Words and photos by Barbara A. Preston for The Montgomery News | August 23, 2026
The original PJ's Pancake House opened in 1962 in Princeton and quickly became a hangout for university and high school students, as well as their families. By the 1980s, many regulars had left their names or initials carved into the wooden tables. While sipping coffee, a favorite pastime was to read the table — looking for Brooke Shields' name and other locally famous folks or friends. The new Skillman location will have the tables, and locals are encourage to make their mark.
Owner John S. Procaccini sat down with The Montgomery News news to discuss his new restaurant. First thing, he pointed to a long wood dining table and said, “That's why I put these here, so people can carve their names. So that we can get the same history here in Montgomery."
This week, PJ’s Pancake House opening its doors in the Village Walk at Montgomery on Route 206 in Skillman. It is a calculated, personal expansion for Procaccini, a principal behind the Gretalia Hospitality Group. Procaccini has spent the better part of three decades not just managing restaurants, but essentially curating community centers.
"I wanted to put the tables here because of what the Pugliese family is creating here at the Village Walk at Montgomery. It is, in fact, a village, right? They are creating a town center that Montgomery doesn't have. So you are going to have residences, you're gonna have restaurants, you're gonna have gyms.”
“So I really want to affiliate PJ's with Montgomery — to the Montgomery school system — to the high school, to the grammar schools. I want the kids to have a place to feel like it's their own."
"When you look at the menu, we did a Montgomery Cougar Breakfast Challenge. It’s cool, it's fun. I’m also gonna give back to the community. Everybody's about the school here in Montgomery, so that's a good thing to tap into.
“Whoever could finish this meal — it won't be hard, but it's a big milkshake, and it's a five-stack of pancakes — then I'm gonna donate the [10% of] proceeds of that meal back to the school system," he said. “I want people to feel like this is their home away from home, you know? That'll be big. And that's why we put all this Montgomery stuff up, 'cause I think it's really important.”
All the way around the restaurant are photographs, jerseys, plaques, and more. For Procaccini, the project is less about square footage and more about restoring a sense of local camaraderie he believes was fractured during the isolation of the pandemic. “We lost that community camaraderie,” Procaccini said. “PJ’s is going to help bring it back."
PJ's also has a digital jukebox. "You just scan it, you have an app on your phone, and while you're sitting here, you can pick any song you want, and pay to play it. Yeah, you still gotta pay. For $1, you get four songs. So it's nothing crazy."
The story of PJ’s current iteration is as much about Procaccini’s own journey as it is about batter and syrup. A lifelong area resident and 1993 Princeton High School graduate, Procaccini once occupied a very different world. Before his life in the hospitality industry, he served as the director of International Operations at the Sarnoff Corporation, traveling the globe and immersing himself in the cultures of the places he visited.
But the restaurant industry called. After his family roots—his father and relatives arrived from Petronella in 1972 as gardeners who tended the grand estates of Princeton—he found his own calling in food.
He got involved with PJ’s legacy in 2011, partnering with Martin Tuchman following the death of Herb Tuckman, one of the original founders. Procaccini says his focus is always "freshness and quality control"—a philosophy that has since defined his expansion across the region.
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And then there is the origin of the name itself. It is a bit of local lore that. Procaccini shares with a wink, noting that a town historian once told him the building in the 1960s served as a brothel where JFK allegedly spent time before his family intervened. The name, the story goes, stuck because the owner would see the women in their pajamas. "You take it how you will," Procaccini says.
The expansion into Montgomery is part of a larger, rigid strategy for Procaccini. He keeps his restaurants within a 15-to-20-minute radius of one another, ensuring he can maintain the standards of quality he built his reputation on. It is a rejection of the "delivery app" culture, where convenience often trumps community.“People need to spend their money where they live,” he said. “You live here, you move here, you go to school here, shop here. Eat here”.
Following the soft launch on Monday, August 24, PJ's will have a formal ribbon-cutting post-Labor Day. They are members of The Montgomery Business Association, who will help with the official grand opening.
In a world increasingly dominated by digital transactions, PJ’s is betting on something remarkably analog: the simple, enduring act of sitting down to a plate of pancakes with neighbors.
The Pugliese family noted, “As 40-year residents of Montgomery Township, we knew one need that had to be filled was a place to sit and gather with family and friends over breakfast. That’s why we’re excited that the area’s best, PJ’s Pancake House, has chosen The Village Walk at Montgomery for their newest location!”
“PJ’s will be sure to impress with their large dining room full of natural light, outdoor patio, and incredible menu that customers have come to know and love.”
The Village Walk at Montgomery
1340 Route 206, Skillman, NJ 08558
609.902.3006
Open Daily 8 am to 5 pm
Gretalia Hospitality Group owns an array of restaurants, including More than Q, Mi Espana, Pennytown Pub in Pennington, and Osteria Procaccini in Pennington/Hopewell to name a few listed on their website —Visit GetForky.com. ■
