With rents and real estate prices at all time highs, we probably should have seen this coming: The trend of restaurants opening inside of already existing restaurants.
Since the onset of the pandemic, this has taken the form of “ghost kitchens,” in which brands like Mr. Beast Burger and Guy Fieri’s Flavortown made agreements with local restaurants to have their kitchen staffs make food for their menus as well as the restaurants’ own. To this day, ghost kitchen brands continue to operate through delivery apps such as DoorDash.
But local restaurants have seen the light, asking themselves: if we have the kitchen capacity to host ghost kitchens, why can’t we just run two separate restaurant concepts of our own from the same square footage?
This has led to the new triple-threat restaurant in Pennington Shopping Center, where PJ’s Pancake House, Pennytown Pub and Aperitivo Bar all share a continuous dining area, a single kitchen and, perhaps best of all for the restaurants’ bottom line, a single liquor license.
In Bordentown, the trend has brought us Gouldsburger’s, a hot new burger and cheesesteak concept, which has recently opened inside Crumb sandwich shop, in the heart of Bordentown City.
Crumb and Gouldsburger’s are the brainchildren of Haddonfield-based David Murray and Walter Gouldsbury III. There are Crumb locations in Haddonfield, Medford and Bordentown. Gouldsburger’s is in Haddonfield and Medford as well, but in each case, the restaurants are located down the street from Crumb. (There are also two Gouldsburger’s in Philadelphia.)
In Bordentown, Crumb and Gouldsburger’s share space at 1 1/2 Crosswicks Street. The restaurants have different menus, but utilize the same kitchen, staff and indeed the same dining area.
Crumb specializes in gourmet sandwiches, soups and salads. Gouldsburger’s may have burger in the name, and burgers on the menu, but the restaurant concept is quickly becoming known for its cheesesteak, served on a signature “everything roll” (think everything bagel) baked fresh by Boaggio’s Bread of Mount Laurel.
Signature burgers include the Gould Standard, which comes with lettuce, pickle, chips, raw onion, Cooper Sharp American cheese and ketchup, and the Pocketful of Sunshine, with roasted tomatoes, avocado and sunny-side up egg. Gouldsburger’s also has hot dogs, french fries, and breakfast sandwiches served all day.
