The Chatterbox Drive-In

Very cool themed 50s style like back to future and root beer float is delicious so is the fresh fried chicken

I moved to North Carolina and can’t find ANYPLACE that comes even remotely close to the atmosphere, food, or events that are Chatterbox! Don and the staff are the best — the décor is great, the food is delicious and reasonably priced. The Bike night and Car night are fantastic and well attended. I can’t believe how much I miss the place already… I’m keeping my Chatterbox card in my wallet for my next trip home.
If you don’t check it out, you’ll never know what you’ve been missing… I sure know!

I ate at The Chatterbox today for the first time. This restaurant has such a cool, vintage feel. Very unique. The food was fantastic as well. Unfortunatelty, I cannot eat gluten and let my server Ryan know. He was great at going over all the options with me and was very patient while I made my decision. He was attentive, knowledgeable, and gave wonderful service. I wish every restaurant experience was like this. Keep up the good work. I will be back soon!

One of my favorite places to eat in all of NJ. We’ve been coming here for about 12 years now and it has never disappointed me ever– which if your me is very rare. I love the décor, the vibe, everything about it. The food is delicious i usually get the philly cheese steak (too die for) but today I got the «big bag john» you’ll have to look it up because I can’t even describe it~ it’s amazing! I’ve always loved the 50’s & 60’s and probably should of been born in that era of poodle skirts and saddle shoes! Shout out to the owner who is always so nice and on top of things and always willing to talk! If you come here you won’t be disappointed ~ we drive 45 min just to get up here it’s that good!!!

Not a bad little place to be came in here with my buddy drovon through in a rush thinking it’d be fast food. Wasn’t exactly a fast food joint but wasn’t slow either, if I lived here I’d definitely be a regular, making sure I stop back on my way through

One of my favorite places. Truly a step back in step with the cars, DJ spinning 50s classics and memorabilia.
But they do the basic restaurant stuff REALLY well too. Awesome tasting food and amazing service.

I really wanted to like this place. We waited in line for 30 minutes when they had plenty of open tables on a Sunday afternoon.
Ordered the blue moon special with onion rings (sliced beef with blue cheese, sautéed onions). The beef was very cold. My onion rings never came. I informed the waitress that the onion rings never came, she left and never came back. No onion rings for me I guess. My food was also delivered a full 10 minutes after everyone at the table got there’s. Overall, I found the burgers and fries were just average. Nothing special and absolutly not worth waiting on line for. I give it 2 stars because everyone at our table enjoyed the shakes and we heard the desserts were good (but, we didn’t stick around because the service was just not good). I don’t believe I saw any adults working there. It was run by high school kids and it showed. I really wanted to like the place but just can’t.

Great food courteous service great atmosphere love Saturday car night. Thursday night motorcycle shows from summer months great place for friends and family to meet.

Really unique place! Great atmosphere and food! Excellent service! First time here, but we will definitely be back!

This place was spot on! The décor and music make the experience that much better.
Had the «teaser» for an appetizer. Was awesome for 2. The mac and cheese and bacon wedges were a hit and so were the curly fries and onion rings!
I got the «Hawaiian grilled cheese» for dinner with sweet potato fries. BANGINNNN!!! Quick service, friendly staff, full bellies… and all with elvis, the temptations and all the other greats setting the tone for the night.
Passed this place for years… it will now be a staple when i make my rounds in sussex county throughout the year. Cant wait to try more!

Great food and dessert… an awesome place to take one back. Between the DJ of oldies, the car in the center and the décor you won’t be disappointed! They have bike nights and the Wanderers showing off their stuff… Check em out!
My favorite thing on the menu so far would be the Mushroom Swiss Burger, the pulled pork, and oh the Blueberry Hill dessert! YUMMO!!!

Since Chatterbox never got back to me after two written requests, I am posting my note on here to describe my recent experience:
«My friends and I dined at Chatterbox on the evening of August 9^th. I wanted to touch base as we had an unusual experience with our waiter. This may sound bizarre, but I think management would appreciate customer service feedback, good or bad.
In any case, about eight of us were seated and had our meal at approximately 6:00pm. The food was fine, no issue there. However, the experience with our waiter was a bit unusual. My friend and I asked for pickles as part of our meal. We were told by the waiter (young Asian guy) that this comes standard with our sandwiches/​burgers. When the dishes came out, no pickles. I asked about this and he said he would check on getting us some. Following, we were told that Chatterbox was out of this item. This is understandable from my prospective, it is at the end of the week in the evening and supplies may be out. If it ended there, I would have had NO problems and would not be writing this message.
Following, my friends and I noticed that people were getting their meals and pickles were on the side. Dishes regularly came out with these items. One young woman in my party asked the server why everyone was getting pickles if we were told they were out of them. She did not receive a straight answer but the young man said he would check for us.
Fast forward, there was no comment again from the server about this request. We received the bill and of course, left an adequate tip.
Overall, this was a weird dining experience. We did think the situation was unusual. If a customer requests an item and it is out of stock, no problem. I get it. However, we did request a small item that was clearly available for everyone else dining at Chatterbox. I am not sure what the problem was with the waiter, as we were not mean or condescending with the requests. Overall, I am not sure if he did check on their availability as obviously there was not a shortage of pickles.
To the management, I understand writing a few paragraphs about pickles is strange! However, it is more about appropriate customer service. As discussed, we were baffled by the experience; it did not make sense. If you have any questions further about this, please contact me.»

Back here again!
I had the double dog — two ~10″ hot dogs with fries and Mrs. Pat had a burger, which she raved about.
I took her cole slaw and put it on my dogs for a great slaw dog, but two dogs was too much for me and I chided myself for eating both.
Staff was very friendly although our server was overworked (and probably underpaid) and the service was prompt and thoughtful.
We’ll be back again, I’m sure. Hope the lobster roll is fresh and good!

Delicious food & great service. Highly recommend after watching a Miners «W»!
Good choices of tradional American food & great 50’s ambiance with a different classic car in the middle of dinning area each week. Car shows in parking lot on a regular basis. Go enjoy a fun night out with the family.
…
Don H., we always try something different from the menu, because everything we try, we like, so why not try it all.

Food– 4 stars
Service– 3 stars
Décor– 4 stars
Overall Experience– 3.5 stars
Great retro, ‘50s vibe, feels like you are transported back in time. Went for lunch on a Friday afternoon, it was moderately busy, but not too crowded, definitely a family oriented place. Ordered a burger with guacamole (I think it was called the southwest burger), and a black and white milkshake. The milkshake was thick and creamy, very filling and delicious. The burger was cooked well, too. On a note of cleanliness, the bathroom was very well-​kept, extremely clean. Overall, I would come here again if I was in the mood for a burger.

I’ve had burgers and hot dogs there. What can I say? They were burgers and hot dogs.
On a busy day service is usually pretty bad. I’m not sure, but I am assuming it is because there are not, visibly, any employees there over the age of sixteen. When you put that many sixteen year olds together without a supervisor they all hang out at the soda bar and do very little to make sure the people at the table are taken care of.
Also, the building is starting to show its age in a depressing way. I would say 40% of the fluorescent lights in the main dining room are out or flickering like an abandoned office building in a zombie movie.

I was driving my grand nephew home from camp when I saw a huge crowd at The Chatterbox. I usually avoid places like this because the food and service are usually second place to the atmosphere. But I figured with a standing room only crowd, the food must be pretty good.
I ordered a classic cheese burger and fries, my little buddy a pork sandwich. He’s a fussy eater but wolfed down the sandwich with gusto and said it was really very good. That’s almost amazing!
My burger was cooked to perfection. The waiter said it’s grilled and that makes the difference. It came on a nice soft bun too. Fries were typical diner type, meaning worth ordering but not memorable and the cola came with a free refill
Great atmosphere, live DJ playing oldies, classic car center piece and tasty food.
Chatterbox, a surprise winner.
They have regular cruise nights for classic cars. Definitely worth a look.
Recommended.

The restaurant itself is just fun to be at with the train, the car in the middle of the restaurant, and the oldies music! Good, friendly service, and very clean!
Haven’t tried anything on the menu I haven’t loved. The turkey burger patty is quite tasty and juicy, unlike many turkey burgers. Adore the fried pickles and horseradish dipping sauce. Every single time I go, however, I ALWAYS order the chicken vegetable soup. The Chicken Reyes version is a slightly spicier spin on the regular version, named after the chef who makes it. Tomatoey broth, can’t get enough of it. Keep up the great work!

WHAT A STRANGELY MAGICAL PLACE. I don’t usually find myself calling burger joints «magical» but most burger joints don’t take the rock-​around-​the-​clock aesthetic to this extreme — it’s not even a mere aesthetic feature anymore, when you’ve got classic car clubs camped out in the parking lot. If your burger joint resonates with people who take their classics that seriously, you know you’re doing something right.
That said, I wasn’t blown away by the food, but Gardenburgers and fries are rarely transcendent, and I would absolutely return for the immersive 1950s experience regardless of how not blown away I was by the food. Plus, I didn’t try a milkshake, and I feel like that’s crucial. So, yeah, I’d go out of my way to stop by here again — that says a lot, because you can get a serviceable Gardenburger anywhere, but the atmosphere they’ve so carefully cultivated here is crazy awesome.

Love the classic car on the raised platform in the center of the restaurant and the gentleman who DJs on weekends, spinning classic «DooWop» hits. This is a place for the kiddies too as their meals arrive inside these pretty cool cardboard classic car replicas. And, the grill-​type food is very good (they have shakes too!). What’s not to like? We’ve had an assortment of items on the menu and all have been satisfying. The owner pays you a visit to ask how everything is, which is great — adds to the old-​time feel of the place.
Be prepared to wait — especially this time of year (Autumn) when apple and pumpkin orchards in the surrounding areas are super busy with visitors. This spot is remote for all other times of the year if you’re not from North Western NJ but certainly worth a road trip — especially with the kids. Take back roads when you can (Rts 94 or 15) to enjoy the local beauty of NJ farms and rural living.
You might be lucky enough to catch a car show in the parking lot too — naturally, a lot of classic car enthusiasts flock here and is official home to one club, «The Wanderers».