TOMS RIVER — The opportunity to grab a Fribble or Happy Ending sundae continues to become more scarce in New Jersey.

The ice cream restaurant chain Friendly's has permanently closed its Toms River location along Route 37.

The township was once home to four locations. Now it's down to one — the location on Hooper Avenue, across from Ocean County Mall, is the last Friendly's standing in Ocean and Monmouth counties.

Friendly's locations in New Jersey

According to the Friendly's website, 17 franchise locations remain in New Jersey:

  • Blackwood, 100 Premium Outlets Drive
  • Cinnaminson, 505 Route 130
  • Clark, 1463 Raritan Road
  • Convent Station, 192 Madison Avenue
  • Deptford, 1220 Hurffville Road
  • Elmwood Park, 240 Route 46 East
  • Glassboro, 1100 North Delsea Drive
  • Hackettstown, 304 Mountain Avenue
  • Marlton, Route 70 West
  • Metuchen, 550 Middlesex Avenue
  • Newton, 9 Hampton House Road, Route 206
  • Old Bridge, 180 Ferry Road
  • Robbinsville, 1031 Washington Boulevard
  • Sicklerville, 647 Cross Keys Road
  • Sussex, 455 State Route 23
  • Toms River, 1210 Hooper Avenue
  • Voorhees, 9103 Town Center Boulevard (listed as temporarily closed)
Sign on door of Friendly's location on Route 37 in Toms River (Ocean County Scanner News)
Sign on door of Friendly's location on Route 37 in Toms River (Ocean County Scanner News)
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It was reported over the summer that the Marlton location would be shutting down for good, but it's still running.

Impacted by COVID-19, the restaurant chain filed for bankruptcy in 2020.

Friendly's is now down to 122 locations nationwide, mainly along the East Coast. The count was once more than 800.

THE DEFINITIVE LIST OF THE SWEETEST ICE CREAM PARLORS IN MONMOUTH AND OCEAN COUNTIES

Dino Flammia is a reporter for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at dino.flammia@townsquaremedia.com

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