While crowds have already found the Chatterbox Restaurant in the past few weeks, the new owners and Chamber of Commerce officials marked the occasion of the iconic restaurant’s reopening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday.
The building — with its Spanish Mission Revival style and its pink exterior — has been a landmark at Ninth Street and Central Avenue since the restaurant was first established by Jean Campbell in 1937. The Repici family had owned the Chatterbox since 1972 but sold the business to Bob and Marie Boyer earlier this year.
The Boyers have renovated the restaurant, which saw extensive flooding during Superstorm Sandy, and they’ve brought in a new chef, Art VanDerPool, to create a new menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He added a creative flair to the traditional diner menu with signature dishes like the “Box Burger” — a burger stuffed with pulled pork, smothered in barbecue sauce and cheddar cheese, and topped with onion rings.
They new owners also have brought in an extensive ice-cream menu. The Boyers owned and operated Tory’s Ice Cream Shop at 3308 Asbury Avenue until they sold it in 2005. The shop has since been torn down.
The Chatterbox is open six days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner (it will be closed only on Wednesdays for the next two weeks before opening every day).
For more information, call 609-399-0113 or visit chatterboxrestaurant.com.