Why is everyone so obsessed with the new Roy Rogers in Cherry Hill?

For the Sugarman family, a trip to Cherry Hill’s newly-minted Roy Rogers was more than an easy weekday lunch, it was a multigenerational experience.

“I’m very happy to be here at Roy Rogers for the first time,” said Paisley Sugarman, 11, nestled in a booth next to her parents.

Paisley pointed out her small dish of pickles from the Fixin’s Bar, Roy Rogers’ famed self-service topping station, and a paper cowboy hat adorned with the restaurant’s logo.

“It’s very nostalgic for us,” Blair Sugarman, Paisley’s mom, said. “I remember being here as a kid.”

Though the dozens of Roy Rogers restaurants that once dotted the Philadelphia region’s dining landscape have largely faded, Blair and Lance Sugarman’s memories have not. They recalled everything from an old breakfast item that featured a hot, frosted biscuit to funky kids meal toys that you can now buy on eBay.

As a child, Lance Sugarman said the Fixin’s Bar made him feel like he was at a five-star restaurant.

“Just growing up with it, it was important to us to bring the little one so she can experience it for herself,” Blair Sugarman said.

It’s been nearly three decades since the Philly area’s last Roy Rogers closed, leaving a roast beef sandwich-sized hole in the hearts of many. At the fast-food chain’s peak in the 1980s, it had nearly 650 locations, with around 140 stores in the Philadelphia area. After the last local store closed, many Roy Rogers aficionados were left to eat their sandwiches and burgers on road trips while taking a pit stop on the turnpike.

Now, Roy Rogers is back. The Cherry Hill restaurant is located in a 3,300-square-foot building off Haddonfield Road, complete with indoor and outdoor seating and a drive-thru.

The restaurant blends past and present. In one corner stands a life-size cardboard cutout of actor Roy Rogers, the chain’s namesake who was known as “King of the Cowboys.” While the sleek seating area and floor-to-ceiling windows are reminiscent of modern, fast-casual chains, Roy Rogers has retained its time-tested red and yellow decor and cowboy-themed signage. Diners are greeted by an enthusiastic staff, and paper cowboy hats dot tables across the dining room.

As Blair Sugarman said, “They nailed it.”

Once Rick Etling, who grew up in Northeast Philly, was old enough to carry around a few bucks in his pocket, he would go to Roy Rogers every afternoon for a roast beef sandwich before heading home for dinner. Back then, a sandwich was $1.50. Despite the nearly 380% price increase (a regular roast beef sandwich now goes for $7.19 at the Roy Rogers in Cherry Hill), Etling said the product is as good as he remembers it.

“Arby’s is not the same,” he said.

Etling and his wife, Linda, said they were heading back to their home down the Shore after a vacation in Pennsylvania and decided to stop at Roy Rogers on the way. OK, it isn’t exactly on the way, they admitted. But it was worth the trip.

“We made a detour,” Linda said.

Diane Polito, a Cherry Hill resident, said she hadn’t been to a Roy Rogers since she was 8 or 9 years old. Despite the Cherry Hill location being open for over a month, Monday was the first time she had made it in.

“It’s been so crowded,” she said.

A handful of diners said they tried to come in for a sandwich when the restaurant opened in June, but lines down the block kept them away.

Polito said the food held up from her childhood memories. While she could have just gone through the drive-thru, she wanted to bring her kids inside to get the full Fixin’s Bar experience.

Midsentence, Polito was interrupted by her daughter, who asked to her wrap her hamburger up and take the rest of it home for later. The next generation of Roy Rogers diners was born.