Owners Sal and Nancy Silipino welcome visitors from all over as they fly into Hammonton Municipal Airport
On the outskirts of Wharton State Forest is a small airport – Hammonton Municipal Airport. At the edge of its lone runway sits the Apron Café. With windows for walls, every table is like literally having the best seat in the house as you watch propeller planes fly by.
Sweetwater River, Batsto Village, Paradise Lakes, and downtown Hammonton are all within 15 minutes of its front door. Though a short drive for locals and blueberry festival attendees, people come from all over. Here, the friendliness is contagious, starting with owners, Sal and Nancy Silipino, to the servers, and right down to the diners.
“How are you? How are you feeling?”
Sal pauses our interview to greet one of his regulars. His customer waves back from his window seat. He continues. “I have regular customers coming in from areas that are not close by. There’s plenty of places in-between to stop, but they’ll drive here, saying, ‘We just like coming out here.’”
And they don’t just drive, they fly. Pilots from Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware, Washington, D.C., even Virginia and New Hampshire will come for a hearty breakfast or lunch.
“We have a lot of gatherings and a lot of flying clubs,” Sal says. One fly-in visitor, wolfgangx on www.ourairports.com posts,
“The restaurant gave us a bowl of water for our dogs. Very friendly!”
When Sal first found the restaurant, he immediately told Nancy about it.
“We liked it,” Nancy says, “and became patrons. We began to think how the atmosphere sells itself; wouldn’t it be great if we got the chance to own it?”
Travelers can enjoy a hearty breakfast or lunch at Apron Café while also enjoying the views of planes flying in and out of Hammonton Municipal Airport.
Well, lo and behold, the couple got that chance. With a good foundation left by the previous owner, they were able to reopen during the pandemic with the limited seating guidelines.
“It got our feet wet and allowed us to move forward,” Nancy says.
Now in its third season, these Hammonton residents are making it happen.
“My wife runs everything,” Sal says. But Nancy disagrees. “WE run it together, I just keep all the balls in the air,” she says.
“Regina [Clark] is a great chef, adept and capable; we give her free rein. She’s in sync with us. And we have a dedicated and efficient staff. We couldn’t run it without them.”
The Apron Café is family-friendly. Children watch out the window to catch a plane taking off or landing – or if they are lucky – both.
Sal says, “On weekends we’ll have [up to] five planes park here and meet for breakfast or lunch. It’s really a neat thing to watch.”
Their daughter, Nicholene, helps out as server during school breaks.
“We’re always thinking of something,” Sal says.
Open all year, at Christmas time they bring in Mr. and Mrs. Claus by helicopter to visit with children in the café. It is such a hit, they flew in the Easter Bunny, too.
Looking to host many more unique events in the near future, Sal envisions an airplane show much like a car show, with participants displaying their planes for the public to see close up.
They also hope to have a weekend arts and crafts show.
“Hammonton is a cultural town,” Nancy says. “We like to cater to it, to honor family traditions and honor the town ethos. We’re here because of the support of the townspeople.”
Their Wednesday dinners are a nod to the town of Hammonton. With many Italian American residents, it’s often an Italian dinner.
“Or, we’ll have prime rib,” says Sal. “And, we’re having a barbeque feast for Memorial Day.”
This year, they have started new traditions with Mother’s Day and Father’s Day brunch buffets.
Open seven days, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., their menu offers familiar foods such as steak and eggs, chicken and waffles, biscuits and gravy, French toast, wings, fried pickles, nachos, burgers, sandwiches, and specials created by Regina.
“She likes to change it up,” says Sal. “Every week she puts together something different.”
With nice weather coming, they’re upgrading their patio, where patrons can relax and get an even closer look at the planes.
“We got new chairs for our outdoor seating this season, they’re very comfortable,” Sal says.
“And we try to make it a little tropical. I bring in palm trees and date trees—last year I had a banana tree out there. It’s a destination place. You have to want to come here; you have to know about this place.”
It’s true. Special and unique, the Apron Café is like a treasure in the jungle. Find it once, and you’ll keep going back.
