Thomas Edison Rest Stop

This is a big rest stop and has multiple fast food joints inside the plaza. I had fried chicken for breakfast! Popeyes!

Dark and dingy, smelly and crowded. This place is a mess. I don’t understand why they cannot maintain the place well. The restrooms were a mess. The place is so small that you literally feel that you are walking over someone.

My friends and I dropped into the Thomas Edison rest stop on the Jersey Turnpike on our way from New York to Baltimore. I’d never been on this drive before, and found the rest stop thing kind of interesting – no long toll roads in California, where I do most of my long drives, so no need for these contained facilities.
Parking was easy, and the rest stop was busy but not crazy. It looked like the place got tons of traffic, but was well equipped to handle it. The bathroom was clean – probably the most important thing for a rest stop.
There were a few options for food, none of them particularly tempting. I got some baked ziti from Sbarro. It was fine. Separated me from my hunger, which was all I needed. Service was good. I thought it was interesting that the soda fountain had an attendant. My Diet Coke was pumped by a friendly teenager.
Anyway, if you need a place to stop on the Jersey Turnpike, no reason you shouldn’t pull off at the Thomas Edison rest stop. I’m sure it’s functionally identical to all the other options, but hey, maybe you feel like eating at a Sbarro.

It’s crowded but I am giving it 5 stars because there is constant cleaning of the restroom and plenty of soap auto faucet and auto paper towel machine. Plenty of parking and because it’s the great Garden State you don’t have to pump your own gas!

This is not one of the newly renovated rest areas, but it’s not that bad. There is one gas station here: Sunoco; and it’s usually packed with bustling and impatient cars, trucks, mini vans, motorcycles, etc., waiting for their vehicles to be filled up.
Food options include: Starbucks (coffee), Popeyes (Southern fried chicken), Nathans (hotdogs), Sbarro (pizza), Leafy Attractions (sandwiches & salads), and Burger King (hamburgers). The biscuits from Popeyes was a bit drier than usual from the other locations I’ve been to. The fried chicken was well cooked and the cajun fries were crispy as always. The hotdogs from Nathan’s were a bit pricey but tasted very close to the one’s I’ve had from Coney Island’s first Nathan’s location! The sandwiches from Leafy Attractions were pre-​packeged and didn’t seem fresh at all; and the $ 7 price tag did not seem to be worth it for such a small sandwich, but my uncle purchased it anyway and I don’t want to say, «I told you so.», but I was right, it tasted cold and soggy… yuck! The fiery chicken fries from Burger King weren’t spicy at all, I was disappointed. The whopper and onion rings won my heart. :)

Do you remember the movie «Ghost» with Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore? Do you remember the subway scene where Vincent Schiavelli wanders around as the lonely ghost, forever lost within the Purgatory of the afterlife? Well, the Thomas Edison Rest Stop is yet another wing of Purgatory where these lost ghosts seemingly wander around.
It’s a bustling, yet depressing little rest area, but fully capable of living up to its rest area duties. It will become an even sadder place when the new and improved Grover Cleveland rest area opens northbound.
But hey, that Popeye’s fried chicken sure tastes pretty darn good when no one’s looking, so… three stars.

Worst service ever!!!
They had 2 people working at least 8 or 9 gas pump. And in New Jersey, it is illegal to pump your own gas.
By the A plus store, I experienced the most obnoxious, rude, and mean woman working the register. When I was checking out, I was talking to my husband, and she was clearly listening because she kept putting in her two sense. If I wanted her opinion, I definitely would have asked.
And the kicker, when she handed me the bill, I went to the side, and lo and behold, she charged me for an extra item I did not purchase. Went back to her, she tried telling me off, then when that didn’t work, she tried again to make it look like it was on me. I will never come back here willingly.
Would not want anyone to have to deal with this shitty service.

Stopped here on my way back from NY.
Easily accessible rest stop off the NJ Turnpike. Decent food options too.

New Jersey, how I despise you so.
It’s not the putrid smell, nor the anxiety inducing, overly-​aggressive drivers, nor the fact that you can almost reach out and touch airplanes as they descend over the Jersey Turnpike.
No, you know what? It actually IS for those reasons.
Here is one more…
Just because you name a rest stop after a great inventor, who just so happened to call your state home, does not make you remotely great.
I’m sorry to be so negative, but the slipperiness of the floors in the entranceway and God-​I-​hate-​life employees at literally every fastfood stand speaks to my strong opinions.
I will not mention the swamp that makes up the restroom here, but I will give props to the full serve attendant who pumped my gas. The tip I gave him was much appreciated and it is for Julio, and Julio alone, that I give this service area an additional star.

Stopped by here on the way back from NY.
This is a very easily accessible rest stop off of the NJ turnpike. They offer a starbucks, burger King, Nathan and snack shop. Additionally this is a great place to stop, get gas and use the bathroom.
The bathrooms here aren’t very nice, but they’re clean and there wasn’t a wait on Sunday night.
Gas here is very inexpensive. Like all other gas stations in NJ you can’t pump your own gas, someone has to do it for you.

I can only testify about late evening. After visiting the sister rest stop (Alexander Hamilton), I was equally saddened by the restrooms. Each stall appeared to be a unique crime scene.
There was a map of the other areas southbound which might afford relief.
This time there was some comic relief.
Apparently an extra from Saturday Night Fever was stranded. Looking for a power outlet for his bootleg iPhone. Muttering «Mudda of Gawd, Mudda of Gawd».
He did find an outlet and make his call. Cannot arrest to the call quality as the sound of the polyester creating friction with so much body hair made it difficult to concentrate.

Abomination. People pushing and shoving. Poop all over the toilet seat and no paper in the stall. The line for Starbucks — the one thing I truly wanted as a die hard Seattleite –was so long it was impossible. I just want to get to Philly already! The one saving grace was that the Burger King had no line and iced coffee. The little convenience store was insanely overpriced. Basically it was like eating and shopping at the world’s worst, most crowded airport. You know, it’s all because this is the Thomas Edison Rest Stop. If it were Tesla Rest Area everything would have been innovative and f’ing awesome.

Traveling down the NJ turnpike, this place has great fast food and clean bathrooms. Not a bad place to stop when traveling through.
Make sure that you grab some Popeyes chicken while here!

This is not a pleasant place to stop at. Since it is off of the turnpike, it is always overcrowded and there is no decent traffic flow.
The food prices offered were expensive and the staff at both Nathan’s and Sbarro’s were more concerned with each other than the customers. The place doesn’t compare to other rest areas and stops in other states.
Unless you want to tempt fate, please don’t stop here.

Small and crowded but it is the last week of July.
The Starbucks s surprisingly efficient despite a line extending psst the ropes :)

Not a bad rest stop, they have the standards here. not too crowded.

Highway rest stops are known for fast food, not healthy food. But at the Thomas Edison Service Area it is actually possible to refuse to eat fried chicken, burgers & fries and pizza, and not starve. There’s a nice refrigerator case with a selection of prepared meat-​cheese sandwiches and salads with cheese, meat or egg (see my pics). I hunted around and actually found the ONE VEGAN OPTION, «Fresh Attractions» vegetable salad: sliced zucchini, squash & roasted red peppers in seasoned white wine vinegar. It was fresh and tasted pretty good. Beyond that, if you’re vegan, there is only fresh fruit cups or whole fresh fruit.

This is a great rest stop on the NJ TPK. It’s pretty much the first stop you hit so it’s usually pretty busy, especially the gas lines. Still, they’re quick and you’ll be in and out in under 10 – 15 minutes.
If I’m heading all the way down the TPK this is always my first stop.

This rest area is okay, but I think it was one of the first ones I saw while escaping New York.
Our pup was whimpering for some reason and I had to use the restroom so we stopped by here to grab breakfast.
The food’s set up like a food court with premade food that sucks, but the bathrooms are relatively clean and the premises seem to have plenty of guys sweeping up trash everywhere.
They also have a good supply of poop bags so you can clean up after your dog. It’s on one of the back sides of the parking lot.

Always a much welcome sight when you gotta pee and feel like your bladder is about to burst while driving down the New Jersey Turnpike.
Sure, it’s good for a quick bathroom break, and a full service Sunoco is on site to fill up your tank, but as with most of these places the food selection is pretty much on the unhealthy side. Sbarro, Nathan’s, Burger King, Popeye’s — yuck!!!
At least there is are some pre-​packaged foods like sandwiches, salads, and fruits/​veggies, but they don’t look too appetizing. The saving grace of this rest stop is that there is a Starbucks available to pick up a hot coffee and muffin. Some seating, lots of parking, and clean overall.
Stop to pee, grab a coffee, avoid the food at all costs.