What Could Replace Old Steak and Ale?

The former Steak and Ale restaurant in has been shuttered since 2008.

The doors of the once-thriving Route 35 steakhouse closed when its parent company, Bennigan’s Franchising, of Dallas, TX, went bankrupt that year.

What used to be a hot spot for business lunches and casual family dining at the Route 35 site has been stagnant since.

Its cracked sign still fronts the highway, as does the boarded-up building.

The last word from the on development of the site was that the liquor license for the once-thriving Route 35 steakhouse had been sold to the new , .

Aside from the liquor license transfer, an incomplete application to convert the old steakhouse into a mixed-use retail/office complex has been lingering at the department offices for some time, Planning Board Secretary Debra Yuro said.

The site’s owner River Birch, LLC, of Manalpan, has not yet completed and submitted architectural plans for the proposed use, Yuro added.

If the tentative plans for the retail/office use don’t gel, what do you picture replacing the restaurant on the site?

Keep in mind that there is no longer an active liquor license for the place, and use your imaginations. We want to hear what you think would go well on that strip of one of Middletown’s main corridors. Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.