Rod’s Steak and Seafood Grille

[MetsFan5]

My beloved Rod’s in Convent Station (aka Morris Township) sold their entire operations to a management company in CA. The management company had been involved with running the hotel (The Madison Hotel) from day one; the family that owned Rod’s didn’t have the expertise in hotel management and I believe it was a condition of getting the original bank loan. The Keller’s have always been restauranteurs, not hotel owners. 
 

I worked there for years in college and ate very well!. Grew up going there for most family dinners, back when they had the neon dance floor and the salad bar upstairs.  I was proposed to there, I had my wedding at the hotel and am recently divorced. Everything comes full circle. I’m still sad to see a restaurant ran by generations of the same family sell such an amazingly unique property. I was dismayed when the Knowles family sold Highlawn Pavilion and closed all the dining rooms at the Manor (I worked there as well) but Rod’s hits a little bit harder. The Keller family has always been very generous to the local community and I hope the restaurants and hotel do not suffer too much from the sale as whomever comes in will have to work very, very hard to fill the void that is now established.