{"id":330,"date":"2013-07-15T06:23:17","date_gmt":"2013-07-15T06:23:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/?page_id=330"},"modified":"2013-10-25T06:29:57","modified_gmt":"2013-10-25T06:29:57","slug":"then-and-now-jims-drive-in-bar-grill","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/sample-page\/morgans-people-places\/places\/then-and-now-jims-drive-in-bar-grill\/","title":{"rendered":"Then and Now \u2013 Jim\u2019s Drive-In Bar &#038; Grill"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Morgan Memories \u2013 Then and Now \u2013 Jim\u2019s Drive-In Bar &amp; Grill<\/h3>\n<div id=\"attachment_329\" style=\"width: 941px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/contentdir\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Jims-ps-ps.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-329\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-329\" alt=\"Jim\u2019s Drive-In\" src=\"http:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/contentdir\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Jims-ps-ps.jpg\" width=\"931\" height=\"596\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/contentdir\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Jims-ps-ps.jpg 931w, https:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/contentdir\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Jims-ps-ps-300x192.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/contentdir\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Jims-ps-ps-624x399.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 931px) 100vw, 931px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-329\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jim\u2019s Drive-In, Morgan, NJ.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">At the southern end of the northern Morgan Avenue, between Haussling Place and the north bound lanes of Route 35, is a restaurant.\u00a0 There has been a restaurant on this site since at least the 1950\u2019s, if not long before that, and it is good to see that this is still a viable site for one.\u00a0 I can\u2019t name all of the restaurants which have occupied this building over the years but can for certain name the following:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Jim\u2019s Drive-In<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Spanish Riviera<\/span><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lamarinart35n.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">La Marina Restaurant<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">As a kid in early elementary school, I recall repeatedly riding my banana bike around the curved sidewalk of this building &#8211; as well as the smell of stale booze coming out of the trash bins in back of the restaurant. I also think I used to deliver \u201cThe News Tribune\u201d newspaper there but don\u2019t fully recall if really I did or not. There would have been no other reason for me actually going into the building as a kid otherwise. On the Jim\u2019s Drive-In picture post card, you can see the \u201cBar Grill\u201d signage over the top if the building.\u00a0 If you look closely at the to-be-reposted write-up regarding \u201cThe Magical Castle on Willow Street\u201d, you will see the back of this sign.\u00a0 What a relief it was to have found this picture post card as it resolved the mystery regarding that backward sign for me.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Just to the left of Jim\u2019s in this image used to be a tiny truck stop with an apartment on top which I first knew as Molly\u2019s.\u00a0 Later it became DeVito\u2019s.\u00a0 For a while, kids on this side of Route 35 used to wait inside Molly\u2019s during the winter time waiting for the bus to take us to Selover School and maybe even the Junior High School.\u00a0 I recall there was a pin ball machine and standing around the pool table endlessly hearing \u201cBye-Bye Miss American Pie\u201d played on the juke box or perhaps a radio.\u00a0 There was a small counter where truck drivers or commuters would have breakfast in the morning.\u00a0 I think when the DeVito\u2019s acquired the business, they built or expanded the second floor and lived there.\u00a0 Now there are no remains of this little place. If anyone has any photos of this building, please make a comment at the end of this posting so I can contact you.<\/p>\n<p>Interestingly enough, the first time I saw a tattoo was on Molly\u2019s son whose name I don\u2019t think I ever knew.\u00a0 It is considerably easier to see one these days.\u00a0 According to a recent Rutgers University survey, 19% of the 1000 registered New Jersey voters surveyed have one.<\/p>\n<p>The below picture shows what this building looks like today.\u00a0 Notice a gas station to the left of the restaurant. For many years this was Ed Ryan\u2019s Sunoco gas station. Now it is another brand.\u00a0 Finally, after all these years away from Morgan, I took the opportunity one night during a trip to Morgan in August 2012 to visit the La Marina Restaurant to have dinner.\u00a0 It was a very pleasant experience, the food was very good, the service very courteous and attentive, and I was greatly impressed on how beautifully the inside of the building has been finished.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_328\" style=\"width: 941px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/contentdir\/uploads\/2013\/07\/2011-0829-Morgan-Bay-N-133-ps.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-328\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-328\" alt=\"La Marina Restaurant\" src=\"http:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/contentdir\/uploads\/2013\/07\/2011-0829-Morgan-Bay-N-133-ps.jpg\" width=\"931\" height=\"634\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/contentdir\/uploads\/2013\/07\/2011-0829-Morgan-Bay-N-133-ps.jpg 931w, https:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/contentdir\/uploads\/2013\/07\/2011-0829-Morgan-Bay-N-133-ps-300x204.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/contentdir\/uploads\/2013\/07\/2011-0829-Morgan-Bay-N-133-ps-624x424.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 931px) 100vw, 931px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-328\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">La Marina Restaurant located at the intersection of Morgan Avenue and Route 35 in August 2011.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Something about the shape of the Jim\u2019s sign reminds me of Bozo the Clown or Chuckles, the clown toy in Toy Story 3.\u00a0 I only now realize the shape of the sign is the outline of a hamburger combined with an arrow pointing to the building.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i>Originally posted on September 3, 2012.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Morgan Memories \u2013 Then and Now \u2013 Jim\u2019s Drive-In Bar &amp; Grill At the southern end of the northern Morgan Avenue, between Haussling Place and the north bound lanes of Route 35, is a restaurant.\u00a0 There has been a restaurant on this site since at least the 1950\u2019s, if not long before that, and it [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":979,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"page-templates\/full-width.php","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-330","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=330"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":986,"href":"https:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/330\/revisions\/986"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}