The Chestnut House

Chestnut House Restaurant - Sea Food - CocktailsBack in the 1980s, I went to art school, and I along with all of the other illustration majors were required to take a minor course in photography. We had to shoot the photos as well as process the negatives and make the prints. I don’t recall what the particulars of the class assignments were although I can tell from looking at the negatives which were the assignments and which ones were shot just to finish off a roll. The shots to finish a roll are a lot more interesting. While my fellow students mostly resided and shot their photographs in the vibrant metropolis of Philadelphia, I lived and did most of my shooting in and around Westville, NJ.

Chestnut HouseThis was The Chestnut House circa 1982. It stood at the corner of Chestnut Street and Crown Point Road. Back when The Philadelphia Bulletin was still being published, The Chestnut House was on my route, and I delivered the paper to the kitchen. It smelled terrific in there, and the dishes looked tasty, but sadly I never ate there.

These posts seem to be fairly popular with the Westville and Gloucester folks on Facebook so I’m hoping a number of you have stories or a history of the place which seemed to stand there forever. Feel free to comment below or on your respective Facebook pages. Thanks!

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11 Responses to The Chestnut House

  1. Debra Higbee says:

    My brother-in-law raved about the great food there but sadly I never ate there either.

  2. Old NFO says:

    Interesting that restaurants in the NE seem to ‘specify’ what their primary food is… Don’t see that down South or out West.

  3. Tina says:

    Jim – Didn’t realize that. I love that restaurants back then advertised that they sold liquor, much like motels had signs advertising color TVs and “air cooled comfort”!

  4. Old NFO says:

    Yep, regional/cultural differences… We were more about the AIR cooled comfort… 🙂

  5. Tina says:

    Do they really need to advertise restaurant menus in the South? Isn’t BBQ a given? 😉

  6. Bill Lex says:

    This was my Dad’s Restaurant and he opened with his Dad and 2 brothers in 1946 right after WWII. When I was born, I went there right from the hospital before home. I spent my entire early life in that place!

  7. Joe says:

    Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting!

  8. BA says:

    My mother Barbara worked for the Lex family. She was a waitress at the Chestnut house for most of my early adulthood. She loved the people and was great at her job. Not an easy way to make a living which inspired me to go to college and get a doctorate degree.(which she helped me with one dollar at a time !!) The Chestnut house had the absolute best rice pudding!!! I still have yet to find any better !!! Happy to see the photos! It brings back many memories. If I close my eyes I can see and smell almost every inch of that establishment!:)

  9. Joe says:

    Thanks so much for stopping by. I really wish I took a lot more photos back then!

  10. Diane Spata says:

    We ate there a lot when I was a child. My mom and dad were best friends with Mary and Had Lex. All I remember is sitting at this big round table with them and my Aunt Anna and Uncle Buck.

  11. Joe says:

    Thanks so much for visiting our site and leaving a comment!

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