Is Cherry Hill Mall the suburb’s center of gravity? Not by a long shot.

Does Cherry Hill — a town with so many commercial hubs and no apparent walkability between them — have a center of gravity? That’s the question I posed to several sources recently while probing them on what, if anything, anchors this sprawling township.

Let me get something out of the way: I am a Philadelphian raised in Montco, and until I started working at The Inquirer six years ago, the most time I spent in South Jersey were childhood vacations down the Shore. If I weren’t a food reporter, I may well not know of Cherry Hill’s elite status in our area’s soup dumpling scene; strip-mall gems like Radin’s Delicatessen, the best deli yet from Philly’s pastrami king; or Farm and Fisherman, which still has one of the most interesting bar programs in the region (and great food, to boot).

What I would definitely know about, no matter what, is the mall. So is the once-vaunted Cherry Hill Mall — the first indoor mall east of the Mississippi — the beating heart of the township?

“If it’s the heart of our city, then it’s got COPD,” said Jay Lassiter, a 21-year resident of Cherry Hill. “It is moribund compared to what it was. It’s just kind of an average mall now, whereas before it basically changed the game.”

Indeed, when it opened in 1961, the Cherry Hill Mall was front-page news. Thousands came to the ribbon-cutting ceremony to admire the 1-million-square-foot space, replete with palm trees, tropical gardens, fountains, waterfalls, “streams,” a covered bridge, a 21-foot-high aviary, and two free-roaming macaws named Goldie and Jerry. (Some may remember the monkey cage, but that was in the Moorestown Mall.) The mall made such an impact that many outsiders were left with the impression that Delaware Township — the suburb’s old name — rebranded in honor of the mall. In reality, residents voted to change the town’s name a few weeks after the mall opened. Both the township and the mall take their name from an 1870s cherry orchard that used to thrive where the AMC movie theater now stands.

Pre-mall, Delaware Township had another center of gravity in the Garden State Park racetrack, which arguably sparked Cherry Hill’s gradual transformation from farmland to shopping wonderland. It opened in 1942 and steadily attracted a number of glitzy restaurants and hotels, including the Cherry Hill Inn, the Latin Casino, and the Rickshaw Inn. The entertainment scene lured famous performers and Philadelphians across the bridge up until the racetrack burned down in 1977. It was rebuilt but never recovered after Atlantic City became the state’s gambling center, ultimately shuttering in 2001. It was later cleared to make way for several shopping centers and apartment complexes.

Without the track, the teenage mall took center stage. But even that was showing signs of strain by the ‘70s. “The birdcages were smelly, the fountains were swampy, and the foliage was so overgrown I felt I was shopping in a terrarium,” wrote Inquirer reporter Kevin Riordan of his mall experience at that time.

The space has undergone several major renovations in the 64 years since its debut. Today, it reads like any other American mall nice enough to have a Nordstrom’s. Save for a few local mall-restaurant aspirants — Blue Fig Garden, Da’Villas Crem’e and Cookies, and Ginny’s Cookies & Cream — its food tenants represent the usual suspects (Bahama Breeze, Capital Grille, Auntie Anne’s, Saladworks).

So it’s not surprising that pretty much every resident I spoke with rejected the mall as the core of Cherry Hill, even if that’s what most outsiders identify the town with.

“Anywhere you went, it was always like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s where that famous mall is,’” said Elias Bitar, 44, whose family moved from South Philly to Cherry Hill when he was 8. In Bitar’s opinion, the mall might be more of a net loss for Cherry Hill residents. “It doesn’t enhance our way of life,” he said.

Another mall does, sort of: “There’s the mall, and then there’s strip malls. And every neighborhood had their strip mall,” Bitar said. One in particular is nearest and dearest to him, the Barclay Farms Shopping Center, where his family opened Norma’s restaurant and market, a Cherry Hill fixture, in 1996. It’s where you’ll find him most workdays. “People growing up used to come here from the neighborhoods and walk [to Barclay Farms], so that might be the closest thing to a sort of Collingswood experience,” Bitar said, referring to the neighboring suburb’s bustling downtown along Haddon Avenue.

Barclay Farms is far from the only shopping center in this sprawling township. There’s the Ellisburg Shopping Center, Kresson Road, Short Hills, Hillview, Woodcrest, Towne Place, Market Place, Garden State Pavilions — the list goes on. Some are home to well-funded chains like Dunkin’ and Honeygrow, but you can find plenty of treasures scattered amid the nail salons and phone stores.

“Strip malls in Cherry Hill are home to some of the most extraordinary cuisine that any American could ever dare to dream for, and that counts for a lot,” said Lassiter, a liberal activist and Jersey politics writer who moved to town in 2004.

You really can find a dizzying array of food here, from the fresh ravioli and trays of chicken piccata at Croce Pasta to Hung Vuong Food Market’s seemingly endless aisles stocked with produce, sauces, noodles — even live fish — to the wok-fried rice cakes at Dim Sum House and the flaky boreks and baklava on display at Basak Turkish Bakery (one of two places in Cherry Hill where you can get a Turkish breakfast).

That variety is reflective of the diversity you’ll find in Cherry Hill’s populace, but Lassiter would like to see the local government encourage it further. “Give immigrants a tax break to come open up a restaurant ... instead of incentivizing like companies like Subaru or this recycling company [EMR] or the Philadelphia 76ers,” Lassiter said. “These restaurants and business owners are thriving and succeeding in spite of the local government. ... Why don’t we give them a tax break? Because that money would go right back into the community. They would actually be hiring local people.”

For some Cherry Hill residents, advocates like Lassiter are one of the town’s greatest resources. “The best part is that the citizens are very involved. You don’t find that in a lot of places,” said Muqaddas Ejaz, who has lived in South Jersey since 2007 and has served as a leader in Camden County’s political and interfaith spaces. Ejaz also thinks Cherry Hill could do more to celebrate its diversity. “We’re not utilizing it well to bring communities together in a creative way — which, if we do it with all good intention, it can really be very flourishing.” (Her first idea? “Maybe if we start doing some fun food festivals that will connect the community better.”)

Community is a big deal here. As developers converted Cherry Hill’s farmland to housing during its post-World War II population boom, they built a swim club and an elementary school for each subdivision. The result, decades later?

“Cherry Hill is just families. It’s tons of families,” says chef Josh Lawler, who lives in Cherry Hill and co-owns Farm and Fisherman. “Everyone I talk to is running around with lots of activities, getting ready for bat mitzvahs, all that kind of stuff. That’s what’s always going on here.”

Lawler grew up in Conshohocken, but he and his wife moved to Cherry Hill in 2011 because it was convenient for getting into the city — a perk lots of interviewees cited — where he opened the original Farm & Fisherman BYOB the same year. His now-landlord was a customer and pitched him on taking over a Cherry Hill staple, Andreotti’s Viennese Cafe. Lawler and partner Todd Fuller bought the 30-year-old restaurant (and its highly prized liquor license) and turned it into a farm-to-table restaurant — something new for the area at the time.

“We really wanted a city experience — food and cocktails from scratch, well-sourced — that didn’t exist out here for the most part," Lawler said. “And we knew Cherry Hill had a great population density of people that were going into the city anyway. Why not save those people a trip into the city and open a place that they can also bring their kids?”

The concept took a couple years for residents to fully embrace, Lawler said, but it’s a now a town treasure (and a rare, independently owned full-service restaurant). Go on a weekday afternoon or evening and it’ll be noisy with customers.

Cherry Hill’s most obvious drawback is needing a car for almost everything, sometimes even just crossing the street. Elias Bitar considers Lawler and company “cup-of-sugar-type friends,” but they’re located on the other side of Route 70. “There’s no way that I could get there without driving,” he said. “There’s at least one jughandle or U-turn involved.”

That might change as the seemingly neverending Route 70 improvements progress, said Cherry Hill native Bob Saldutti, an attorney who lives in Barclay and has a practice on Kings Highway. “One of the things that they’re doing with Route 70 now is to make it ... a little bit more pedestrian-friendly,” said Saldutti, who has served as a president of Barclay Farm’s Civic Association. The project, slated for completion in early 2027, includes new sidewalk installation and crosswalks with push-buttons and countdown lights.

Saldutti chipped away at the idea that people can’t get around on foot in Cherry Hill. “It’s more walkable than you think. When I run in the morning I easily do a 6½-mile loop,” he said. Some folks are just really determined. “I live next to a gentleman who’s in his late 80s. He walks to Christ Our Light [Catholic Church] every Saturday night. That’s gotta be two miles.”

Saldutti’s morning loop runs through a leafy section of town known as the Hunt Tract. “It’s like, ‘Wow. Where am I?’” Saldutti described. Jay Lassiter and his husband live near this part of town, in a “midcentury modern ranch house on three wooded acres,” Lassiter said. “It looks like we live in West Virginia.”

After the racetrack was razed in 2003, Cherry Hill had a chance to develop a downtown. “When work began 15 years ago to transform the 226-acre former Garden State Park racetrack site into what was touted as a transit-oriented walkable community of stylish residences, shop-lined main streets, white-collar workplaces, and lush parks, it seemed that Cherry Hill would finally get a heart,” Inquirer columnist Kevin Riordan wrote in 2017.

The site wound up home to a Costco.

Saldutti doesn’t think it’s a tragedy. “Downtowns struggle,” he said. “There’s restaurants, which is nice, but the concept that you’re going to have that mass of people, like you’re going to have a thousand people go down to Haddonfield and shop for clothing — it’s a nice thought, a Norman Rockwell-type of concept, [but] people don’t shop that way.”

Lawler underscores that point. “All these other towns around us have a little downtown, but they come over here to do their shopping,” he said. “We’re the epicenter.”

Cherry Hill may lack its own definitive center of gravity, but it has an orbit all of its own.

A living history museum — Quaker-style costumes and all — anchors this 32-acre property in the Barclay Farm section of Cherry Hill. Tours of the 1816 brick farmhouse are offered to the public March through November; they’re free to Cherry Hill residents and $5 for everyone else. The estate also has a community plant-a-patch program tended to by 100 local gardeners.

📍 209 Barclay Ln., Cherry Hill, NJ 08034 📞 856-795-6225 🌐 chnj.gov/847/Barclay-Farmstead

“The library’s epic!” Bob Saldutti raves. The township spent $21.6 million to build a state-of-the-art facility in 2004. Besides books on everything — including Cherry Hill history — the library hosts lots of programming, from regular needlework meetups to Dungeons & Dragons sessions for teens.

📍 1100 Kings Highway N., Cherry Hill, NJ 08034 📞 856-667-0300 🌐 chplnj.org/

This recreational/educational/cultural center overlooks Evans Pond and features a historic house, several teaching studios, nature trails, and a 200-seat venue set in a tractor barn. It hosts concerts, wellness walks, art shows and more. “It’s a tremendous asset to this township,” Saldutti said.

📍 100 Bortons Mill Rd., Cherry Hill, NJ 08034 📞 856-216-0669 🌐 chnj.gov/1275/Croft-Farm

This iconic local sporting goods store, originally opened in 1962, takes its name from former owners Bob Danzeisen and Bill Quigley, who sold the business to longtime employees in 2019. It’s a go-to stop for skiers and snowboarders, but it recently expanded to surf and skateboard gear, too.

📍 1409 NJ-70 E. Unit 200, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034 📞 856-520-8570 🌐 dandq.com

Specializing in bike repair and sales, this family-owned bike shop has been a boon to Cherry Hill’s cyclist community for 50 years. It also sells e-bikes.

📍 1011 Marlton Pike W., Cherry Hill, NJ 08002 📞 856-428-2344 🌐 erltonbikes.com

Unless you have a set shopping list, budget an hour to explore this enormous grocery store, which has an impressive selection of Asian ingredients across every category, from proteins and produce to pantry staples. Don’t miss the cookware section or the toy vending machines.

📍 1445 Brace Rd., Cherry Hill, NJ 08034 📞 856-857-1189 🌐 hungvuongmarkets.com

A local prom-shopping destination for decades, Jan’s has 50 dressing rooms and two floors’ worth of gowns for every occasion. Make an appointment (you can text).

📍 406 Marlton Pike E., Cherry Hill, NJ 08034 📞 856-428-8181 🌐 jansboutiqueonline.com

Reopening for the season at the end of March, this 76-year-old farm keeps the agricultural legacy of Cherry Hill (and Delaware Township before it) alive. It’s got all the things you expect of your local farm: egg-hunt hayrides in spring, ripe tomatoes and sweet corn in summer, and pumpkin picking and pies in fall.

📍 1638 South Springdale Rd., Cherry Hill, NJ 08003 📞 856-424-8674 🌐 springdalefarms.com

Muqaddas Ejaz loves this huge Indian market in the Ashland neighborhood. “You find a lot of organic stuff for really good prices,” Ejaz says. “It has a little snack shop [serving] very authentic Indian vegetarian snacks. All of it is vegetarian.” On top of that, the store carries Indian clothing and jewelry.

📍 1400 Haddonfield-Berlin Rd., Cherry Hill, NJ 08003 📞 856-354-5061 🌐 thesubzimandi.com

This store in a Marlton Pike shopping center is a two-for-one, encompassing a men’s suiting retailer started in 1955 and a women’s clothier that specializes in designer brands.

📍 2076 Marlton Pike E., Cherry Hill, NJ 08003 📞 856-424-4347 🌐 leenewman.com

Owned by a mom and former special education teacher, this playspace features a construction zone, a magnet wall, an indoor climber, and a coffee bar for the grown-ups. There’s open play on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. For something similar in the mall, check out Star Park Indoor Playground.

📍 2076 Marlton Pike E., Cherry Hill, NJ 08003 📞 856-432-3083 🌐 wildchildplayco.com

In a region stacked with upscale Italian options, this Cherry Hill staple stands out for its size and versatility, with a sommelier, raw bar, and shaded outdoor seating. Scan its many dining areas for South Jersey’s stars (car dealers, TV meteorologists, retired hockey players, etc.).

📍 2011 Marlton Pike W., Cherry Hill, NJ 08002 📞 856-663-1747 🌐 caffelamberti.com

Josh Lawler recommends this woman-owned steamed-dumpling specialist across the street from the Wegmans. “It was fabulous,” he says. Besides handmade bao (priced at an insanely affordable $2.50 a pop), there are noodle dishes, steamed dumplings, and Hong Kong-style waffles.

📍 926 Haddonfield Rd. Suite D, Cherry Hill, NJ 08002 📞 856-635-3858 🌐 mybaomama.com

Folks on the South Jersey Food Scene Facebook group gush about this two-year-old bakery, which makes its own flaky baklava and borek, traditional breads, and specialty cakes. I’m planning a return to Cherry Hill for the acma pastry, Turkish breakfast spread, and the chocolate-pistachio cake. The bakery is open from 7 a.m. to midnight every day but Sunday, making it an especially good option for either late-night or breakfast treats.

📍 1990 NJ-70 E., Cherry Hill, NJ 08003, 📞 908-504-0221, 🌐 basakbakery.com

A family-owned gem attached to the Cherry Hill Mall, this luxe-feeling BYOB is the sophisticated sibling to Moorestown’s Blue Fig Cafe. Everything is prepared from scratch, from the sesame-studded samit rings to the pistachio-enriched Dubai chocolate bars. Go for the enormous Turkish breakfast spread (order menemen or eggs with soujouk sausage on the side) or the lahmacun, an elliptical flatbread slicked with minced beef and aromatics that’s baked in the restaurant’s gilded pizza oven. To celebrate Ramadan, the restaurant is giving customers free red lentil soup and pita during the month of March.

📍 2000 NJ-38 Space #1160, Cherry Hill, NJ 08002 📞 856-320-2055 🌐 bluefiggarden.com

This sandwich destination is harder to find than most places in Cherry Hill. It’s down an alleyway off Route 70, behind Divorce Center. The cheesy breakfast sandwiches, well-constructed cheesesteaks (including the chicken cheesesteak, a favorite of Craig LaBan’s), and Italian hoagies make it well worth seeking out. If you have any room left, check out Lou and Ann’s Deli further down the road; the venerated 66-year-old sandwich shop is on the market.

📍 906 Township Ln., Cherry Hill, NJ 08002 📞 856-429-2022 🌐 instagram.com/chicksdeli

Would that every suburb had an Italian market like this. Owner Joe Croce moved to Cherry Hill from Italy and opened this compact grocery store in 1990. He and his family have filled every inch with imported specialties (buffalo milk butter, sweet finocchiona, every shape of dried pasta, etc.). Want a gourmet dinner you can phone in? They make fresh pasta and sauces in house, along with platters of chicken marsala, lasagna, and meatballs. Don’t miss the sandwiches — especially the No. 2, with roasted red peppers, prosciutto, and wonderfully salty fresh mozzarella.

📍 811 Marlton Pike W., Cherry Hill, NJ 08002 📞 856-795-6000 🌐 crocepasta.com/cherryhill

Piping hot soup dumplings in near-translucent wrappers are the star here (they’re Craig LaBan’s favorite in the region), but round out your order with Dim Sum House’s excellent cold appetizers (pork knuckles and ears, marinated duck, and smoked fish) and hot dishes like spicy fried rice and Shanghai-style udon noodles. Plan on bringing home leftovers.

📍 1471 Brace Rd. Unit F, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034 📞 856-433-8161 🌐 dimsumhouseusa.com

This decade-old establishment in the Sawmill Village shopping center, from South Jersey native Craig Vogt, has plenty of traditional Korean dishes on its menu, including galbi, japchae, kimchi jigae, and soon dubu. But Dolsot House also gets a lot of attention for its shatteringly crisp wings, tossed in your choice of honey sesame, soy garlic, spicy, or diablo sauce.

📍 404 Marlton Pike E., Cherry Hill, NJ 08034 📞 856-216-0090 🌐 dolsothouse.com

This bar and restaurant introduced Cherry Hill to the farm-to-table concept in 2013. It has yet to get old. There are meaty entrées like the onion jam-topped industrial burger and rigatoni Bolognese, as well as vegetable-forward riffs like Korean BBQ squash and roasted cauliflower in mushroom curry cream. The drinks are as seasonally inspired as the food. Don’t sleep on the no- and low-alcohol standbys, including the housemade ginger beer and the elderflower spritz.

📍 1442 Marlton Pike E., Cherry Hill, NJ 08034 📞 856-356-2282 🌐 fandftavern.com

Numerous people who live and work in Cherry Hill single out this location of Han Chiang’s Sichuan restaurant empire. Josh Lawler goes so frequently, the staff knows him by sight. His order every time: crispy cucumbers, scallion pancakes, dan dan noodles, vegetable fried rice, dry-fry-style pork, and mapo tofu.

📍 404 NJ-70, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034 📞 856-428-0088 🌐 handynasty.net

When he visited this colorful BYOB a couple years back, Craig LaBan was transfixed by Hên chef-owner Andrew Ma’s bánh khọt — crispy-creamy bite-sized half-sphered pancakes made with coconut milk and rice flour and filled with savory nubs of ground pork and tiny shrimp. Pair them with delicate summer rolls, sweet-and-salty bò lúc lac, and fragrant bún bò huế.

📍 2087 Marlton Pike E., Cherry Hill, NJ 08003 📞 856-888-1578 🌐 heneatery.com

This beloved modern Indian restaurant ping-ponged between Philadelphia and South Jersey before nestling in Cherry Hill for what appears to be the long haul. Inquirer critic Craig LaBan has heaped it with praise in past, and locals swear by its innovative renditions of familiar dishes (think grilled chicken tikka chipotle and butter chicken poutine). “The best Indian cuisine that I’ve ever had,” says Jay Lassiter.

📍 65 Barclay Farms Shopping Center, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034 📞 856-230-4633, 🌐 indebluerestaurant.com

One of a few independently owned watering holes in Cherry Hill, this sports bar is the “closest thing we have to a neighborhood bar,” says Josh Lawler, who orders the roast pork sandwich. As a bonus, it’s family-friendly.

📍 1424 Brace Rd., Cherry Hill, NJ 08034 📞 856-428-2555 🌐 kaminskisbarandgrill.com

Like their Italian neighbors up the street at Croce’s, the staff at 14-year-old La Cita makes everything daily, including fresh tortillas, guacamole, salsa, and chips. The restaurant thoughtfully offers a taco sampler, so you don’t have to choose between al pastor, birria, and carnitas — you can have them all (plus two more). Be sure to check out El Mercadito next door, where you can buy dried chilies, fresh cheeses, and Mexican baked goods.

📍 911 Marlton Pike W., Cherry Hill, NJ 08002 📞 856-375-2194 🌐 mylacita.com

Hidden away in an office park off Route 70, this microbrewery churns out a varied selection of well-executed beers and hard seltzers. The bar had 14 beers on draft on a recent visit, including several sours, an imperial pilsner, a rye saison, and pistachio stout on nitro. Seltzer buffs should seek this place out; Mechanical has a dedicated seltzer brewer on staff, coming up with far-fetched flavors like cotton candy and oaked prosecco.

📍 5 Perina Blvd. Suite 800, Cherry Hill, NJ 08003 📞 856-389-4151 🌐 mechanicalbrewery.com

This may not be the best soup dumpling spot in Cherry Hill — The Inquirer’s resident expert awarded that honor to Dim Sum House — but this branch of New York’s Nan Xiang offers an easy opportunity to check out a Michelin-starred restaurant in South Jersey. You can watch the chefs at work in this gorgeous dining room, where I sampled maybe the best string beans I’ve ever had. It’s also impossible to resist the “Lucky Six” steamer, a rainbow-colored set of soup dumplings.

📍 901 Haddonfield Rd., Cherry Hill, NJ 08002 📞 856-977-0588 🌐 nanxiangxiaolongbao.com

A fixture in the Barclay Farms Shopping Center, the Bitar family has been serving up Eastern Mediterranean specialties — fuul, shawarma, falafel, and much more — to Cherry Hill since 1992. (You might recognize their last name from Bitar’s, the former Lebanese market and luncheonette that lasted 30 years in South Philly; Norma’s was started by one of the three Bitar brothers.) Stop at Norma’s market next door for Middle Eastern ingredients and the restaurant’s homemade baklava and pita chips.

📍 145 Barclay Farms Shopping Center, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034 📞 856-795-1373 🌐 normasrestaurant.com

Legendary for its status as a see-and-be-seen destination for politicians, Ponzio’s has served millions of customers over 61 years. The Fifis family knows its way around a French dip and a cookie tray (all Ponzio’s baked goods and desserts are made on-site), but Farm and Fisherman chef Josh Lawler likes Ponzio’s for its low-key bar. “It’s super-old school, but kind of fun,” he says.

📍 7 NJ-70, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034 📞 856-428-4808 🌐 ponzios.com

You won’t miss this pizza place as you’re cruising down Route 38: It’s marked by a red-and-white polka-dotted Fiat and housed in a former Pizza Hut (or so its roof would have you believe). Craig LaBan recalls People’s fondly: “I remember particularly loving their stuffed pizzas when I was a hungry young correspondent in the Cherry Hill bureau.” The stuffed-crust beauty is still on the menu today.

📍 1500 NJ-38, Cherry Hill, NJ 08002 📞 856-665-6575 🌐 peoplespizzacherryhill.com

Inquirer critic Craig LaBan swooned about this year-old restaurant from serial deli-owner Russ Cowan, or as Craig calls him, “Philly’s pastrami king.” Oversized sandwiches and matzo ball soup are highly recommended.

📍 486 Evesham Rd., Cherry Hill, NJ 08003 📞 856-509-5492 🌐 radinsdelicatessen.com

South Jerseyans are lucky not to have to cross the bridge to get to this Chinatown institution best known for its classic Cantonese fixings. Get egg noodle soup (the best there is), roasted duck, thinly wrapped wontons, and beef brisket, and you’ll have no regrets.

📍 1601 Kings Highway North, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034 📞 856-310-2388 🌐 sangkeenoodlecafe.net

A friend described this chain diner (more commonly found in Maryland and Virginia) as “an Epcot version of a Jersey diner,” but Jay Lassiter endorses it personally. “It’s got all the food that I want to get at a diner, but also slightly healthier options that aren’t bird-food healthy,” he says.

📍 2131 NJ-38, Cherry Hill, NJ 08002 📞 856-910-1240 🌐 silverdiner.com/cherryhill

This isn’t as retro as a steakhouse can get (the Pub in Pennsauken is untouchable in that regard), but this old-school charmer ups the ante with tableside Caesar salad service. Josh Lawler rates it as “worth a trip over bridge” for sure.

📍 515 NJ-38 E., Cherry Hill, NJ 08002 📞 856-662-3838 🌐 steak38restaurant.com

This Japanese BYOB from chef Jae Shin, a Starr Restaurants alum, does a brisk takeout business, but the restaurant’s excellent food and service make it well worth hanging out. Sushi rolls and gyoza are popular choices here, but Zushi Dozo’s mom-and-pop crew also makes ramen, galbi, and rice bowls. Elias Bitar sings their praises: “They do those extra steps, like the making your own sauces and little things that make them stand out.”

📍 1892 Marlton Pike E., Cherry Hill, NJ 08003 📞 856-528-5139 🌐 zushidozo.com