20 Years Of Comfort At Sandy's Cozy Corner In Lakehurst

LAKEHURST, NJ — Sandy Dreyer reached into a cabinet and pulled out a Ziploc bag, then walked over to a table where a couple sat with their toddler son.

"Would you like these?" she asked, holding the bag up for the little boy to see the big, bright pegs and pegboard. The mom smiled widely, as moms so often do when they are showing a youngster what a happy surprise looks like, and Sandy handed over the bag and moved on.

Customers began arriving, in groups of 3 and 4, ready for dinner. "Church is letting out," she said, as she welcomed her guests and seated them, some at tables lining the walls lit with Tiffany-style stained glass lamps, others at tables big enough to accommodate a larger group.

Some of the customers greet her by name and ask how her family is.

"I know them by face," she says, but after 20 years, the number of faces she recognizes far exceeds the number of names she can remember. It's gratifying to see them come back, week after week, year after year.

In an era where small businesses, particularly restaurants, come and go, Sandy's Cozy Corner on Route 70 in Lakehurst stands out. Sandy has been operating the restaurant, which serves freshly cooked, homestyle meals, since 1999.

The restaurant's first home was just a short distance down the road, a 50-seat cubbyhole that caught the eye of Sandy, who was running a nail salon at the time but wanted something to bring in more income.

"They said it was turn-key, but it needed a lot of work," she said with a laugh. She started out with a small menu —"It was two pages," she said — and slowly built up, adding dishes and items for a variety of tastes. Now 12 pages, it includes a senior menu, a children's menu and a full array of breakfast choices. As its popularity grew, she needed a larger spot, and moved to the current location in 2003.

She also offers a limited menu of complete meals, geared mainly toward seniors or those who have disabilities, specially priced and delivered once a week, similar to Meals on Wheels. "They can order it (orders have to be in by 3 p.m. on Mondays) and we deliver it" in reheatable dishes.

Her most famous recipe is her biscuits with sausage gravy. "Nobody offers it around here," Sandy said of the dish's popularity. It is an old family recipe, and you can even buy it by the quart to take home with you. It — and all the food she serves — is prepared fresh daily.

"We grew up eating biscuits and gravy and SOS," Sandy said, SOS being chipped beef on toast. And while biscuits and gravy are usually thought of as a Southern dish, Sandy was raised in North Jersey, "in Newark and Bloomfield," with six brothers and sisters.

Sandy relocated to Brick in 1985, she said, and still lives there. She drives the 20 minutes to the restaurant daily, acting as hostess and handling all the bookkeeping duties. She used to do the cooking but now leaves that to her kitchen staff. The wait staff includes her oldest daughter, Crystal, and for a time her grandson worked at the restaurant as well. She has two other daughters, and photos of them adorn the wall behind the register.

The decor is one of the eye-catching features of the restaurant, and Sandy said it was one of the aspects that stressed her most, from choosing the curtains to the seating. In one corner, there are a number of New York Yankees photos, showing off her love for the Bronx Bombers. Overhead is a blue model train, reminiscent of the blue Comet that used to come through Lakehurst. There are fairy statues and glittering crystals.

At either end of the counter area are brown paper trees that she created. They are remnants of the first Halloween celebration, where she decorated the restaurant in a Wizard of Oz theme and all of the staff and dressed in costume.

"I decorate for every holiday," she said, and generally does it all in one night, "so when people come the next day it's all ready."

Halloween is the favorite, and Sandy goes all out. One year the theme was Cinderella, complete with the coach. Another year they were pirates. She posts pictures to the restaurant's Facebook page afterward.

Sandy's customers are so loyal that she takes reservations on Sundays and has a waiting list.

But she does not take that for granted. She used to take a vacation each year but has not in several years because she values her customers.

"If you shut down for a week, you force your regular customers to go somewhere else," she said, "and there's no guarantee they will come back."

The only time she has shut down was during Superstorm Sandy, when the restaurant was without power.

"I paid my employees that week and put them to work on the interior" because she knew they were relying on the income. Her staff repays her with loyalty. "We have very little turnover."

Even after 20 years, she comes to work every day, looking to serve her customers and make their day and their visit pleasant.

"Making people happy, that's what I love," she said.

"We've been coming here for 10 years," one woman said as she waited to be seated with a group of friends. "We love it."

"It's a little overwhelming when I really think about it," Sandy said, wiping away a tear. "It really means a lot."

IF YOU GO: Sandy's is not a late-night dinner place; it opens at 6 a.m. and closes at 7:30 p.m. most evenings and Sundays are 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. It also is BYOB, so if you want to enjoy a bottle of wine with the scrumptious pot roast, bring your favorite with you.

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