S E S A M E   I N N

Our lives are not in the lap of the gods, but in the lap of our cooks --Lin Yutang

*this location has since been demolished

Sesame Inn, Howell, New Jersey

explored & photographed by: Shady

The Sesame Inn... an abandoned Chinese restaurant out on Route 9 (in Howell). I'd passed this place so many times, but never gotten a good look at it before

It has such a sad air of desolation about it... in sharp contrast to the brightly painted signs and colorful buildings

Luncheon Special: $3.95... table for two, anyone?? The stoves in this place have been cold a long, long time... all the windows are boarded up tightly, and the parking lot is empty and deserted save for a few scraggly weeds that are barely alive

Around back, it's even lonelier; a once-vivid red painted sign cracks and peels from the graffiti-splashed walls, and the few un-boarded windows are shattered. You can hear the low howl and whistle of the wind as it rattles through the hollowed out restaurant

And what exactly is the lunch special? From the looks of that sign, I sure don't wanna find out! Kind of creepy, huh? There was a very large mound of broken glass piled against the retro-tiled base of the structure that gleamed like ice in the sunlight

The Sesame Inn- shadowy despite the daylight; the woods in the lot behind the place have begun their slow, inevitable creep toward the building. Oddly, a smashed in windshield lay just outside the restaurant's back door

It's not hard to imagine a time when warm, fragrant steam wafted out of this back door as the kitchen hummed with the activity of the preparation of hundreds of meals. Now, the locked door presents a cold and silent face to the lot behind the Inn

There were some weird items around the Sesame Inn, and in the wooded lots surrounding it. I found this festive party favor made of glittery stars, a knocked over phone sign (with no phone in sight), a partially covered hole that seemed to be the mouth of some bottomless pit, and a wooden fenced in area that was probably once a place for trash storage.

Sesame Inn... decrepit, forgotten old Chinese restaurant... darkened... silent... cold... are you ready to place your order?  Put some spooky flavor into your PC with an SI wallpaper

Gene sent in these comments about the Sesame Inn:

"I love your web-site. As I live in Howell many of your subjects are very familiar.
The Sesame Inn was originally called "Happy Family" I used to go there alot. That was between 1975 to around 1985. After that I think it changed its name. The original owner opened a new restaurant in Lakewood called Hey-Birds. I don't know if its there anymore. It was near County Line Road."

Thanks for the info, Gene, I had no idea that place had been there so long. And it looks like maybe I got pics of it just in time... the last time I passed by it, someone was driving a bulldozer into it's parking lot -Shady

UPDATE- Feb 02: Yes, the old Sesame Inn has been torn down completely. Last time we drove by, we saw that it had been totally bulldozed... even the parking lot! Our reader Gene also dropped me an email about the place being gone. All that remains is the rusty old sign out front...

Do you have any background information or stories to tell about this abandoned site?

Another Route 9 Roadside Find! For even more, check out Trippin' On 9

Want to purchase one of these, or any of my other photos...?

O W N   A   P I E C E   O F   L O S T   H I S T O R Y:


All of my pics are available for purchase as high-quality prints on Kodak glossy paper, in 5x7 or 8x10 size; framing is available. Click here to order!

+OUT OF BUSINESS+