Legendary NJ restaurant and bar finally torn down

There is a hole in the heart of Marlton. The Marlton Tavern, which operated on Main Street for 20 years, was closed in early 2020 and stood vacant for much of the past five years.

There had been a battle going on by the owners to get the building demolished due to structural damage from neglect. The place was built in 1898 originally as a residence for the Brick family.

Somewhere around a hundred years later, it was converted from offices to a restaurant called Claytons.

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I remember as a resident of Marlton at the time being excited that the beautiful old building was opening as a nice restaurant. It was also briefly known as Scargo on Main, but it will mostly be remembered by a generation of locals as the Marlton Tavern.

It was a great meeting place for old friends, a great date night spot and just a cool local watering hole. The liquor license was sold in March 2020 shortly after they closed, but the license was never used.

Locals wonder what will go into that empty space on Main Street that holds so many memories. Many are upset that more wasn't done to preserve the charming old historic building.

There isn't much to downtown Main Street in Marlton. There's a little Italian Market store at the bottom of the Main Street Apartments at Marlton, a 7-11 store on the corner of Main and Maple Avenue across the street from some historic buildings that house a few businesses. Oh, and there's Sal's Pizzaworks a little further down the street. Other than that, Main Street does not have much going on, especially now that the old Marlton Tavern is gone...completely.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Dennis Malloy only.

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