Arooga's Grille House and Sports Bar opens in East Brunswick

EAST BRUNSWICK — A new retail section of Coral May Plaza at 1031 Route 18 South came to life over the weekend as Arooga’s Grille House & Sports Bar, now the townships largest restaurant at 8,000 square feet with hundreds of seats, opened with great fanfare.

Amid Sunday morning’s ribbon cutting hosted by Mayor Brad Cohen, Township Council members, Arooga’s founder and President Gary Huether, his newest franchisee/owner of the East Brunswick unit, Igor Zak, and Zak’s general manager, Liz Bryant, the parking lot quickly reached capacity as the first 100 guests, plus others, won free wings for a year.

“Awesome location,” Huether said of Jersey’s second Arooga’s, adding, “This is one of the biggest and baddest locations in the company.” (The first in the state, in North Plainfield, is operated by a different franchisee.)

“We hate the word chain,” said Huether, explaining that he prefers to call his organization a “restaurant group.”

Huether’s company has 10 corporate-managed locations in Pennsylvania, where it is based, and six franchises in other states. This July will mark the company’s first decade in business.

While Huether worked in restaurants during high school and college, he wound up not continuing college, choosing instead to invest in his first Snap-on tools and equipment franchise. He later sold a few Snap-on franchises, then opened his first bar, only to be told he “was crazy,” he said.

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“But I’ve always had a passion for restaurants and always loved sports,” Heuther said.

The entrepreneur earned an award that turned out to be pivotal when he won the 2010 America’s Next Hot Restaurant Franchise competition, outdoing some 250 others. The prize was assistance with franchise development, he said.

“That’s how our whole deal kind of started,” Heuther said, adding that they walked him through the legal aspects of franchising.

“It was a dream that became reality,” he said.

The judges liked how “we were able to be both a restaurant and bar,” he said, noting that the bar and restaurant are “segregated” in East Brunswick.

“The second you are in a bar and have little kids running around, (well), you are not really a bar,” Huether said, citing two different environments at Arooga’s, where the same patrons use both rooms.

“We see mom and dad in with the family, then back for the game on Sunday,” he said.

Business back in town

“One of the biggest signs that a community is coming back to life,” said Cohen, “is business is coming back to town.”

Prior to cutting the ribbon, Cohen introduced Councilman James Wendell, Council President Michael Spadafino and Council Vice President Sterley Stanley, who were in attendance on the bright sunny morning.

READ:New N. Plainfield sports bar features fresh, quality fare

Then he introduced Huether, 37.

“First I want to say congratulations to our franchisee Igor (Zak) here," Huether said. "We are very excited to be part of the town. You are going to find cool things inside: A hundred plus TV’s, an awesome menu with award-winning wings and Wagyu burgers, a tremendous amount of gluten-free options and a lot of vegetarian options.”

Wagyu burgers are from a premium breed of cattle derived from the Japanese Kobe cattle, Huether said.

“We are family friendly but also a sports bar,” Huether told the crowd, congratulating Zak and Bryant.

Zak, 52, a native of Russia who lives in Holmdel, explained that he’s been waiting nearly four years since agreeing to lease the space for the restaurant.

As Huether’s multi-unit franchisee for Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean counties, he said he plans to open six more Arooga’s over the next eight to nine years.

Middlesex County has 1,523 “food services and drinking places,” according to the most recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) figures.

Zak owns nine Dunkin’ Donuts in New Jersey, including the unit at 680 Route 18 North in East Brunswick, which he built in 2007. Several are “combo” franchises featuring Baskin-Robbins ice cream, including the East Brunswick store. 

WATCH: 6 bar dishes with a fresh twist you'll find at Arooga's

Zak said no other businesses have opened in Coral May Plaza but mentioned Liquid Hair Salon and a frozen yogurt shop as two future neighbors.

Bryant, 40, was born and raised in Freehold. After traveling extensively with her husband in the military, she said she’s excited to be back in the area and take on the challenge of delivering some 300 meals and drinks a day to patrons.

“It takes a lot to make that happen,” she said, adding that the business hired 160 local employees.

Bryant said there were five managers on her team in East Brunswick.

“In the kitchen, I have 50 employees alone, plus another 50 in the back of house,” Bryant said, citing others responsible for “guest service.”

“That’s our guarantee, to give you great service,” Bryant said.

She estimated that there were 20 servers on the floor Saturday evening.
But overall, “probably 50 plus,” she added. (Arooga’s actually opened the day before the ribbon cutting).

"Just because we are a sports bar doesn’t mean our food has to suck," said Huether. “We are open from 11 (a.m.) to 2 (a.m.) daily, and our kitchen is open until midnight or later.”

READ:Best bars to catch the game in Central Jersey

Arooga’s is named for the sound of the horn on a Ford Model T, Huether said.

More information, as well as menus, visit www.aroogas.com.