[ DEMOLISHED] Circus Drive In Restaurant – A Perfect Retro Road Trip Excuse

May 2018 – Grief stricken Mod Betty is dismayed to report that the Circus Drive In was demolished this morning. 🙁 I can’t even bear to link to the writeups or videos of the demolition, if you want to Google it go right ahead. Looks like the land will be subdivided and made into 2 retail “pad” spots. 

2017 UPDATE: THREATENED! Sadly it looks like the Circus Drive In is closed, going to be demolished, to make way for something big and boring I’m sure. I’ll keep everyone posted but it doesn’t look good for this New Jersey icon of the roadside, according to the latest news from the Asbury Park Press. 

ORiginal 2012 post:

Some people climb mountains simply because they are there. Mod Betty knows how they feel (except for the actual climbing of the mountains part,ugh!) because we retro road tripped to the Circus Drive-In in Wall Township New Jersey – simply because we had never been there!

When we were greeted by their famous neon sign we knew we made the right choice.

The Circus has been serving up tasty foods and frosty treats since 1954. You have your choice of sitting in your car for curb or car hop service, or dining under the big top.

It was a gajillion degrees out the day we visited so we got out of the Retro Roadmobile and headed under the tent. The flaps were open and a nice breeze came through, helped along by fans that were blowing the smell of delicious food our way!

There was a lot more on the menu than I thought there would be, including soft shell crab sandwiches, and they’re famous for those.

We both ordered iced tea – which is fresh brewed. Our waitress gave us an extra cup of crushed ice which I thought was a nice touch.

I chose a california burger w/ cheese – nom!

And Retro Roadhusband got a foot long hotdog with 3 sides, so we could try out what they all were like. Though I’m usually a crinkle cut fry gal, the other sides paled in comparison to the homemade onion rings. Next time we’re getting a separate order of them for sure!

The restaurant has a spot for kids parties off to the side, and (for over 30 years!) clown “Macaroni Anne Cheeze” has been entertaining the children, making balloon animals and amusing them while they wait for their meals.

For the slightly older set  The Circus does a vintage car cruise night on the second  Tuesday of June, July, and August (if it rains they do it the next tuesday) – you can check their Facebook Page for updates.

Interesting note! I spied some tables that had the seats attached to them and pointed them out to RRH. I didn’t snap any photos since there were folks sitting at the table. But according to the Circus website, it’s actually a table from a  decommissioned submarine?! Next time we go back – and we will go back – I’ll snap a photo and share it.

Update to Interesting Note! 

Circus owner Rick Rose was kind enough to elaborate on the story of the “submarine” table:

We are not the original owners of the restaurant, but the story according to the original owner was that he purchased the tables years ago from the Philadelphia Naval yard, and they are from a World War II troop ship. If I was a betting man, I would say they were not painted those bright colors back then!

Now I know why people climb mountains, kinda like I want to go to every Retro Roadmap worthy place around – because they’re there! (Cue the  “Clime Ev’ry Mountain exit music!)