The Fabulous Elgin Diner - A Bit of the Past in Present Day South Jersey

We parked where the white truck is.

Today I had the pleasure of stepping back into the past when we ate breakfast in the wonderfully maintained Elgin Diner in Camden, New Jersey. It can be found on Mt. Ephraim Avenue just a few blocks from the border of Mt. Ephraim. There was a time when this was the perfect stop on the way to the shore for many people since Mt. Ephraim Avenue becomes the Black Horse Pike which is the original route for most people to Atlantic City. Times changed and things became bleak for Camden in general, but this part of Camden lived on with its proximity to Rt. 130, Lady of Lourdes Hospital, and several state and federal offices across the street. Yet without warning, the diner closed in 2007, despite having been featured on Al Roker's Diner Destinations on the Food Network.

Isn't this great? All original!!

But, new owners decided there was still life left in this 1958 Kullman diner and reopened in early 2010. We immediately went back for breakfast because they were one of the few places that served grits for breakfast. I had come to love grits during one of our brief road trips to Savannah a few years back. Unfortunately, the new owners didn't have grits on the menu - but the breakfast was still good and we were happy to see this wonderful historical gem open for business.

The buffet sits where the free-standing tables are in this photo.

Today, we went back again for their newly instituted breakfast buffet (weekends only). All You Can Eat for $6.99, this breakfast also includes coffee and juice. Up for grabs on the buffet table were scrambled eggs (perfectly done, still moist, not overcooked), potato wedges, hash browns, hash browns with peppers and onions, sausages, scrapple, fried whiting, pancakes, French toast, sausage gravy & biscuits, dried beef gravy and a big bowl of fresh fruit. You could also order (one time) omelets and fried eggs if you wanted plus toast. But, the most pleasant surprise was seeing the big bain marie full of grits!! Hot diggity!! Needless to say, I had that along with my eggs, both gravies and potatoes, cranberry juice and coffee.


The buffet runs from 8AM - 2PM and I plan to return, you can count on that.


I want to thank RetroRoadMap.com for the wonderful photos I've borrowed. They show the diner as it sits today. If they ask me to removed them, I will, but you will find a link in this paragraph to their site so that you can find other retro eateries all across this great country.