JBJ Soul Kitchen's Pop-Up Café Ousted From Library In Toms River

TOMS RIVER, NJ — After more than a year of serving meals to the community in downtown Toms River, the JBJ Soul Kitchen Pop-Up café will cease operations at the Ocean County Library.

That's because the Ocean County Library Commission has voted to not renew the JBJ Soul Foundation's lease on the space when it expires on April 30, Patch has learned.

"At the Library Commission meeting on Tuesday, March 17, the Library Commission accepted the recommendation of the Library Commission review committee to use the space in the Toms River Branch currently used as a café for an intergenerational meeting room space," said Susan Quinn, director of the Ocean County Library.

She did not elaborate on the reason for the change.

The JBJ Soul Foundation, created by Jon Bon Jovi and his wife, Dorothea, to help fight food insecurity and help those in need, has not responded to requests for comment.

The café was billed as a temporary pop-up when it opened in February 2025 at the library on Washington Street, in a space that had been occupied by Dunkin Donuts before the coronavirus pandemic.

It was heralded as an "incredible addition" to the community and "a welcoming space where people can come together over great food and a shared mission" by Ocean County Commissioner Jennifer Bacchione when it opened.

The mission was to provide meals to both paying customers and those in need, along with resources to help those struggling with food insecurity and other life issues, just like the JBJ Soul Kitchen location on Hooper Avenue has been doing for 10 years through its Pay It Forward model. Customers who can afford to pay for their meals, and they can "pay it forward," covering the cost of meals for those who are unable to pay. Those who cannot pay volunteer time at the café in exchange for their meals.

The café, which is open Tuesdays through Fridays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., had served more than 13,500 meals as of late January, with 78 percent of those meals going to people in need, according to the foundation. It had assisted roughly 40 people who have been without housing long-term and assisted with 210 referrals to service providers, with 11 people successfully placed in housing and nine people securing employment.

Two months after it opened, it became the target of Toms River Mayor Daniel Rodrick, who called it a "soup kitchen" amid a fight with Ocean County officials as he accused the county of dumping homeless people in the downtown area last spring.

At one point Rodrick threatened legal action against nonprofits that were assisting those in need.

"From the very beginning, this Pop-Up was about responding to a real and growing need in downtown Toms River," Rob Wood, the assistant general manager of the café, said in January, when community pressure convinced the library commission to extend the lease to April 30, after the end of Code Blue season. Read more: NJ Rock Star's Controversial Library Café Gets Extension In Toms River

The commission meeting agenda for March 17 did not mention any action being taken on the café.