Felice's Closes on Kinderkamack, Bank Moving In

After 10 years, Felice's on Kinderkamack Road in Oradell closed its doors early Saturday morning. What locals mourn the most, is that for the first time in over 80 years, no food will be served at that corner. According to published reports, the landlord told the restaurant partners that they needed to vacate the building so that a bank could move in. 

The old quirky building that stands on the southeast corner of Ridgewood Avenue and Kinderkamack Road has a long and interesting history. For years, that spot was the site of Hagler’s, a legendary local hangout that served as a diner, blue collar bar, and a place that marked many a boy's first drink as a man.

How did it come to be? In the mid-1920's, the owner, John Hagler, began dishing food from a truck on the northwest corner of Ridgewood Ave. and Kinderkamack to truck drivers who traveled along Kinderkamack, one of Bergen County's main arteries before the construction of highways. His "lunch truck" had become so popular that Hagler decided to build a diner on the opposite corner. When Prohibition ended, Hagler built the adjoining tavern.

According to local history, even before he built his diner and tavern, Hagler had been a fixture in town. His wife had run the candy concession in a drugstore down the street. When that drugstore closed, she opened a candy store across the street on Kinderkmack Road.

Hagler, an avid gamesman in an area where there was an abundance of game, was prohibited by law from selling game, such as venison, in his diner. However, he treated his friends to hassenpeffer, a venison stew, free of charge. 

Each year after the hunt, Hagler would not only share the meat, but invite locals to share his venison stew making it an annual town tradition. 

After his death in 1935, Hagler's family carried on the business. When his sons went into service during World War II, Hagler's wife and two daughters kept the business running.

Upon returning from the War, the sons kept the business going until they finally sold and Felice's Restaurant moved in.  

Calls to the building owner have not been returned.