Stewart's Root Beer of Hamilton, the Route 33 drive-in known for frosty mugs and car-hop service, is back on the market just over a year after reopening under new ownership. The restaurant is for sale again, but it will keep serving customers throughout the process.
According to wpst.com, the Hamilton Township restaurant is officially up for sale, though the outlet reports that, despite the listing, it will be staying open. The spot has built a loyal following over the decades, serving hot dogs, burgers, chicken fingers, sandwiches, French fries and its signature ice-cold root beer in a frosty mug for more than 50 years, per the same report.
A BizBuySell page for the property is labeled as a sold listing dated 9/1/23. It describes the business as being on a very busy New Jersey highway and details the location as a 2,518-square-foot space categorized among American restaurants and miscellaneous restaurant and bars, according to bizbuysell.com.
A Reopening That Had Families Thrilled
This isn't the first time in recent memory that the fate of this particular root beer stand has been uncertain. The restaurant had been closed in recent years before it reopened under new ownership in May 2025, and local families who had been going there for generations were described as thrilled by its return, per the wpst.com report.
That reopening included a ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 7, as communitynews.org reported at the time. The outlet noted the restaurant has been operating year-round since then, with hours from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, dishing out its signature hot dogs, fries and root beer served in frosty mugs.
Communitynews.org also pointed out that the region once had two other Stewart's Root Beer locations besides the Hamilton stand — one on Route 130 in East Windsor and another on Brunswick Pike in Lawrence — underscoring how much the chain's footprint in the area has shrunk over time.
Roots Stretching Back a Century
The Stewart's name carries weight well beyond Hamilton Township. Frank Stewart, an Ohio schoolteacher, opened his first Stewart's Root Beer stand in 1924, according to wpst.com. Richlandsource.com reports that Stewart was a young city schoolteacher who wanted to augment his teaching salary by selling his own root beer during the summer that same year.
What started as a side hustle eventually grew into something much bigger. The product known as Stewart's Root Beer went on to become a nationally loved beverage, and the root beer stand became a 1960s phenomenon across a six-state region, per richlandsource.com.
Back in Hamilton Township, the current owners are hoping the business stays a Stewart's Root Beer, according to the wpst.com report — a sentiment that will likely resonate with the generations of families who have made the Route 33 stop part of their own local tradition.
