Hoagie Haven — Restaurant in Princeton

Been coming here since my WCC days, a few blocks away from the Conservatory! Wife now works in Princeton University and I'm a Demographic Market Researcher for the Food Industry, specializing in new openings for DD, MCD, WaWa, BK, CFA, Denny's, TB etc... Agree with many posts suggesting the time has come to upgrade to the plastic, but fear owners are set in their ways. I know I'd come here a lot more, knowing I was getting a few extra frequent flyer miles, instead of looking for that dirty paper, money is printed on! I've also suggested for years, a sink to wash your hands, with soap and hot and cold water. These are greasy food items after all, and no one who eats inside or at the bench, benches outside, should have to have sticky hands. If a sink is not available, how about some wet naps, to clean hands, and then clean right after consumption! These little but BIG things, are important nowadays, and would keep your business booming even more so. Another suggestion, branch off to Rutgers, and or have a food truck called the Hoagie Haven Express that hits these campuses once to twice a day, you can easily find out what's the best time to be there, what the traffic warrants, what time of the year etc... These are simple but so doable suggestions, that the owners must look into, since people want change, and they wanted it years ago. Time will tell if these changes will finally be implemented, but here's to hoping and praying, they get done sooner than later!

Number 1 Fan as I've always...

There is no greater culinary experience in the world, as far as I'm concerned, than the Haven run. I only get to do this for a short window each year, but I spend the whole year looking forward to it.

The highlights of the menu, what I most commonly order and would recommend, are the "phat" sandwiches: the Phat Lady, the Sanchez, the Body Bag, the Mac Daddy, and others. The cold sandwiches and some of the sides (buffalo fries!) are pretty good too. They also do make decent cheese steaks, although they're still structurally hoagies with different ingredients; if what you want is a Philly-style cheese steak, this is not the place to get it.

They've adapted well to COVID, by blocking off the interior of the shop and supporting online ordering and outdoor kiosks. I appreciate that, although it does take a bit of the charm out of the experience. As much as it was annoying to wait in line for 45 minutes or walk a mile from the opposite side of the Princeton campus, it was a great bonding experience with friends and I swear it made the hoagies taste more satisfying when we had to...

I used to frequent Hoagie Haven back in the days. I hoped in today to be surprised by several changes this business has gone through. First, no more Italian People Bakery rolls? My order consisted of a whole Sanchez, the roll was a bit of disappointment. Doesn’t seem to be same quality as before. Second, very little sauce. They used to be generous with their Sanchez sauce. Third, they have now installed a self service point of sale that charges you about 50 cents per transaction. Fourth, hours have changed, no more late night hours, they close as early as 9:30 even though posted hours say 10 pm. I understand they are trying to streamline the store and that some of this changes won’t go away. I asked the person behind the counter if there were new owners to which they answer “no, it’s the same owner” To old schoolers , Hoagie Haven will never be the cool after hours haven it used to be, to newcomers it’s just another overpriced soulless wawa-like...