By Scott Cronick
When Drew Huggard was a teenager, he took a job at Romanelli’s Garden Café in Galloway to put gas in his car.
Starting out as a bus boy and eventually a delivery guy, he would often be seen leaning on the door between the kitchen and the dining room watching the sauté cook and listening to then-owner and founder Rick Romanelli and former chef and legend, the late Willie Lewis, cook and talk passionately about food.
Through hard work and a little bit of osmosis, Huggard – whether he knew it at the time or not – was being called to work in the culinary industry.
“I was that kid in the doorway always watching and learning … there was something I just couldn’t take my eyes off,” said Huggard, who grew up in Galloway and began working at Romanelli’s when he was attending Holy Spirit High School. “Rick was a good friend of the family, and I just remember being mesmerized by him and Chef Wlillie. It just piqued my interest. I remember going home and telling my parents that I was going to cook for a living. I was like 16. But never, not in my wildest dreams, did I think one day I would own this place. That’s just crazy. To think the place that I went to work as a kid became not only my career but that I would own the same building that I started working in … it’s just insane when you think about it.”
But that’s exactly what happened.
Lightbulb on!
After attending the Academy of Culinary Arts in Mays Landing – he was inspired by his first chef educator Joe Sheridan, who is now dean of the school – he attended Fairleigh Dickinson University’s acclaimed Hospitality and Tourism Management school, earning his bachelor’s degree along with a realization that he should be working in the front of the house.
“I went to school there and then worked for Marriott for a few years, but a lightbulb went off during that time that I should be in the front of the house and on the management side of things as opposed to grinding it out every day in the kitchen.” Huggard said. “It hit me at the Marriott that I don’t think I could grind it out every day for all those hours every day in the back of the house. That’s why I have so much respect to the cooks, the chefs, the dishwashers and anyone who works in the back of the house. It’s a daily grind that not everyone can do. It’s just an insane amount of work. So, my respect for anyone in that part of the industry is through the roof.”
Huggard worked in the casino biz for a while as a beverage manager at the former Revel in Atlantic City and served as a general manager for both Grotto and Vic & Anthony’s in Golden Nugget. But it was Romanelli’s, where he actually cooked full time while in high school, that kept calling him back.
“Rick wanted to retire, and he built such a legacy in Atlantic County that he wanted to keep Romanelli’s Garden Café going and his name to stay there,” Huggard said. “He said, ‘I want you to buy it, you can make it your own while you can still keep my legacy going.’ I said, ‘I am not your guy Rick. I can’t afford this, and I don’t know anything about it.’ He said, ‘I promise you I will make it worth your while, and I will help you all the way through.’”
Romanelli kept his word. And, about 10 years after Huggard walked through Romanelli’s as a teenage worker, he bought Romanelli’s in 2017 at the age of 26.
“To this day, I call Rick all of the time,” Huggard said. “It’s been an incredible seven or eight years. There have been peaks and valleys, but it’s the best thing I ever did. Rick has been an amazing mentor. He opened this place 18 years ago, and the reason it’s still successful is that he was always involved in giving back to the community, and he constantly stressed ‘Fresh and homemade.’ He would say those two words over and over, and that’s what we do every day. We built our menu off fresh and homemade, and that never changes.”
Romanelli’s evolution
Like any good restaurateur, Huggard isn’t fixing what ain’t broke. But, like any good restaurateur, he also knows the restaurant has to evolve. So, while you will see many of the dishes that made Romanelli’s what it is today, Huggard adds menu items that resonate with diners looking for something new and different.
“I could have been arrogant and changed everything as a new owner,” Huggard said. “But, that would have been dumb. So, I gradually added who I was to the menu and put my swing on things while maintaining the principles of what Romanelli’s is to the community. We just polish the beautiful gem that Rick created.”
Romanelli’s serves breakfast, lunch and dinner Wednesdays to Mondays.
For breakfast, you will find your staples like eggs, bacon or ham, toast and home fries for just $7.99, or a Belgian waffle with bacon for just $6.99 if you get the early-bird specials from 7:30 to 9 a.m. weekdays, but you will also find signature items like their creamed chipped beef ($11) over toast with home fries; Romanelli’s Omelette ($11) made with three eggs, roasted red peppers, spinach, portabella mushrooms and mozzarella with toast and home fries; biscuits and sausage gravy ($11.25); perhaps the best Southern-fried chicken and waffles ($14) you will find in the area accompanied with warm sriracha maple syrup; Cape May Cinnamon Bun French Toast ($13.50) featuring a large cinnamon bun dipped in vanilla cinnamon batter topped with strawberries and bananas; along with omelettes, Benedicts, pancakes and more.
But Huggard is particularly proud of Romanelli’s skillets. There are three of them – all served with two eggs on top over home fries with toast – including a Meat Lovers ($13.25) with bacon, breakfast sausage, ham and cheddar cheese; Veggie ($13.25) with broccoli, mushrooms, peppers, onions, zucchini and squash; and Mediterranean Seafood ($17.25) with jumbo lump cab, shrimp and Cooper Sharp cheese.
“I love the skillets because it’s how I eat,” Huggard said. “I don’t separate my food. I put it all together. So, this is my perfect breakfast.”
On weekends, breakfast turns into brunch as breakfast items are typically served later in the day and more people are inclined to indulge in some cocktails or $1 mimosas.
“Brunch is more a vibe and state of mind than breakfast even though it’s the same exact menu,” Huggard said. “If someone wants to order a chicken sandwich and someone else at the table wants a Cape May Cinnamon Bun, that’s cool.”
Lunch and dinner share one main menu, making it convenient to have as big or small of a meal as you want no matter when you walk in Romanelli’s doors.
Start off fancy with the sesame-crusted Ahi tuna ($16) seared and served with wasabi, wakeme salad and pickled ginger; the tempura-battered Booming Shrimp ($14) tossed in a spicy aioli; short rib poutine ($15) featuring slow-roasted beef short rib over tater tots smothered with a red wine gravy, Mornay cheese sauce and scallions; or Maple Bacon Brussels ($11) with oven-roasted sprouts with a maple-bacon glaze.
Or go more simple with loaded mac ($15) featuring four cheeses and thick-cut candied bacon; cheesesteak egg rolls ($12) that are hand rolled with thinly sliced prime rib sauteed with onions and Cooper Sharp cheese served with sriracha ketchup; and wings ($15) in a variety of sauces ranging from buffalo to sweet chili to root beer, the latter which was featured and won an award in the 2023 Atlantic City Wing Fest, which Romanelli’s participates in annually.
“The Brussels sprouts are my recipe,” Huggard said. “My wife hated them, and I said, ‘You have to try these.’ And now she loves them. The cheesesteaks feature prime rib just like all of our cheesesteaks. And we think that really makes them stand out. We roast our own prime rib, slice it down nice and thin, and then add some nice Cooper Sharp cheese, which I just love. I use it in everything, including our mac and cheese.”
Homemade soups include Italian Wedding and a killer French onion that features crispy onion strings on top of the melted Grueyere cheese. There are five different pizzas and flatbreads ($12.50 to $21.50) ranging from traditional margherita to The South Jersey with Italian sausage, long hot peppers, onions, provolone, mozzarella and San Marzano sauce.
Huggard is particularly proud of the burgers – check out The Leftover ($12) with American cheese, fried egg, bacon, lettuce, tomato and onion – and his signature large salads are for sharing or a giant meal for one person. Popular choices include the Very Berry Salad ($14.75) with mixed greens, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, feta cheese, toasted almonds, Mandarin oranges, apples and berry vinaigrette; and the Not So Wedge Salad ($15.50) featuring blackened chicken, hearts of Romaine, crumbled blue cheese, grape tomato, julienned carrots, bacon and chipotle ranch. There’s also Romanelli’s famous sesame tuna ($16.50) and sweet chili chicken salads ($15).
“Romanelli’s was always the place you can get good, fresh, simple food like chicken salad,” Huggard said. “And it was aways the best chicken salad. And we will always have that and never forget what made this place popular in the first place.”
Those staples also include a hot Reuben ($12) with choice of pastrami or corned beef, a junior turkey club ($11.75) and a homemade crab cake sandwich ($15.75). But of all the sandwiches, my two suggestions are the hot honey chicken ($13) featuring one of the best Southern fried chicken batters I ever had that stays crispy forever tossed in a hot honey sauce and served on a brioche roll with bacon pickles and chipotle ranch; and the vodka parm cutlet ($15) with a breaded and perfectly fried chicken cutlet with a dynamite vodka sauce and fresh mozzarella on a grilled Atlantic City sub roll that is pressed like a panini. Wow!
For those looking for homestyle entrees, Romanelli’s has you covered with fish and chips ($24) with fresh cod; Steak Romanelli ($35) with tender filet mignon sliced down and topped with cipollini onions served over garlic mashed; a bone-in peppered pork chop ($27) topped with goat horn peppers in a brandy cream sauce over roasted fingerling potatoes; Romanelli’s Salmon ($28) stuffed with crab imperial over citrus risotto and grilled asparagus; a traditional turkey dinner ($24) with gravy, mashed potatoes, mixed veggies, cranberry sauce and cole slaw; and pasta dishes like the standout shrimp pappardelle ($27) with hand-cut pasta tossed in a spicy but not too spicy rosa sauce with large Gulf shrimp.
A Bar is Born
Perhaps the biggest change Huggard made to Romanelli’s since taking ownership was when he added a huge bar that now serves as the restaurant’s centerpiece, enabling him to offer new types of food and a more diverse beer, wine and spirits menu. It also enables Romanelli’s to offer a happy hour 4 to 7 p.m. Mondays to Fridays at the bar only with $3 domestic drafts, $5 select craft and local drafts, $6 house martinis, $4 import drafts, $5 select wine, seasonal sangrias and seltzers, and $5 well drinks along with $5 to $8 appetizers and $10 pasta bowls.
“We always had a liquor license, but we never had a bar to really showcase that we did,” Huggard said. “So, during Covid, we had some down time, and I knew that was the perfect time to do it. They came in and had it done in three days. They did such a beautiful job with these gorgeous countertops, fresh oak that is custom stained all around the base, nine gorgeous flat-screen TVs that surround the bar … it’s a fun bar to be at, and it was huge for the business. It adds a whole other aspect to what we do.”
The bar features 10 beer taps with five rotating craft lines, and a full craft cocktail menu hand designed by Huggard.
“That’s my baby,” he said. “I told my team, ‘You can help me, but this is what I really have fun doing.’ And I think our cocktail menu is really fun and special.”
Huggard, a bourbon drinker, really recommends the maple bacon old fashioned featuring Noble Oak Whiskey, the Off the Beaten Path featuring local Mr. Fingers Alibi Gin and clementine/cucumber bitters, and the Peach Bourbon Smash with Four Roses Bourbon and peaches for a perfect summer drink.
“We make our own simple syrups from scratch, and we are always experimenting at the bar,” Huggard said.
Romanelli’s evolution
Last year, Huggard decided to buy a food truck to help expand his catering business while also enabling him to take Romanelli’s on the road for private events. He also recently purchased another retro-style trailer that will serve as an accompanying liquor truck so he can offer bar service at all of the events he caters.
“It started off slow, but then I did a couple of events, and it just took off,” Huggard said. “Now, it’s an absolute beast for us. There are still some kinks to work out, but it’s a lot of fun and perfect for a birthday party or private event. We cook everything fresh to order so if people love our chicken sandwich, they can get the same crispy, awesome sandwich at their home or event, and it will be exactly like if they had it at Romanelli’s. I was really inspired by my friends Bobby Hettmannsperger (Essl’s and Il Porcellino) and Mike Talley (Tacocat), who are phenomenal mentors. I don’ t know how they do what they do every day, but I am going to do my best to follow in their footsteps.”
Romanelli’s will be the only restaurant by that name that Huggard will own, but it won’t be the only restaurant Huggard will own.
He was already part of a Mexican restaurant in Galloway – La Mesa – that he has since left to his former partners to run without him, and he will soon run another kitchen at an established business by this summer.
Romanelli’s will also see some renovations soon. This spring, the Galloway staple will get a fresh paint job along with new tables, booths and furniture. And Huggard is already working on plans to expand his outdoor seating with a back patio featuring firepits and other stunning features to take advantage of the restaurant’s location overseeing Seaview Gold Club’s Pines Course.
“We are moving and grooving,” Huggard said. “I am young and hungry and eager to keep expanding. I always want to offer something new and creative, and I learned a lot from the Mexican restaurant, and I will learn every time I do something new. My thought is to have as many different types of cuisines with different brands as possible to keep things unique and fresh and interesting. I feel like I have already been doing this forever, but the truth is I am just getting started.”
(Romanelli’s Garden Café is open 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, Sundays and Mondays, and to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Go to RomanellisGardenCafe.com.)
Scott Cronick is an award-winning journalist who has written about entertainment, food, news and more in South Jersey for nearly three decades. He hosts a daily radio show – “Off The Press with Scott Cronick” – 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays on Newstalk WOND 1400-AM, 92.3-FM, and WONDRadio.com, and he also co-owns Tennessee Avenue Beer Hall in Atlantic City, while working on various projects, including charitable efforts, throughout the area. He can be reached at scronick@comcast.net.
