Toms River Diner Celebrates Grand Re-Opening

Phil Stilton

TOMS RIVER-For those of us who grew up in Toms River, the Toms River Diner (TRD) was one of the four basic food groups.  After a late-night in Seaside Heights, or after a football game where North beat East…or North beat South…or North beat MonDon, we’d all pile into booths and order things we probably would not have ordered anywhere else, disco fries, Reuben sandwiches, big fat burgers or a triple-decker blt with fries.   Did we forget the disco fries?

Owned since 1972 by the Vasilakis family, who many of us even went to school with, it was closed two years ago and the family decided it was time to get out of the business.

In the two years since it was closed, it was missed by many who remember it as being the go-to place after pretty much any Toms River event.

Now this may sound like the start of the Asbury Park Press article published back in May when the place first reopened, but facts are hard to dispute.   Anyone who grew up in Toms River has the exact same experience and feeling about this place.


Now, with new owners, the “TRD” celebrated their grand reopening with some local dignitaries on hand including Mayor Thomas Kelaher and Freeholder Joseph Vicari.

The new owners, Mohamed Emara and his son Ahmed Emara have big shoes to fill to satisfy the expectations of the older TR crowd and to win over the younger generations.  They have some experience.  They also own the Holiday City Diner.

Don’t forget the disco fries.  They were a staple in our diet, because let’s face it…for a booth full of unemployed high schoolers with a few bucks to share, disco fries were the go to shareable of the day.

Editorial disclosure…back in my days at High School North, we didn’t beat anyone in football…just for those who were thinking of fact checking those earlier claims.

Photos by Toms River Township.

You appear to be using an ad blocker

Shore News Network is a free website that does not use paywalls or charge for access to original, breaking news content. In order to provide this free service, we rely on advertisements. Please support our journalism by disabling your ad blocker for this website.