"We don't have any new timing or development updates to share publicly right now. We're still excited about the opportunity there."
That's what a Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar spokesperson told a TAPinto Mount Laurel reporter in August 2026, two full years after the township's Planning Board approved the chain's first New Jersey location at the old Don Pablo's site on Nixon Drive. If you've driven past East Gate Square anytime in the last two years expecting a Rocky Mountain lodge-themed dining room to materialize where the shuttered Tex-Mex place used to sit, you already know the punch line: it hasn't.
Meanwhile, three other projects in the same general stretch of Mount Laurel opened, served their first customers, and are now just part of the weekly routine. Nobody threw a parade for any of them. That's the part worth sitting with. The businesses that generated the least buzz when they were announced are the ones actually operating right now, and the one everyone was excited about is still a construction site.
Three Openings Nobody Was Waiting For
Start with the one that opened first. Back in February 2025, Amma's South Indian Cuisine opened its fourth location in Mount Laurel, joining acclaimed spots in Voorhees and Center City Philadelphia along with a to-go-only outpost in Maple Shade. The menu runs through traditional South Indian dishes: banana leaf service, thalis, dosas, biryanis, and idlis. It moved into existing retail space. No demolition, no new construction, no site plan revisions.
Then came the building that had been empty the longest. The former PNC Bank at 127 Ark Road sat vacant for more than a decade before Wonder, a multi-restaurant delivery and takeout concept, took it over. The company held its grand opening on October 16, 2025, complete with a 4:30 p.m. ribbon cutting, and it became the second South Jersey location for the brand after its Cherry Hill debut earlier that year. Inside, more than 20 restaurant concepts operate under one roof, including Bobby Flay Steak, Streetbird by Marcus Samuelsson, Tejas Barbecue, and Di Fara Pizza, all built around delivery and pickup rather than a full dining room. There's seating for roughly 16 people inside, which tells you exactly what kind of business this is: fast, efficient, and designed to turn over orders, not linger over them.
A few blocks over, ACE Pickleball Club opened that same October at 1191 Nixon Drive, also inside East Gate Square. It's the second location for franchisees Ira Krassen and Eric Danvers, who run a similar club in Voorhees. Courts are divided by skill level and members can drop in anytime without scheduling a partner. When the club was first announced, ACE's programming manager told a reporter the team hoped for an early fall opening. They landed within a few weeks of that estimate. None of these three businesses required demolishing an existing building, and all three opened close to when they said they would.
The One Everyone Was Waiting For
Lazy Dog is a different story. The chain first surfaced in Mount Laurel news in September 2023, when the East Gate Square leasing company's site plan quietly swapped out generic "at lease" language for the Lazy Dog name, a change a community Facebook page spotted and reported before anyone else. Don Pablo's had closed in 2018, a year before the chain itself shut down nationally, so the building had already sat empty for years by the time Lazy Dog's name showed up.
The Mount Laurel Planning Board unanimously approved the project in August 2024. The plan called for a ground-up new building of about 9,354 square feet, including a covered patio with a large fire pit, since the existing structure would be demolished rather than renovated. A company spokesperson told Patch at the time to expect a late 2025 opening.
That didn't happen. As of August 2026, TAPinto reported that Lazy Dog is preparing to submit an entirely new application to the Planning Board, reportedly because of a redesign of the building itself. Township rules give an approved developer two years to start construction before the approval lapses, and Lazy Dog's original August 2024 approval would have expired right around the same month that story ran. The company has restaurants in Fairfax and Chantilly, Virginia that are already open, which are the closest operating locations to Mount Laurel as of that report. Here in South Jersey, the site is still an empty lot.
The Timeline, Side by Side
| Business | First announced or approved | Opening status as of September 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Amma's South Indian Cuisine | Announced in existing retail space, early 2025 | Opened February 2025 |
| Wonder Food Hall (127 Ark Road) | Development started 2025 | Opened October 16, 2025 |
| ACE Pickleball Club (1191 Nixon Drive) | Zoning approval, hoped for early fall opening | Opened October 2025 |
| Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar (former Don Pablo's site) | Planning Board approval, August 2024 | New application pending, no construction started |
Why Small Bets Move Faster Than Big Ones
The pattern isn't random luck. Wonder took over an existing bank building and reused the shell. ACE Pickleball built out an existing suite. Amma's opened inside space that didn't require a zoning fight or a demolition permit. Every one of those projects skipped the slowest parts of commercial development in New Jersey: tearing down a structure, resubmitting site plans, and waiting on a Planning Board calendar a second time.
Lazy Dog chose the harder path. A brand-new building means new utility connections, new stormwater plans, a new liquor license transfer, and a design that has to satisfy the township on every count before a shovel goes in the ground. When any part of that changes, and the report suggests the building design itself changed, the whole approval process resets.
The same pattern is playing out one shopping center over. Chick-fil-A's existing East Gate Square location, positioned in front of Best Buy, has an approved plan to relocate to the former Bertucci's and Wendy's site nearer to Home Depot and ShopRite. That move hasn't broken ground either. Once it does, reporting from late 2025 indicates Zaxby's is lined up to take over the vacated original Chick-fil-A building, though that timeline is described as extended as well. Two different projects, two different chains, the same lesson: new construction in an existing shopping center takes longer than everyone hopes when the plan is announced.
What's Actually Happening This Fall
While the construction sites sit quiet, the township's calendar is not. Mount Laurel Day returns on Sunday, October 18, from noon to 5 p.m. at the township complex on Mount Laurel Road. It's free, and this year's lineup includes:
- More than 20 food trucks, with options ranging from cheesesteaks and lobster rolls to Filipino barbecue, Jamaican food, and soul food
- Live music from the Sensational Soul Cruisers, playing sets built around 1960s through 1980s soul, Motown, and disco
- A petting zoo and Halloween-themed activities for kids
- Crafters and community organizations, including the township's police, fire, and EMS departments
- Parking available at 10000 and 15000 Midlantic Drive
It's the kind of afternoon that doesn't need a construction update to be worth putting on the calendar. If you want a food truck lunch and a reason to get the family out of the house before the weather turns, this is the one to circle.
The bigger takeaway for anyone keeping tabs on Mount Laurel's food and retail scene is to watch what actually opens, not what gets announced. The bank building beat the bar and grill. The pickleball club beat the steakhouse. That's not a coincidence, it's what happens when a project skips the parts of the approval process that eat up years.
If you're thinking about what any of this means for property values or timing a move in or around Mount Laurel, Stephany Schlitz tracks these local shifts as part of her day to day work in Burlington County. Let's Connect — Get Your Free Home Valuation.
