Not A Charlie Brown’s Christmas

A once-thriving Hillsborough Township landmark is gone...completely.

Just over a year ago, CB Holding of Mountainside filed for bankruptcy (November 17, 2010), and began closing steakhouses across the tri-state area, especially in New Jersey.  Within days, the thriving Route 206, Hillsborough location closed overnight.  It was one of about 70 locations, that sprung from the first Charlie Brown's in Westfield in the 1960s.  The Hillsborough location had operated since the late 1980s. 

Since the sudden closure a year ago, township residents and commuters on this heavily-travelled section of Route 206 have stared at shuttered windows, and watched the weeds grow at this once-manicured steakhouse.

Unceremoniously, its gone.  The building, which was a dingy dive-bar in the 1970s, has been pulled down by wrecking crews.

Sources around town tell me that the empty Charlie Brown's lot will become a...bank.  Like the one directly across the highway.

A sign of the times in New Jersey.

Good grief!