Car wash replaces iconic South Jersey diner
South Jersey’s diner culture may be mourning but truth be told, the best days were long gone for the famous Cherry Hill Diner on Route 38. The iconic building hosted a diner continuously since 1965 but will soon be turned into a Tidal Wave AutoSpa.
The Cherry Hill Planning Board voted for the plan 5-2 this week, to finalize a proposal to open a Tidal Wave Auto Spa, a Georgia-based car wash chain, on the diner’s lot. Another car wash, the Auto Shine Express, sits just half a block from the site.
The restaurant was a classic South Jersey diner, with a red-and-chrome exterior overlooking what was once a free-wheeling traffic circle.
It had a wide-ranging menu includes Philly cheesesteak egg rolls, snapper and matzoh ball soups, sauteed beef liver, and a 16-ounce “Gigantic Chophouse Burger.”
12 hours a day
Tidal Wave Auto Spa will be open 12 hours a day. It will serve an estimated 39 cars per hour, with two lanes for vehicles to pass through, learns the operations report from developer PJ Land Development. The 3,620-square-foot automated car wash will be staffed with up to 12 employees and feature 24 free vacuum stations for customers to use.
It remains unclear when the Cherry Hill Diner, which has operated for 58 years, will be demolished.
NB: The cover photo is not the diner in this story
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