’t wait to try Cob Fathers Roasted Corn!
Wanting to take things to the next level, he started looking for a permanent location for his delicious roasted corn, but he felt the need to add more to the menu.
Cob Fathers will be offering pulled pork and pork ribs, chicken and brisket.
Sides will include coleslaw, potato salad, mac & cheese and more!
Seeing how people love the Cob Father’s Roasted Corn at the fairs, we only expect deliciously good things from Cob Fathers BBQ!
Irish Hill Tavern
We wrote about the Irish Hill Tavern on August 6th. Earlier this year they took over the bar previously known as “The Vault” and have been working on upgrades.
At the time of that last post, the signage was just going up and the outdoor covered patio construction was just being completed.
Well now all of the construction projects are completed, the TVs are setup outside… and it looks awesome!
Owner Ed Donohue is also a really nice, personable and easy to talk to guy. Earlier when I said I was late getting back home after telling my wife “I wanted to take a few photos”… well Ed and I had really good chat also!
I seem to know a bit about the local bar scene, and Ed and I chatted a long time about his history in South Jersey and the general bar scene.
Honestly, Runnemede is lucky to have two really awesome business owners join the town, with both Cob Fathers’ Mike, and the Irish Hill Tavern’s Ed.
If you don’t know the new owner Ed Donohue, he most recently was a partner in another newer Runnemede Bar and eatery, The Mile on the Black Horse Pike. Ed has parted ways from The Mile, and is putting all of his focus and effort into The Irish Hill Tavern!
Before that Donohue was the most active partner in Westmont’s former “The Irish Mile”.
Outdoor Patio
The most distinctive new feature for the property is very obvious as you pull into the lot.. on the right side Ed has added a new covered outdoor patio. I believe Ed said the patio adds 24 seats to the tavern.
We stopped in again this past weekend on a beautiful day and chatted with new customers sitting outside, getting ready to watch the Sunday NFL games on the covered patio.
The patio is ground level with the bar with a low wall surrounding. Covered roof to protect from the sun and elements, but still widely open to let the outdoor breezes in.
When you stop in to check out the Irish Hill Tavern and it’s outdoor patio, be sure to stop inside as Ed has move thins around… even though he has added more seating outdoors, he’s actually kept the overall number of seats at the same level.
Read more about the Irish Hill Tavern and Ed’s history in the South Jersey restaurant business in our prior August 6th post!
Links and Locations
Capt’n Chucky’s Crab Cake Co.
754 W Clements Bridge Rd
Runnemede, NJ 08078
Capt’n Chucky’s Facebook (This is the main Newtown Sq FB)
Cob Fathers Roasted Corn and BBQ
68 W. Clements Bridge Road
Runnemede NJ
856-312-8184
Cob Fathers Facebook
The Irish Hill Tavern
810 E Clements Bridge Road
Runnemede NJ 08078
856-219-3441