Ponzio's is back... as the new Metro Diner

Our old family friend Ponzio's Diner in Brooklawn has officially reopened as the Metro Diner after being closed several weeks for remodeling. Continue on to read about my visit... with a few pics! I only used a flash on one pic... so they are a little darker than actual.
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Who can count the number of times we’ve celebrated baptisms, first communions, graduations, anniversaries, and more with a delicious dinner or breakfast at Ponzio’s Diner? But let’s be honest, over the last few years the old girl wasn’t looking as fresh as she used to. But now after a short break, she returns looking years younger, waiting to welcome you home again.

Just a few days ago Ponzios reopened as The Metro diner. The new owners are bringing a fresh start, hoping to win back the generations of diners that had sort’ve forgotten the Brooklawn landmark and moved on to other restaurants over the years.

While driving home from work today I noticed the parking lot wasn't empty, the lights were on, and our old friend was back in business looking better than ever.

My mind was made up that we had to try out the Metro Diner, and my plans came together when I got home and realized we didn’t take out anything to cook for dinner. So an hour later my wife and I were on our way to the new Metro diner.

If you live in the area you’ve already noticed the construction taking place to replace the front entrance of the restaurant. The old entrance seemed dark and uninviting from the outside. Approaching the old Ponzios entrance one would think it was more suited to be Doctor Evil’s diabolical compound in the next Austin Powers movie, than a diner! Even when entering beyond the front doors, the marble steps with the large cracks and chips missing made me think I was Indiana Jones entering the Temple of Doom to steal the golden treasure before the place fell apart!

Well the new Metro Diner brings a whole new facade which trades it’s dark 70s science fiction theme for an inviting and brightly lit movie marquee entrance that would fit right in on Broadway. The bright sign above the entrance clearly lets the patrons know that they are welcomed here.

While it may simply read “Metro Diner”, what it’s really saying is “We are HERE! We are open! Really, you can come on in!”

After the remodel, the steps up to the main level are on the outside, and the interior area that housed the old marble steps and tropical garden is raised to the restaurant level providing a warmer and smoother transition into the restaurant. The new space provides additional seating area for those waiting to eat. The entire entrance is open, well lit, and inviting.


Even before you’ve entered the restaurant, clear glass actually lets you see inside, and you’ll immediately notice the glass display case loaded with delicious baked goods and desserts reminding you to save room for dessert. Before you’ve even had a chance to take your coat off!



The small bar area off to the right has new light colored floors, and the bar itself, while I don’t know exactly what they did, looks more inviting and brighter also. Previously it gave customers a feeling that they don’t really want you to sit there, with its dark wood and low lighting. Now you just want to walk over and check it out, fully expecting to see Sam Malone behind the bar.



Admittedly, while I had been to Ponzio’s right before the remodel, it was one of only a few trips I had made recently so I hadn’t really paid much attention to the old style. But it’s easy to see that the lighter, brighter and friendlier theme continues into the dining areas. Everything seems to be repainted, in fact I think every surface was upgraded, including carpets and seating.

The main front dining room seemed to have a hint of a south-west color scheme (I'm not a designer so give me a LOT of slack on this), while from what I could see, the back dining room appeared to have a more pastel beach theme. Two wide screen televisions are located in the main dining area, and there may be more elsewhere.



Despite the many cars I saw earlier in the parking lot, it was now almost 7:30 and things were quieting down a little. (I think they just opened 2 days ago, so they probably haven't had a chance to advertise). They sat us immediately and our waitress quickly arrived, telling us with a smile it was her second day as a waitress. Luckily, I prefer a server who tries hard with a smile over someone who is a flawless server but shows with their stone cold face that they don’t want to be there. I wish I remembered her name, because even though it was her second day in her new job, she was very prompt, courteous… and she smiled!

The menus are new and it seems they’re trying to come up with some things to differentiate themselves from the numerous diners in the area. The burgers are featured on one page… half pounders, and they also offer vegetarian and buffalo meat burgers. A small chart shows the health benefits of giving buffalo burgers a try. Like all diners they have the traditional daily menu, but the Metro also provides a monthly specials page which included approximately a dozen creative items covering chicken, fish, steak and pasta.

On the monthly special menu (and maybe with other items) they also include a small shrimp cocktail, presumably another item to differentiate themselves from the competition. While it was only two shrimp, it was a welcomed and tasty addition.

I chose the Filet Mignon Medallions with mixed vegetables, baked potato and a salad. My wife ate light and chose a BLT sandwich with a cup of Chicken Orzo soup. Now you can’t honestly expect this every time you go, but I’m not kidding when I tell you that we were served our meal within minutes. The Filet Mignon Medallions were cooked very tender, the gravy was delicious, and the mix vegetables must have been delicious because my wife ate most of them from my plate. She also thought her soup was very good and mentioned she was going to get some for the road… but somehow it slipped our minds as we headed out.



Pricing seemed very reasonable and in line with other area diners. Actually, I wish I had put more focus into looking at the prices, but I know that as I looked through the monthly specials and other items, nothing hit me with sticker shock, and I did comment "hmmm... this looks reasonable".

Over the last few years, honestly we’ve been driving into Woodbury to go to the Colonial Diner (we love their French Onion soup) or the Brooklawn Diner on the circle. Actually we hit ALL the area diners regularly except for the former Ponzios! But I look forward to heading to the Metro Diner again and trying out a variety of their entrees and breakfast items, and possibly it works its way into "heavy rotation" on the Matthews family diner set-list.

And who knows… my daughter graduates from High School next year, and maybe its also time to restart the old tradition of bringing the important family celebrations to Ponzio’s… err… umm…I mean…the new Metro Diner.




Also:

The Metro Diner owners also own the Oregon Diner in Philadelphia
http://oregondinerphilly.com/Welcome.html

Metro Diner Construction
http://blog.markmatthews.com/2009/09/ponzios-brooklawn-major-remodel.html

The Metro Diner
RT 130 & Browning Rd.
Brooklawn NJ 08030

Mark is a Twit: Bellmawr Twitter

Mark and his Bellmawr thoughts are now on Twitter. Its an experiment, and we'll see how it goes.

Why?
My blogs tend to turn into mini-novels, which is the primary reason I haven't been posting lately. Sometimes its tough to allocate the time! But if you are lucky (unlucky!) enough to be a Facebook friend of mine you know that when I am not at work, I am short-status-posting fiend, sometimes posting multiple times a day.

So I've decided to bring my Bellmawr items, and my proficiency for short statuses, together... by starting a Twitter feed focused on my random thoughts of Bellmawr and its surrounding communities (and whatever else I think fits the category).

Straight to the point, my Twitter username is CrescentMark... and the full URL is http://www.twitter.com/CrescentMark (BellMark was already taken)

Note: A few Bellmawr tweets from today are at the bottom of this blog post. But keep reading the full article if you want to know more about Twitter.

Blog
But what about the blog? My tweets should fit nicely with the blog, in that once a week or so I'll take the separate tweets and put them together into a blog. Maybe I'll add extra comments or pics, and other times just simply copy my tweets.

Tweet, Twitter, Twits. What the heck ya talking about?
At this point, everyone has heard of Twitter. Its supposed to be the greatest thing since sliced bread. But for those that don't know, what exactly is it?

Simply, it allows users to send short 140 character messages out to the world. The posts could be statuses, clever sayings, "what I am doing now"... anything. People can read these messages by going to the user's twitter page, or if you create your own Twitter account you can "follow" someone... basically subscribing to a user's Twitter feed and their posts will be available to you immediately.

There are multiple ways to both post to, or read the feeds... either on the web site, downloading a Twitter reader, email updates, or even mobile applications. I've added a Twitter area here at my blog which will display my most recent posts.

As I mentioned, my twitter site is http://www.twitter.com/CrescentMark.
You can read my statuses here at anytime, or if you have a twitter account (free) you can "follow" me. Plus it seems that everyone is posting on Twitter, and is the hot thing with celebrities right now giving you an opportunity to follow them in their real lives.

And by the way, twitter refers to the full posting system. The company. A "tweet" is the short status message.

There ya go. All the hub-bub over twitter and how it is revolutionizing the internet... and its nothing more than short status messages. tweets.

Photos and Comments:
Twitter itself does not even support photos or comments. But several clever software developers have come up with ways to connect posted photos to the twitter posts. Within my twitter statuses you may see short links which will take you to the photo page. The links are short and encrypted so they do not take up too much of the 140 characters.

It also appears that the twitter photo service I am using offers comment support. We'll see how that works out.

My First Bellmawr area Tweets
Here are my tweets for today.
Keep an eye on my twitter page, here at the blog... or to really keep up with my feed, simply create a twitter account and "follow" me.

The Brooklawn Metro Diner's remodeling is moving along fast ( Ponzios)

Harcourt Book Distribution, Bellmawr's largest building, is available and rumored to go dark Oct 31.
New Business! Zumba Fitness is coming to Browning Square Shop Center. A good combo for Retro-Fitness.
Runnemede's new Phily Sport Bar is an awesome place to catch a game. Try the Cedar Plank Salmon.

Tuscan Steak. Phily Sports Bar.

Ponzios Brooklawn : Major Remodel Underway!

The new owners of Ponzios Brooklawn are wasting no time "Making it their own" as a large remodeling effort is underway only months after purchasing the location.

The entrance-way to the restaurant is a main focus, and demolition work has already started. Because of the work the restaurant is currently closed.

An article posted just a month ago on Cleary's site describes Brooklawn council members welcoming the new owners, and approving the liquor license transfer.

Additionally, the article describes that the new owners also own the Oregon diner in Philadelphia.

My wife and I were just in Ponzios a week ago, and noticed a depiction of the new facade hanging behind the register. We were discussing how at one time Ponzios was ultra-modern... and its great to see the place get a big facelift!

I sure wont miss those steps on the way in... the were looking pretty shaky lately!

The following pictures were taken on Labor Day.

"Under New Management" Banner

For a look at the new owner's other restaurant, the Oregon Diner.... check out their website.

And if you are feeling nostalgic for the Ponzios experience while the Brooklawn restaurant is being remodeled, you can take a short drive out to Rt 41 in Deptford and have a meal in the ORIGINAL Ponzio's diner building. That's right... the old timers may remember this, but when the current restaurant was built in the 70s, the original diner was moved to Deptford and is still open as the Freeway Diner! It too was remodeled from its original stainless steel shell... but its under that fancier finish.

Bellmawr: No Mouse in the House.

Through my web-logs, I can see people are coming to my blog looking for information on a rumored Disney project... so I post this to point people to the information they are looking for.

On June 10th, 2009, the Philadelphia Inquirer posted the following article on their website:
Click: Fantasyland: Word of new Disney park in S. Jersey

"Contrary to a widely circulating gag, Disney is NOT eyeing Bellmawr, N.J., for a new historical theme park called Disney's America.

No truth to it, said two Bellmawr Borough Hall staffers."

The only Mouse and Duck to be found in Bellmawr, will be the wildlife along the river banks of the Big Timber Creek.

Brooklawn Memorial Day Ceremonies

When I was a young kid in the early 70s, my father would take my brother and I over to Brooklawn on Memorial Day to join others in honoring those who have fought for our country.

I'm not going to lie, being young kids... seeing the 21 gun salute, and getting the free sodas and hot-dogs at the American Legion was a nice bonus!

Well, its 40 yrs later, and I still try to head over to Brooklawn each Memorial Day to pay respect to our great soldiers, including my father. And I too have brought my children over on Memorial Day.

Next week, Memorial Day Monday, Brooklawn and the American Legion will again be honoring our heros; those who called Brooklawn home, and all of America's heros. The ceremonies begin at 10:00am at the Memorial Park on South Hannevig Ave.

Below are a few pics from the 2008 ceremonies.
Click here for a gallery of 17 images.

Fundraisers: Bellmawr Park Fire & Police PBA

Just recieved the official Bellmawr Park Fire 2009 Fund Drive letter today. I also think the Bellmawr Police PBA fund drive came in this week also.

I'll be writing checks and sending them on thier way this weekend.

Keep an eye out for them. Times are tough for all, but try to support the people and organizations that are protecting us and our homes.

BellmawrWaterfront Property: Its BIGGER than you've imagined

When hearing about the current proposal for the Bellmawr Landfill redevelopment that includes a Comcast Spectrum, and a mega Bass Pro Shops... and shopping.... AND FOUR Hotels.... Several have asked, "How do they expect to fit that all in there?"

Simply, the property is much larger than you've imagined. The positioning of the roads, and the fact that most have not been on the property, creates an illusion that the property is smaller than it seems.

With the Eagles heading into the surprise playoff game Sunday... look at that stadium's size on TV and think "would that fit into the landfill?". Well it does. And so does Citizens Bank Park. And Wachovia Center. And the Spectrum. Oh, and for the culture minded, even the Art Museum.

ALL AT THE SAME TIME. The redevelopment property is that big.

To help get the message across to people, I am using satellite images from Google Maps, and superimposing familiar structures onto the landfill image using graphics software. All images are on the same basic template with the landfill area shaded green, and the small industrial area at the Rt 42 entrance shaded yellow.

The images placed into the landfill image are the exact same size relative to the landdfill. Meaning if the Lincoln Financial Football stadium were built in the land fill it would take up that exact amout of land area as presented in my image.

Disclaimer: Let's be clear here folks. These are not plans. There is no talk. It is a FICTIONAL depictions that I put together to help people understand how large the property is. I don't layout roads or take into consideration the individual details of the property. Also, I am not personally saying we jam as much as we can in there. Its just to give an understanding of the size of the property.

The Layout Illusion:
Because of the unique positioning of the property, wedged between Big Timber Creek, Rt 42 and Creek Rd... plus some shielding of trees and businesses... the everyday resident has only had a small glimpse of this property. We never get to see it from behind and prior to the trees being cleared on Rt 42 and the elevation, we couldn't see much from the Rt 42 side. Even Creek Road only offered a small glimpse into the property.

Image1: Click for larger image view

Image1 above shows the redevelopment property with key features identified to help you understand its positioning. Bellmawr Lake, WIP towers, Creek Rd, and the Environmental Center Building in the upper left. Rt 42 is off to the right (I also labeled where the recently placed tractor-trailer billboard sits approximately).

If Image1 were larger, Deptford and the Deptford Mall would be past the bottom of the image.

I added additional shading to this one image to help clarify why most never really knew how big this property is.

The Red Shading:
One key aspect that hides the true size of the property, is that when approaching the bend on Creek Rd (as kid's we called it "Dead Mans Curve") where the Ecological Center building is, most people think the land fill starts there and only moves out towards Rt 42.

Actually... the property continues down Rt 295 south, far past the building.

The RED shaded area indicates this portion of the property. Driving on Creek we can see a few mounds of dirt, but most never knew there was a large composting field beyond those few mounds

How big is this one section? Big enough that the Deptford Mall building could fit into that hidden spot. And you never even knew that land was there.

The Blue Shading:
I added the Blue shading in Image1 to indicate my rough guess of what most people have seen of the landfill over the last 30 years. You drive around Creek Road or stop at the Ecological Center, never having a need to go much further into the property. Probably less than a third of the property was readily visible to the average passerby.

Isolation, plus the shifted elevations of the property, makes the property seem much smaller than it really is.

So now on to a few visual representations to bring the point home!

Schools and Fields:
We've all driven kids to the schools and fields in town, or just driven by them... or maybe we even attended the schools?! How do those large buildings and properties fit into the landfill? I think this first one will quickly start to make things clear for Bellmawr residents, but there are more depictions so keep reading!

Image2 - Click for Larger Image

I started with this image just placing the school buildings in, and quickly realized they were LOST in the size of the landfill. So I decided to include the surrounding property.

• Lark School (Crescent Park): The entire school building, parking AND the very large Sauter Park
• Burke School: Including play grounds and parking
• Bellmawr Park School: School, grounds and ALL of the Baseball fields in that area.
• Bell Oaks School: School, grounds.
• TRITON regional: The entire Triton High School complex. The school, the expanded athletic fields. Everything. It is BIG!
• Rec Center: And with space to spare, I was able to place the Bellmawr Recreation center. All fields, parking and the playground!

Honestly.... would you have guessed all of this would fit in the Landfill property?

Malls
Deptford Mall has been a top shopping destination for Bellmawr residents since the day it opened over 30 years ago. We've all gotten worn out from walking the distance of the Mall's two levels. While not a huge mall, it definitely is big.

Where would it fit? Well remember that hidden area I described earlier (red shaded)? The Deptford Mall building would fit into that spot!

Image3: Malls
Click for a larger image

Image3 shows not only does the Deptford Mall building fit into the Bellmawr Waterfront property, but so do the Moorestown and Cherry Hill Malls!

Could you survive a day of holiday shopping just walking the inside of the three malls? Imagine them all in one place!

Super Walmarts:
You can't talk shopping, withoug mentioning Walmarts. They are popping up all over the place, and we will soon be surrounded with Walmarts and Super Walmarts. I actually have a blog started about just that, and hopefully will finish soon.

So the Super Walmarts are the BIG Walmarts that are both Walmart Stores and Supermarkets. Audubon is a Walmart. Deptford just opened a new Super Walmart.

The Super Walmarts are monstrous. It looks like a shopping center all by itself. If you haven't been to the Deptford Super Walmart, you have to check it out.And a Super Walmart needs a ton of parking.

So how many Super Walmarts, with Super Parking lots, would fit into the Bellmawr Landfill?

Image4 - Super Walmarts

Image4 is a depiction of the Deptford Super Walmart and parking placed into the Bellmawr property.

FIVE fit. Very comfortably. With Parking. You could easily see there is plenty of room for parking and other small stores.

Disney Magic!?
Remember the rumors years ago of a Disney Park being built in the Philadelphia/NJ area? Or there was the failed attempt to build a DisneyQuest complex at 8th and Market. How about a little Disney Magic for the landfill?

Image7: Magic Kingdom
Click for Larger Image

Simply, the Bellmawr Landfill is 120 acres. Disney's Magic Kingdom is 100 acres. Now the Magic Kingdom is round and doesn't fit cleanly into the landfill's kidney bean shape, but it does give the idea of size.

Remember wearing your feet down at the Magic Kingdom after pushing kids all day around the park? It seemed like the place would never end. Tommorrowland, FantasyLand...

.... and SPACE MOUNTAIN! The Space Mountain building alone is HUGE!

And it would all fit within the Bellmawr Waterfront project.

Stadiums
Now to my opening blog "teaser" comments... the stadiums. As was reported by me (first!), the developer is proposing that Bellmawr be considered as a location for the new Comcast Spectrum. Initial thoughts are "A Bass pro shops, and now an Arena? Where does all that fit?"

We've all been to a game or show at the Philadelphia sports complex at least once in our lives. They are BIG facilities. The Eagles are playing today, in a VERY large football stadium. Keep this in mind as you watch it on Television.

So how do the Stadiums match up to the land fill?

Image 6: Stadiums
Click for larger image

Well how about this... not only does the Lincoln Financial Field stadium fit.
So does Citizen Bank Park.
And Wachovia Center.
And Wachovia Spectrum.
AND, there is still space for the Art Museum, for those who are more culturally inclined!

There's actually enough land left between the stadiums to work in parking if the placements were shifted a bit.

Since I am laying out a grouping of amazing event showplaces, I wondered what would really set off the layout and attract people for miles?

Well.. up in the yellow section I placed the entire Liberty Island, with the Statue of Liberty! Imagine the Statue of Liberty welcoming people as they cross through the Gateway of South Jersey!

Calm down.. its all in good fun, and to prove a point. :-)

Now do you understand how big this property is?

Does it help understand, that with all the roads passing by, and a mostly untouched stream suitable for recreation, that this property is getting the attention it is?

And do you understand why... "Where we're going, we need roads!"

More Land?
A few quick points... I have to keep it quick as I am tired of typing!

First... I indicated the yellow section, as it is currently occuppied land, mostly for commercial and industrial buildings. This road will become a key entrance-way into the new project. This area is somethingto keep an eye on over the years, as I believe that if the Redevelopment happens these properties could quickly change as their value increases when used for other purposes. Who knows, in 10 years this could be a small commercial building district or high-end small stores. That is just me speculating.

Second... Across the Creek in Deptford is an even larger parcel of undeveloped land. I don't know much about it. I don't know who owns it. Almonesson Road cuts right through it and I've seen some of the land from the road. The also have a small dock in the Creek.

This last image is at a higher elevation to include that property. The "across the creek" properties are marked in blue. Pure guess on size, but if the Bellmawr landfill property is 120 acres, then the connected properties across the Creek have to be another 250 acres.

Pure speculation, but who knows... if the Bellmawr project is very successfull would it be worthwhile many years down the road for someone to build a bridge across the creek to connect the properties?

Click for Larger Image