By Aidan Mastandrea
News Editor
After opening just a year ago, Blueberry Kitchen + Tap in Campus Town has closed down for good.
The closing comes just 11 months after its grand opening in February 2024. According to their website, Campus Town has seen an influx of businesses occupying their locations in recent years. The likes of Redberry frozen yogurt, Mexican Mariachi and Frutta Bowls reside in buildings directly across from the College’s campus.
Blueberry Kitchen + Tap was filling the shoes of Arooga’s restaurant, which inhabited the same building for just over a year prior. After Arooga’s shutdown in 2023, the new venture seemed like a much needed replacement.
“It’s a great place and a great community,” A.K. Patel, one of the restaurant owners, said to The Signal after the grand opening. “We want to make sure that every customer comes in and has fun.”
Despite the lively environment, the restaurant struggled to bring in customers.
“We only went several times last semester, but that seems to be more times than the average TCNJ students because everyone always laughed when we said we were going there,” said Kathleen McMullen, a fifth year deaf and hard of hearing early childhood education major at the College. “Also everytime we went there, it was pretty empty.”
The food and drink menu was vast and filled with many classics, along with some surprise options such as grilled octopus and duck legs. Described on their website as “Where Fork Meets Fun,” the food and atmosphere was targeting its college audience. Whether it be with Happy Hour or DJ Bingo night, Blueberry Tap + Kitchen tried to be a successful staple at the College.
“For me, this seemed to be a very lowkey place to go to at night for cheap drinks and a fun environment to hang out with your friends to play trivia and bingo,” said McMullen.
There are some students that will miss the short lived restaurant.
“I am so sad to find out about the closing because their happy hour deals were unbeatable,” said Aislin Fine, a deaf and hard of hearing elementary education and sociology major at the College. “I hope all the workers find new work opportunities.”
A representative from Campus Town did not respond to a request for a comment on the restaurant's closing.
Campus Town’s building six was also once home to Landmark Americana Tap and Grill. The restaurant and bar was a part of a major controversy in December 2018. According to mycentraljersey.com, David Lamar V, a West Windsor resident, had too much to drink, left the restaurant and proceeded to get behind the wheel of his car. Consequently, Lamar was a part of a head-on collision, injuring 5 and killing the designated driver, 20-year-old Michael Sot, a student of the College.
The campus community was hit hard with this news and the restaurant was closed less than a year later in November 2019.
After Landmark Americana’s closing, and with Arooga’s and Blueberry Kitchen + Tap lasting only about a year each, time will tell how CampusTown plans to fill the space in the future.
