When food is the family business, you can spend your whole life in the restaurant industry and never bat an eye.
For Eric Adili of Mount Laurel, hospitality went from a childhood obligation to an adult career.
His family owned Michaelangelo’s in Cherry Hill in the 1980s, took over Palumbo’s in Cinnaminson from its original owners in 1992, and launched The Fat Tomato in West Berlin in 2008, eventually selling it in 2023.
After a temporary detour into commercial real estate, Adili decided to rejoin the restaurant industry with a Pennsauken storefront, The Raging Bull NJ, which will open next month.
The shop takes its name not from the famous boxing movie, but from The Raging Rooster, a popular chicken sandwich he served at the Fat Tomato (and which appears on the menu at Raging Bull NJ as a chicken cheesesteak topped with honey sriracha sauce, ranch dressing, jalapenos, bacon, and Cooper Sharp).
Since Adili hopes to use that moniker for a future chicken concept, he modified it for a menu built around beef; his is sourced from Schweid and Sons of Carlstadt. The Raging Bull NJ will serve its smash burgers on Martin’s potato rolls, and steaks on Liscio’s seeded bakery rolls.
The steaks will feature a blend of both ground and shaved beef, Cooper Sharp American cheese, and house-made Cooper Sharp whiz. The menu includes specialty cheesesteaks, like the namesake Raging Bull, which features chipotle mayo, and roasted long hots.
Raging Bull NJ will also serve a chicken steak, made from pickle-juice-brined thigh and breast meat, ground finely in-house.
“Everything here is chopped up fine,” he said. “I don’t like it when you take a bite out of anything and the whole sandwich falls out. Everything is going to be a bite, not a bite and a slide.”
The burgers will be available in single or double patties, and include classic and deluxe topping options, as well as a burger of the month; at launch in September, the burger of the month will be the “Bullberry Smash,” with blackberry bacon jam, peanut butter sauce, and Havarti.
Milkshakes will be 16 ounces, made “with real ingredients,” including 35-percent-buttermilk hard ice cream and flavors of the month; September’s will be peach compote.
The menu also features crinkle-cut fries, onion rings, Tarantini panzarotti, and cheesesteak egg rolls, all fried in beef tallow.
Raging Bull NJ will serve glass-bottle beverages: Mexican Coca-Cola, Jarritos, and water.
The restaurant is based on a quick-service, takeout, and delivery concept; its interior will feature a small countertop for dining, but no tables.
Parking is limited, however, so Adili recommends using spaces on the side streets.
“What we’re trying to do here is offer the highest-quality ingredients that we can with this specific type of food,” Adili said.
“We’re trying to get back to the way people used to do it.”
The Raging Bull NJ is located at 6007 Mansion Boulevard at Route 38 in Pennsauken. The shop will open in September, operating 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
For more information, visit theragingbullnj.com, or its Instagram and Facebook.
