The Pub in Pennsauken is going up for sale

The Pub, the landmark Pennsauken restaurant known for its open-hearth steaks, twin salad bars, and medieval banquet-hall atmosphere, is going on the market.

The Gelman family, which has owned the establishment for 26 of its 75 years, said it plans to begin soliciting buyers Tuesday for the restaurant, business, and property at 7600 Kaighn Ave. on the old Airport Circle.

There is no asking price, and the family is not using a real estate broker. Prospective buyers will be required to sign a confidentiality agreement before receiving financial and other information.

“We haven’t listed it with anybody, and we’re not going to list it with anybody,” said David Gelman, whose father, Marc, bought the restaurant in 2000. “This is something we’ve been talking about doing for a little while. I think now is the best time.”

The offering does not mean that the Pub is closing, Gelman said. The restaurant began its annual summer break Aug. 3 and is still scheduled to reopen Sept. 18.

“It’s just time,” Gelman said of the decision to sell. “I don’t think there’s one thing in general, but it’s time for a new steward, if you will, of the business or the property.”

That distinction — business or property — could be significant. The offering is aimed both at someone interested in continuing the Pub and developers who might see other possibilities for the large tract near Routes 38, 70, 73, and 130 and the Ben Franklin and Walt Whitman Bridges.

“Restaurants are not what they were for many years,” Gelman said. “There may be a developer who has a grand plan or something like that. There are a lot of different opportunities out there.”

An advertisement seen by The Inquirer describes approximately 6.3 acres with a roughly 17,000-square-foot building and says the real estate, restaurant business, and contents are included. It lists an email address for contact.

The Pub can seat about 1,200 people in dining rooms dominated by a cavernous space resembling a medieval banquet hall, festooned with war flags, swords, and assorted taxidermy beneath wooden beams. Six open hearths are used to broil steaks.

On a typical Saturday, 700 to 1,000 customers cycle through, and the restaurant may roast 10 to 15 of its best-selling prime ribs, each weighing 12 to 15 pounds. About 120 employees work there on a peak night.

The Pub opened in 1951 at what was then Airport Circle, at Route 130 and Kaighn Avenue, and was rebuilt in the early 1960s after a fire. Marc Gelman, David Gelman’s father, bought it in 2000 after previous co-owner Gary Perez retired.

David Gelman said owning it has meant maintaining a restaurant whose appeal is tied as much to memories and tradition as to its steaks.

“It’s been great,” he said. “Keeping the traditions alive, really. A lot of good memories for us and for families in general. It brings them back to their childhood.”

The timing of the sale announcement could cause confusion because the Pub is currently dark, but Gelman emphasized that the sale announcement and summertime closure were unrelated.

The restaurant began taking extended summer breaks in 2024, when it closed from July 1 and reopened Sept. 20 after nearly $250,000 in repairs, including roof work, new kitchen equipment, painting, and carpeting. Last year, it closed from June 30 through Sept. 18 for plumbing, air-conditioning, kitchen, and carpeting improvements.

Gelman has said the shutdowns make sense because summer traditionally is slow. It gives employees time off and allowing work to be done without disrupting customers. This year’s break began Aug. 3, later than the previous years’ breaks.

Gelman said his family was planning to reopen in September. If a buyer struck a deal before then, he said, the family would consider the buyer’s wishes, but he called completing a transaction within 30 days highly unlikely.

The offering comes two years after 7600 Kaighn Ave. surfaced in commercial real estate marketing by Binswanger. The materials contemplated an industrial redevelopment, prompting speculation about the Pub’s future. At the time, Gelman said the Pub was not for sale or lease and Binswager representatives did not return messages seeking comment.

On Monday, Gelman said his family had never authorized Binswanger to market the property and added that the family did not know how the offering had originated.

This time, there is no ambiguity about the Gelmans’ intentions. Gelman said the family sees little reason to hire a broker when it can reach prospective buyers directly and provide information to those with serious interest and financial wherewithal.

“There’s really no need to have it listed when social media nowadays and everything else is just as good, if not better,” he said.

The family also owns Library II in Voorhees, Gelman said, but it is not part of the offering.

As for what ultimately becomes of the Pub, Gelman said he would prefer to see the restaurant survive under new ownership, even as the family entertains other possibilities for the land.

“It’s a landmark,” he said. “Hopefully it doesn’t go anywhere.”