Earlier this summer the Woodstown Pub Off Main opened at the rear of the popular Woodstown Diner in Salem County. A local Philadelphia Television personality is behind it’s rebirth!
The diner’s bar area was mostly unused for over nine years, and local Fox 29 personality Thomas Drayton partnered with diner owner Mehmet Onal to upgrade the bar area, reopen it… creating a destination spot for locals and beyond.
I stopped in last week to meet up with Thomas and his bar manager Sherry who gave me the details on the reopening of the bar, the success it’s already having and their exciting plans for the fall season.
Woodstown Pub Off Main is a true pub experience which is perfectly suited for a casual drink at the beautiful bar, dinner with friends, or watching the latest sports events.
As I was there the Pub team was in the process of adding additional televisions ahead of the upcoming football season. I’m hearing rumors of a .50 Eagles Game wing special!? What?!
Thomas tells me additional upgrades are coming very soon to the extended bar dining space… paint and décor upgrades which will further connect the Pub’s dedicated dining space with the main bar area.
Even with reopening during what is traditionally a slower summertime bar season for the industry, Thomas and Sherry have connected with the community in creating a vibrant bar experience by offering amazing pub food, innovative drinks and fun events… and gaining a large following.
Scheduled Bingo and Country Line Dancing events are two of the most popular at Woodstown Pub Off Main. Thomas tells me the Bingo dates are so popular they’ve had to extend further into the diner seating space.
Well, when you have local celebrities like Thomas and Bob Kelly of Kelly Drives calling the bingo numbers, it adds a lot to the excitement! (Bob Kelly will be calling the numbers Sunday 8/25 at 2pm!)
My visits started late afternoon during the week and by the time I left… A vibrant happy hour crowd was filling-in the bar area.
Woodstown Diner / Woodstown Pub Off Main
If you’re unfamiliar with the Woodstown Diner, it opened back in 1956 and is a larger extended building wrapped around a three story house (which can still be seen extending over top of the property).
The classic diner’s entrance is at the front of the property. Inside, the diner carries the same historic charm that Woodstown is known for. I stopped back yesterday for a delicious bagel breakfast sandwich which was extra stacked!
While the diner has changed hands a few times over the years, many employees have remained loyal. Diner cook Gus has been at Woodstown for 52 years. Others have started at 16 and worked until 70!
The exciting news for 2024 though is the reopening of the bar in the back of the diner.
The Woodstown Pub Off Main is situated at the back of the diner but is positioned so it can function almost like a separate establishment. It even has it’s own direct entry from the parking lot.
It’s a smart setup because there’s also doors which can separate the full pub and dedicated seating area from the rest of the more traditional Woodstown Diner. Patrons sitting at the bar watching an Eagles game can get excited over the game winning touchdown, without disturbing the Woodstown Diner customers in the front who are looking for a quieter dinner experience.
The large dedicated space is split into two sections with one portion being the core bar area, which has a center divider wall of glass doors which connect it to the extended dining seating area.
It’s an interesting story to the rebirth of the pub.
Thomas tells me that the bar had been unused for so long (9 years) that many loyal diner customers didn’t even realize there was a bar there in the building!
He says his own involvement with reopening the bar stems from a visit to the Woodstown Diner for a Fox 29… Eagles season opener promotion with Bob Kelly. Being an inquisitive guy in the news industry, Thomas started asking questions about the bar status…
A quick joke about Thomas reopening the bar, soon led to real plans for the two gentlemen to partner together to fully reopen the bar space.
Thomas lives in Gloucester County and had been become friends with a local bartender named Sherry. Sherry joined on with the team, and it all led to plans to reopen the bar as Woodstown Pub Off Main.
An interesting twist to this is Sherry tells me she started her bartending career in the exact same Woodstown bar!
Years ago the bar was called Theo’s and she says that in the 90s and longer, Theo’s at the Woodstown Diner was a very popular spot offering a full tavern experience. She shared with me several stories of just how crowded the bar used to get during the “heyday” of the South Jersey bar scene, with people driving in from all parts of South Jersey.
During my breakfast visit, diner manager Kathy pointed me to a 1990s era commercial for Theo’s which had been posted to YouTube! True 1990s vibes with that commercial lead actor!
As mentioned, Woodstown Pub Off Main is already seeing amazing success but they’re gearing up for a busy fall and winter season.
Bingo it will be scheduled for every week including a special holiday bingo events. Karaoke and trivia nights are scheduled and they look to be adding evening bingo also.
The signature cocktail menu will continue to evolve and Bloody Mary’s are already wowing customers.
And just like the diner, the Woodstown Pub Off Main is open seven days a week.
Links and Location
Woodstown Pub Off Main (at the Woodstown Diner)
16 East Ave
Woodstown, NJ 08098