A New Chapter Begins for Ocean City’s Chatterbox Restaurant
The next chapter has officially begun for the Chatterbox on 9th Street in Ocean City.
After being sold last May to an investment group led by Bill Bonforte, the co-owner of Philadelphia's Green Eggs Café, an Ocean City location of Green Eggs Café opened in the Chatterbox on May 26.
What is The Green Eggs Cafe?
The Green Eggs Café has become well known in Philadelphia since opening in 2010, the restaurant now has five Philly locations, including South Philly, Midtown Village, Fishtown, Rittenhouse Square, and Brewerytown. The Green Egg Café offers breakfast, brunch, and lunch eats, like steak and eggs, omelets, French toast, and breakfast burritos.
They announced their grand opening of Ocean City Green Egg Café with an Instagram post.
We are so excited to bring our expertise in brunch to the wonderful people of this shore community! We will be open EVERY DAY from 8am-3pm serving over the top French Toasts, Benedicts and so many more of your favorite dishes found in our Philly stores! We hope to see you this season!
Will The Chatterbox Name Be Changed?
The new owners say they intend to keep the Chatterbox name, referring to the new eatery as The Green Eggs Café at the Chatterbox.
Bonforte said after purchasing the business that he also has no plans to change the pink exterior of The Chatterbox or the signs outside,
"I think in everybody's heart that building will always be the Chatterbox," Bonforte said.
While the name is renaming, longtime fans will miss the Chatterbox's more extensive menu and its longer hours of operation, with The Green Eggs Café concentrating exclusively on breakfast and lunch dishes and closing at 3 pm daily.
What's the History of the Chatterbox?
The Chatterbox has been a fixture on 9th Street in Ocean City since 1937.
Renowned architect Vivian Smith, an Ocean City native, designed the Chatterbox, according to the restaurant website. Smith also designed other Ocean City landmarks, including City Hall, the Music Pier on the Boardwalk, and the historic Flanders Hotel.
Previous owners Regina Anthony and John Duva had put the famous Chatterbox Restaurant and three renovated apartments upstairs on the market for $2,895,000 after doing extensive renovations to the exterior of the building, including returning the exterior paint to a more "shrimp-like" color, that it had when the restaurant first opened more than 80 years ago.