Henry's Diner
- Thread starter TrueRU
- Start date
I wish they would make it a sports bar, between men’s and women’s basketball, wrestling and football parking, that would be 50 events per year that they could have people there. Eden, concerts, comedians, speaking of events, etc. planned for the future rack expansion/renovation and that could be an excess of 65 to 75 per year.
Getting a liquor license in Piscataway? On a college campus, no less? Good luck!
And with Rutgers Paw Patrol lurking in the parking lots, trees and side streets… never gonna happen . There are ways to make Henry’s Diner into a Rutgers sports food paradise. Rutgers is putting all their energies into downtown builds. Think about how many sporting events are only several hundred yards away .Admittedly have only been there two times… Could be very special.
I couldn't agree more. Basketball, wrestling, gymnastics, volleyball, field hockey, baseball, softball, track & field... events within a short walking distance are endless. If done right, Henry's could make money hand over fist.
Food is good but is seems to be closed way more than it's open.
Last basketball season they were only open till 6pm, and only Monday through Friday
I think it was run by RU Dining Services, not privately run. I don’t know what the internal issues were about staffing, but that seemed to be a problem coming out of the pandemic. Don’t know what RU’s plans are going forward, but it would be great to see a reboot there given all the athletic crowds and increased student population there.
During basketball season, it should be open until 7. It would allow fans to go and eat before games. The place would empty out around 6:45 most game nights.
Was going to ask the same question. Seems it would be another obvious choice on game day.
In what world does something called a “diner” close at 6pm? Henry’s Diner should be open until midnight every night of the week.
If the dining services doesn’t want to keep it open I’m sure you can find a Greek family willing and able to take over ownership.
Place would kill it from 9-midnight when most students are looking for late night binges.
If the dining services doesn’t want to keep it open I’m sure you can find a Greek family willing and able to take over ownership.
Place would kill it from 9-midnight when most students are looking for late night binges.
Rutgers Club. Beautiful bar, unfortunately only one TV. They have pre-game events nearly every games, which often sell out. http://rutgersclub.rutgers.edu/
My understanding is that Henry's Diner ran into staffing issues. My (unofficial) guess is that they're running into not wanting to raise prices above what is affordable to students, which is making staffing to appeal to non-student residents hard.
This is much better.
It’s seems in the past they had private things scheduled the same night as a game or a match.
May sound silly but the dining hall on Livingston may not be a terrible option. Shouldn't be crowded and there are ton of food choices. Quality of food probably not the greatest, but certainly no different than the/a diner.
Yeah, I was actually thinking about becoming a member to have a place to go before basketball games, but it seemed like it was always booked for outside events on game nights, which defeated the purpose. Looks like a nice place to go though.
Students from Rutgers should be given a discount regardless but by drawing in the public for pre and post game meals and snacks makes too much sense. Honestly with all the educated business people from RU hanging around one would hope a light would go on in their collective brains. Even daily visitors would be able to enjoy a quick bite and connect with what is now a school on the cusp of great success.
Qdoba was always solid when they had one by me. Basically, what we have been doing before weekday games is grabbing some slices for dinner at the local pizza place then heading to the RAC. Usually when it's one of those 6:30 or 7 p.m. start times. For 8 p.m. or later we can usually go someplace to sit and take some time to eat. Always have to leave enough time to get in there these days.
I called this year when men's hoops schedule was announced. Apparently they are changing the way that they take reservations - and as I understand it, there's no way to guaranty being able to get there on any game day. Plus I believe they actually charge to make a reservation now. The whole process seems more complicated then it needed to be. I think I'll just stick with dinner and drinks on Rt 18.
Adding “extra” hours to a restaurant‘s schedule is far from easy. You can’t just require staff to work on their nights off. Once in awhile, sure. But not for up to 20 home games.
Well, forget the Georgetown game, private event that night.
I have been a member for years and when they realized they could bring crowds in from the RAC sporting events it worked pretty well. It then got very popular and people were reserving every game way ahead of time. They also jacked the buffet pricing up. For my seatmates it was a great option, since you can get in the lots early enough and not deal with the parking fiasco that goes on.
As for Henry's. I am pretty sure that it is not just a University owned entity. I read somewhere that it is run by a , of course a Greek family, that owns other diners. Would love to know the reasons for it not being open after 6 or at least on games nights.
I have been a member for years and when they realized they could bring crowds in from the RAC sporting events it worked pretty well. It then got very popular and people were reserving every game way ahead of time. They also jacked the buffet pricing up. For my seatmates it was a great option, since you can get in the lots early enough and not deal with the parking fiasco that goes on.
As for Henry's. I am pretty sure that it is not just a University owned entity. I read somewhere that it is run by a , of course a Greek family, that owns other diners. Would love to know the reasons for it not being open after 6 or at least on games nights.
I never understood why this wasn't the case. It was locked up tight early pre-pandemic so that's not an excuse either.
I get charging for a reservation, but not guaranteeing it is surprising.
And I understand certain times, for whatever reason, the place might not be available, but not too many nights.
It is University owned/operated. No private owner.
You can understand and respect the "renovation" angle. There is signficant untapped revenue from fans that would rather get there an hour early and not fear they will miss part of the game and are willing to eat diner/Qdoba type food.
We need a slight uptick in quality and variety of food at the RAC and most importantly a place for fans to congregate and eat prior to the game.
Personally I love being able to leave my house at 605PM and getting home at 935PM and don't need or want food, but I am certainly not like everyone else.
We need a slight uptick in quality and variety of food at the RAC and most importantly a place for fans to congregate and eat prior to the game.
Personally I love being able to leave my house at 605PM and getting home at 935PM and don't need or want food, but I am certainly not like everyone else.
well that would explain the idiocy of the hours lack of common sense to figure out how to keep it open later on game days
I'm going to throw something out there and there's probably a bunch of legal/administrative reasons why it can't happen, but this is a message board so here goes: What if you made the spot a pop-up kitchen for local restaurants/chefs for each event since RU can't seem to staff it on its own? Similar to bringing in the food trucks for each football game.