Several cafe news items! Woodbury Station Cafe has reopened, Chompsky’s Café in Wenonah announces their last day being open is Friday September 1st, and Riverton’s Revive Café expects an October reopening.
And of course in the true 42Freeway style.. I’ve visited all three of these locations in the last few days!
Interestingly all three of these cafes have some connection to the local railroads!
The Woodbury Station Cafe is literally operating within the 140 year old Woodbury train station. Chompsky’s is directly across the street from the 153 year old Wenonah train station, and the Revive Cafe in Riverton is along the Riverline tracks, with the Riverton Riverline Station basically across the street.
Woodbury Station Cafe – Reopened!
Woodbury Station Cafe is located on Cooper Street in Woodbury directly along the railroad tracks.
The cafe building itself is a historic train station stop which was originally built in 1883!
Woodbury Station Cafe has been operating out of the building for several years, and to the surprise of its huge fan base… earlier this year they abruptly closed without really any information to the public.
It left their many fans wondering why they closed, and if they were going to reopen!
Well it seems the operators of the Woodbury Station Cafe were not done with surprises… because earlier this week the beloved cafe reopened!
The unofficial story about the closing is that first there was a small amount of damage sustained to one of the front patio columns (car) which needed to be repaired.
Additionally the operators also own Westville’s popular Speranza Café and Gia Nina’s Pizza in Woodbury… and they wanted to make some changes with the Woodbury Station Cafe management which would streamline operations at all three of the businesses.
So granddaughter Johnna (who it seems worked at Gia Nina’s), is now the manager at the Woodbury Station Café!
While they were shut down over the summer they did some refreshing of the property, including a fresh interior paint.
I stopped in a few days ago for a late breakfast and had a delicious “Patricia Clair” breakfast from their extraordinary-items section.
It consists of grilled potato pancakes, two “dippy” eggs and sausage gravy.
I thought I was goin to go with a breakfast sandwich… but when I saw the Patricia Clair breakfast had sausage gravy, well I really wanted to give it a try!
Woodbury Station was not skimpy with their portion of the sausage gravy which filled in the the spaces in the plate around the potato pancakes. The gravy has chunks of sausages in it, and blended perfectly with the grilled potato cakes.
What started as a plate filled with pototo pancakes, eggs and sausage gravy… was completely empty when I left!
I also had coffee and fresh squeezed grapefruit juice.
While word is just getting out about the reopening and they haven’t updated their Facebook page… for my late morning weekday visit it they had a somewhat packed house seated inside, as well as customers in outdoor seating arears in the front porch area and in the back along the railroad tracks.
And now that the news is on 42Freeway we can expect things to get even busier! Ha!
But keep in mind they are not open on Mondays, and are a breakfast brunch cafe opening at 8:00 AM and closing at 3:00 PM
While they are not updating the Cafe’s Facebook page, the operator is updating her Facebook page with public updates. They are even taking reservations for private events and holiday parties. (Facebook)
Chompsky’s Wenonah – Last Day September 1st
Another cafe surprise took place in the last week when Wenonah’s Chompsky’s Cafe announced that Friday September 1st is their last day operating
They are located at the corner of Mantua Ave. and East Ave in Wenonah, which is located directly across the street from the beautifully maintained Wenonah train station.
Chompsky’s made the announcement at their Facebook page with a meme from Forrest Gump, with an image caption “I’m Pretty Tired”
The accompanying Facebook text says that they have been operating in Wenonah for as long as Forrest Gump ran across America, before he decided he was “pretty tired” and then abruptly decided to move on.
The Facebook post also says that others are already interested in taking over the space, and they ask that customers follow along at the Chompsky’s Facebook page for future updates.
Chompsky’s is still honoring their gift cards while open, and informed customers they have until Friday to use them.
I stopped in at Chompsky’s the same day as I visited Woodbury Station Cafe. I am definitely sad to see Chompsky’s closing, and also disappointed in myself that this was my first visit!
Similar to my experience at Woodbury Station Café, for a midweek late morning visit I was surprised how many customers were at Chompsky’s enjoying delicious drinks and food on the outside front patio, as well as inside the small cafe and restaurant.
I had already had breakfast at my earlier stop in Woodbury, so for Chompsky’s I tried one of their lemonade teas… blueberry lemonade as a matter of fact. It was deliciously flavorful, sweet with hints of lemon tarty goodness.
Their website says they are open every day from 7am to 1pm
Revive Café – Riverton
if you haven’t noticed I really get around South Jersey like no one else does… and earlier in the same week I was all the way out in northern Burlington County in the Riverton area!
During my visit I checked on the rebuilding progress taking place at the Revive Café.
Revive Cafe was operating in a cute small downtown area of Riverton at the corner of Broad and Main and gaining a large, loyal following.
Sadly, in May of 2022 a fire broke out in the unit above the Café, which caused significant damage to the first floor cafe… much of it from water damage related to the fire efforts.
Luckily it appears no one was hurt, and the local fire departments were able to save the core of the structure.
But it still left Revive in a position where they could not reopen unless a significant rebuilding effort took place.
After much community support and fundraising efforts over the year, they have started the process to rebuild and reopen the Revive Cafe.
They seem to be feeling confident with their October opening date, as a recent post at their Facebook page announced they are looking to hire an assistant manager for when they reopen!
We’ll be back to check them out around their opening date
Links and Locations
Woodbury Station Cafe
101 Cooper St
Woodbury, NJ 08096
856-384-6700
Chompsky’s Cafe – Wenonah
1 East Mantua Ave
Wenonah, NJ 08090
Revive Cafe – Riverton
531 Main Street
Riverton, NJ