Long Valley Brew Pub Owners Bringing Burgers To Schooley's Mountain

LONG VALLEY, N.J. – It’s burger time in Long Valley.

And who better to do it than the group behind the already successful Restaurant Village?

Long Valley Patch reported Thursday a developer was setting its sights on the long-vacant piece of land atop Schooley’s Mountain for a new restaurant where the former Mountain View Inn was located.

Turns out that developer and business group is the same set of folks behind The Long Valley Pub & Brewery and Andrea’s Dining Room, Steve Bussel and his wife, Andrea Maletta-Bussel.

See related: Developer Eyes New Restaurant On Schooley’s Mountain

And the duo wants to keep Long Valley’s next restaurant familiar with the area, but also bring something new to the table.

“I came up with the name OMG Burger and Brew because I wanted it to roll off everyone’s tongue, sound like something familiar,” Maletta-Bussel told Patch. “I want the place to have great burgers, all different types, where there is sure to be a favorite for everyone.”

See related: What Should Go Here: Mountain View Bar & Grill

The restaurant would “morph” into what the community wants and needs at different times of the day, she said, and will have a take-out window so “busy moms can call in a shake and burger order before going to the fields across the street.”

But later in the day, or night, she said, “it can be a fun date place with a U-shaped bar for the locals who don’t want to drive down the mountain.”

The restaurant will offer plenty of televisions, accordion glass doors that open to the restaurant and patio, and will feature two beers from the Brew Pub but also offer an array of different suds as well.

“We love Long Valley and love our customers so it seemed a natural fit to just extend up the mountain to another location,” Maletta-Bussel said.

The restaurant’s design projects a 8,440 square-foot building, with 3,750 square-foot basement, 3,750 square-foot main floor, and 940 square-foot mezzanine section.

Representatives for the company will go before the zoning board Wednesday, April 6 for a preliminary/final major site plan and possible public hearing. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at 43 Schooley’s Mountain Road.

The group will also provide experts to testify about traffic potential, environmental impact since the property has some wetland issues, and other potential obstacles, Planning and Zoning Board Secretary Barbara Margolese said.

If all goes well with the township, Maletta-Bussel said, OMG Burger and Brew could start serving customers in the spring of 2018. The present building would be demolished almost immediately upon approval from the township and the new building would go up on the same “footprint” but set back further from the road.