You’re never too young for nostalgia.
Megan Wall and Cassidy Straniero, both 18, were reminded of that around lunchtime May 27, when the Hopewell Valley CentralHigh School seniors ate lunch on the outdoor tables of Cream King on Route 31 just north of Pennington.
They talked over the roar of traffic, and remembered how, when they were kids, they would make faces at passing cars to get the drivers to honk and wave.
“It hasn’t changed at all since we were kids,” Wall said. “It’s so nice.”
It also hasn’t changed much since Pete Brittingham, of Titusville moved to Hopewell Valley 20 years ago. He had stopped by the restaurant with his wife for burgers and fries. “It’s sort of the last of the old [1950s] roadside fast food places,” he said. “They make the food to order, and it’s not siting there under a hot light. It’s good and it’s a good deal. It’s a nice cheap good lunch.”
And if there have been any big changes since the Volpe family bought the place, 21-year-old Kristin Volpe doesn’t remember. The lack of changes isn’t to save money; it’s part of the restaurant’s charm. It’s so old it’s passed through obsolete, right to classic.
The bright yellow painted wood building with its walk-up service window harkens back to a bygone era of roadside restaurants.
“My dad always says, we don’t just sell ice cream and burgers, we sell memories,” Kristin said. The stand was built in 1956, with the same small storefront and gravel driveway at 46 U.S. 31. It changed ownership several times since then, with the most recent owners, Phil and Laurie Volpe, taking over in 2001. The Volpes run the stand with the help of daughters Lauren, Kristin and Erin. Kristin, who just graduated from Georgetown University, said she often hears from customers who don’t want them to change a single detail of the restaurant, not even to pave the dusty gravel driveway. It’s all part of the charm.
“I hear that all the time,” Kristin said. “They say, don’t knock it down, don’t expand it. They love the small little family-owned shack on the side of the road.”
Kristin is among those with fond childhood memories of Cream King. She often stopped by the place after playing sports as a kid. She even played on the Cream King sponsored softball team, which her mother coached. That’s how Laurie Volpe met the previous owners of the restaurant.
Kristin said entire teams of athletes from the high school make Cream King their hangout after games.
Most of the employees go to Central High School or the Pennington School.
“It’s very family oriented and community oriented,” she said.
The Volpes go out of their way to forge links between Cream King and the Hopewell Valley community. Monday nights in the summer are “Cream King Night,” where the restaurant donates a percentage of its earnings to a local charity or nonprofit.
That tradition started two years ago, when the mother of Tommy Belksy, a child suffering from Acute Myelogenous Leukemia, held a fundraiser at Cream King.
“It was the busiest day Cream King ever had,” Kristin said. “My dad was like, we need to do more of this.” “The employees love working it. It’s always fun,” Kristin said.
For more information, call (609) 737-0283.
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