The Red Lion Inn will serve up its last bar pie and pour its last drink this week.
The historic tavern, restaurant and liquor store on Drum Point Road, which dates back to the 1920s, will literally have its last call Wednesday night, as the establishment will shut down in preparation for a CVS Pharmacy to take its place at the corner of Drum Point and Hooper.
For locals who haven't driven down Drum Point in the past few days, we'll break the news to you: Snoopy has already been taken down from the roof.
Historical records show the tavern was built in 1926. According to the book "Images of America - Brick Township," the restaurant was founded by Joseph and Phyllis McClorry, who ran it until 1957, when it became Citta’s Red Lion Tavern. The Bottazzi family has owned it since 1977.
Patrick Bottazzi, Sr. was not available to speak with a reporter this week, but patrons of the Red Lion shared story after story on Brick Patch's Facebook page about a local meeting place that has been a Brick staple for generations.
"I'm heartbroken that its going," wrote Lee Ann Hurley Ray. "I remember going [there] with my grandmother as a kid. My grandmother was my world and I could never wait until she would pick us up and take us out to dinner there."
"When my fellow graduate school classmates found out that I had never skipped a class in my entire college career, they kidnapped me from class and took me to the Red Lion for drinks and dinner," recalled Dorothy Rohland.
Dave Clark said his bands – No Left Turn and Stir Crazy – packed the house when they played there. Terry DeGano remembers her wedding reception there 23 years ago; Laraine Sgroi said she had her son's christening there 24 years ago; and JoAnna Fabiano recalled a waitress who always brought a smile to her late father's face.
In November, the township planning board approved an application by CVS Pharmacy to build a retail store at the site. The CVS store will compete with a Walgreens store that is located across the street. The anecdotal consensus from Brick Patch readers on the change: the corner of Drum Point and Hooper will never be the same.
Christine Wells Wyskowski summed up the popular line of thinking on the subject.
"A pharmacy across from a pharmacy. Brilliant idea!"
Pat Bottazzi. Sentiment doesn't pay the overhead.
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If people were THAT concerned about "sentiment" - they probably should have voted with their wallets and made the business more profitable and, in so doing, made the owner reluctant to sell. If what some people are saying is true, and the restaurant was empty a lot of the time, I'm sure the check from CVS was a much more attractive option to the owners. There's no shortage of places people can go drink in Brick. If people are so offended by the presence of large chains in Brick and the loss of these kinds of local businesses like the ones mentioned (General Stores, etc) - they might consider that next time they decide to shop in places like Wal-Mart. There truly is a high cost to those low prices. You can't have it both ways.
If Red Lion had exceptional food and service they would still be in business. But from what I understand they let their long time staff go and the Red Lion was not the same. – Someone needs to clarify this fact. Good restaurants will survive via reputation and are big business/chain restaurant proof.
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Remember that 40 years ago Walmart was just starting out and Sears & J C Penny were the nations largest retailers. They didn't pay their employees any better than Walmart does an they still don't. Mom & Pop stores were still able to make a living. So what changed????
who lost jobs. Those who like to spend time at a bar will find another watering hole, the few people who ate there will eat in some of the 300 places to eat in Brick, and for people like me who never went there anymore anyway, it won't matter at all.
True Pineys are from the 609 area of Ocean County. That other 'Rick' probably moved to Brick a couple of years ago and now wants to make it just like wherever he came from. I'm sure he won't be happy until Brick and the rest of Ocean County look just like Brooklyn or Jersey City.
And, as CBC pointed out - the big Mall anchors like Sears, JC Penny, were not buying foreign goods in order to out-price the local competitors the way Wal-Mart does, and that is why local business was able to survive alongside those chains and can not survive around Wal-Mart. But ultimately - Wal-Mart itself doesn't destroy local business. The local PEOPLE do when they patronize those kinds of chains. If people really care about these local businesses, they should support them and spend the little extra it might cost to shop/eat at those places. Crying about them once they're gone serves no-one.
According to the US Department of Interior and the State of New Jersey the New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve start somewhere a bit south of Toms River. Next trip to AC look for the signs on the Parkway. A Piney from my head down to my Hiney.
You might want to look around at Sears, JC Penny and other mall stores. You will find most of the clothing is made offshore. I bought a suit at Boscov's a few years ago. Made in Viet Nam. Levi's, whether bought at Sears, Boscov's, Walmart or anywhere else, are ALL made in Mexico. Those Nike and Adidas training shoes that you probably wear are made in countries such as China, Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, Philippines, and Malaysia. Try to find much of anything made in the U S of A, other than a few foreign car brands.
And this push to make Brick look like Paramus south is nothing new. Over 20 years ago to morning guy on 100.1 used to quip that Brick had one strip mall for every man, woman and child in town