Quaker Steak and Lube slips out of New Jersey
Quaker Steak and Lube once had three NJ locations. Pohatcong (i.e., Phillipsburg), Brick, and Union.
They were owned by a franchisee called Lube it Up, LLC. They had entered into an agreement with Quaker Steak and Lube back in 2011 for 10 locations in Northern NJ and Long Island.
They began their NJ closings earlier this past spring.
We were unable to ascertain what the decisions were behind the closings. But we can safely assume the “crisis” LOCKDOWN and limited opening capacities of businesses across the state had something to do with it. Who wants to run a business with a maximum income stream that is reduced by 75%?
This location on Route 22 in Pohatcong was always busy prior to the Wuhan Flu.
They have zero presence in the Garden State now.
(Note that neighboring fast food joint White Castle is thriving and always buzzing. People love the internal “lube” they get from those sliders. We vividly remember the joy (and much pain) we used to get when shoveling those pillowy carb bites down our gullet.)
White Castle is still lubing up customers en masse.
We always wanted to try their wings – and now we must travel to Pennsylvania (just southwest of Trenton) for the nearest one. We’re likely NOT going to do that unless we’re remotely in the area for some other reason.
While we are not particularly fans of restaurants anymore, it’s clear that “eating out” is getting heavily squeezed via government decree.
And of course, by straight-up FEAR.
