Speaking of WAWA, I avoid them now for hoagies or sandwiches. The quality has gone way down. Bread is tough and tasteless, and the meat, cheese and lettuce is lame. Just a dry no-zest sandwhich. I guess I'm spoiled by Jersey Mikes.
Red Lion Dinner
- Thread starter imkms
- Start date
You are right that the quality is not up to par with what it used to be, but Wawa hoagies are still alright. I will still crush an Italian or a Honey Turkey any day of the week. You get a hoagie there primarily for the extremely high convenience factor - there is a Wawa in any direction you're traveling.
If I want an actually good hoagie and am planning out lunch ahead of time then I'm hitting up Primo, or better yet I'm getting it made somewhere that is not a chain, like Bagliani's.
If I want an actually good hoagie and am planning out lunch ahead of time then I'm hitting up Primo, or better yet I'm getting it made somewhere that is not a chain, like Bagliani's.
I'll take a sub from a mom & pop deli any day over WaWa. In fact I've been trying to patronize locally owned stores over big retail chains for all of my needs, when possible. Our towns are becoming more generic every year, losing their individual character, with the same store signs popping up no matter where you go. Then there is the younger generation, who want the convenience of everything they buy delivered to their doorstep, and local business and employment be damned.
Sad about the dinner. Reading the post quickly, my mind initially thought it referred to the Red Lion Inn, which my wife and I ate at for the first time a little while back. Good home-made pasta there. My Italian half craves that comfort food. Can't be carb-conscious every day!
Last edited:
Have not really noticed a quality change in the Wawa subs I order. But what sets them aside is I can get a "shortie" sub that's plenty big for me, while even a half sub from the Mom and Pop shops are gigantic (and more expensive). There's a great local place in Mays Landing - Sugar Hill Subs - that's delicious, but they're just too big for me. I mean, their motto is actually "Fattest subs in South Jersey" which is not a good selling point for me. 
And that's also my issue with diners (and why I stopped going a number of years ago). They all brag about how huge the meals are. Yeah, they have some "healthy" items too, but I would prefer smaller (and cheaper) versions of the regular menu.
BTW, I saw that Wawa started offering take-out pizza (starting at 4:00 PM IIRC) about a week ago at my local store.
And that's also my issue with diners (and why I stopped going a number of years ago). They all brag about how huge the meals are. Yeah, they have some "healthy" items too, but I would prefer smaller (and cheaper) versions of the regular menu.
BTW, I saw that Wawa started offering take-out pizza (starting at 4:00 PM IIRC) about a week ago at my local store.
We had one last night. That was where we went when the storm was going on. We all enjoyed the pizza. Compared to others I get it was better than most of them.
I can not drive past a WAWA without my youngest child asking to get a snack or a sub multiple times per day. Of course this does not happen, but I have noticed that most kids and teens stop at these store multiple times per day. They are so quick to use all of their money on junk food and drinks. When my father took us out hiking we ate before we left and did not eat again until we got home. It was rare that we stopped for anything unless we were very far from home. We never brought snacks, lunch and 5 bottles of water for a short hike. Now it seems you cannot leave the house without bringing a case of water and a 5 course meal just for a short ride to anywhere.
There is a new Olga's Diner. I tried it with a friend recently, and it was pretty good. I hadn't heard the Shamong Diner was closing. That's too bad.
I grew up in that development and worked at the Sunoco across the street in the 70s. Mary's Luncheonette was at the new Olga's location back then. Homes lined Route 73 from the Honda dealer to the old circle that use to be there. Hedges Diesel was there in the 50's at the Honda location and I played in the building as a kid. There was an Animal Hospital on the Honda location in the 70 and before that is was Mrs. London, a palm reader. Their house burned down when they were on vacation and I sat on the oil cabinet next to the pumps at Sunoco and watched it burn down. When Mrs London arrived home she came over and I distinctly remember my boss, the owner of the station, asking her how come she did not see it coming in her own palm. It was arson so someone was not happy with her.
Interesting history!
I heard recently that Olga's Diner marked the edge of the Pinelands National Reserve border in Evesham. Not sure if they were referring to the old location or the new one.
I guess you might say that, but it's not really that simple. Here's the boundary.
https://njogis-newjersey.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/NJPines::pinelands-national-reserve/explore
Last edited:
Years ago when that boundary was set up a person put up a huge sign in the middle of the old circle complaining that you were in the pinelands. They must have had issues with something they were trying to do with their property. Not really sure. A photo of it made it in the papers. That may be why you are hearing Olga’s was the edge.
BTW, you can see the 1970's current Olga's location behind Santa in this thread.
forums.njpinebarrens.com
The Death Of A Pine Barren Explorer
In May 1973 I was approached by a friend of mine informing me there was a job opening at the local Sunoco gas station. I was told to go there right away if I wanted it and I did just that. What I didn't know is that this one event would change my life forever and would be the catalyst for my...
forums.njpinebarrens.com
I don't get out that way very often these days, but noticed the new Olga's last time I passed through. Found a few interesting things in this article from 2018. I was wondering whether they needed a license to use the Olga's name... apparently not.
"during the 1940s and 1950s, the very first Olga's cooked up Jersey-famous diner fare on Admiral Wilson Boulevard in Camden"
* * * *
"In an opinion piece published in South Jersey Local News in 2010, Olga's owner John Stavros lamented the booming development in Marlton during the end of his family's 50 years there, and how the construction of the overpass played into the diner's demise. "When people with power want you out, out you go," he wrote. "It doesn't matter who you are or how long you've been there.""
* * * *
"It's not clear how Stavros feels about his mother's name appearing on the new diner. The 87-year-old could not be reached for comment. Kolovos said he and Dovas haven't yet been able to speak to Stavros and his family yet either, but noted they didn't need permission, as the name was available following the decade-old closure of the original Olga's."
www.nj.com
"during the 1940s and 1950s, the very first Olga's cooked up Jersey-famous diner fare on Admiral Wilson Boulevard in Camden"
* * * *
"In an opinion piece published in South Jersey Local News in 2010, Olga's owner John Stavros lamented the booming development in Marlton during the end of his family's 50 years there, and how the construction of the overpass played into the diner's demise. "When people with power want you out, out you go," he wrote. "It doesn't matter who you are or how long you've been there.""
* * * *
"It's not clear how Stavros feels about his mother's name appearing on the new diner. The 87-year-old could not be reached for comment. Kolovos said he and Dovas haven't yet been able to speak to Stavros and his family yet either, but noted they didn't need permission, as the name was available following the decade-old closure of the original Olga's."
Iconic Olga's Diner, gone for a decade, is about to be reborn
A decade after famed Olga's Diner in Marlton closed, two new owners are trying to bring the concept back to life.
The new Olga’s isn’t even close to offering the quality or amount of food served at the Olga’s in Marlton, or the original one in Camden. I knew the son who managed the Camden restaurant and he told me a lot of stories about his Mom Olga and how they ran the 2 restaurants. I don’t know what was necessary to re-use the Olga’s name, but don’t mistake it for being even closely related to the original Olga’s.
I went to the Marlton Olga's pretty often during the period 1994-2006. Working late nights in center city Philadelphia and commuting to Medford, that big Olga's sign was hard to resist!
According to the article I quoted above, nothing was necessary for them to use the Olga's name. Apparently, it was available for anyone to register because the original Olga's closed over 10 years earlier.
Last edited:
I hadn’t heard of Leo the Lion before.
www.nj.com
N.J. diner abruptly closes after 50 years and will be replaced by Wawa
The diner had been a New Jersey favorite since opening back in 1973