The dining room of Jersey Kebab was filled with guests who had stopped by the afternoon of Nov. 27 for a community Thanksgiving feast. They carried to their booths and tables heaping plates of steak gyros, roasted tomato and peppers, hummus, Turkish bulgur pilaf, meze, falafel, baklava and more from a sprawling buffet set up in the back of the restaurant.

Muhammed Emanet greeted guests at the door, welcoming them to Jersey Kebab’s new Collingswood location, which will officially open next month after relocating from about two miles east on Haddon Avenue in the neighboring Haddon Township. 

The Thanksgiving feast previewed what the Emanet family will be able to do with a bigger space, including serving more customers, creating a more expansive menu and hosting community events. The location once housed The Pop Shop, a popular diner known for its soda fountain and ice cream sundaes, which opened at 729 Haddon Ave. in 2005. The Pop Shop closed in June.

For Muhammed Emanet, who is the oldest son in a family of four children, the move represents not only a location change but also Jersey Kebab’s relationship with the community. 

“We look at our restaurant as our second home,” Muhammed Emanet said. “Any customer that walks in through our doors, we look at them as guests that are honoring our household, and we treat them as such.”

As the oldest son, Muhammed Emanet has served as the face of the family and the family business, a responsibility that has remained the same even as the restaurant has grown. 

“My role has always been the same,” Muhammed Emanet said. “It’s just been a lot different, a much brighter spotlight now.” 

The relocation of the restaurant follows months of uncertainty for the Emanet family. In February, Emine and Celal Emanet — Muhammed Emanet’s parents — were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

The couple moved to the United States from Turkey in 2008, along with then 10-year-old Muhammed Emanet and his younger sister. Celal Emanet was granted a temporary R-1 visa for religious workers. While he was waiting for the outcome of his permanent residency application, ICE arrested the couple Feb. 25. 

Celal Emanet was released shortly after being processed, but Emine Emanet was held in the detention center for an additional two weeks before she was released.

Before officially opening the original Jersey Kebab in 2021, Muhammed Emanet and his father had worked on an overnight trucking route delivering bread throughout South Jersey. The family sold one of their delivery trucks during the covid-19 pandemic and opened the Jersey Kebab in Haddon Township, modeling it after a shop owned by Muhammed Emanet’s grandfather in Turkey. 

“Our family, we’ve come from restaurants,” Muhammed Emanet said. “My grandfather had owned one for up to 50 years, so it’s one of the legendary restaurants in the city.”

The dishes at Jersey Kebab come from family recipes in Turkey and are around 100 years old. The dining area at the new location, painted a soft creamy white, has been transformed with Turkish textiles and decor.

Regina Holmes, a South Jersey resident who attended the Thanksgiving feast, said the family’s dedication to the community is what brought her to the Thanksgiving Day event. 

“I think the community is lucky to have a place like this, especially because they feed people that may be unfed otherwise,” Holmes said. “I’m always willing to support that.”

Signs on the restaurant’s front windows, as well as social media posts, invited anyone who was unhoused, disabled or simply could not afford to celebrate Thanksgiving to join the event. Those who could pay received an all-you-can-eat meal for $20.

Jay Daniels, a Collingswood resident who has been supporting Jersey Kebab since they first opened in 2021, said the decision to host a Thanksgiving meal speaks to the Emanet family’s relationship with the people they serve.

“For people who are still having to deal with their own immigration issues, not certain of what their future holds, for them to be able to say, ‘Come celebrate Thanksgiving. Come give thanks with us,’ I think that’s a very selfless thing,” Daniels said. 

Isis Williams, president of the Haddon Township Equity Initiative, a nonprofit that supported the Emanet family after their arrest and release, said she hopes the new location will allow the family to further spread their impact.

“I think that we see what they were able to do with a space much smaller,” Williams said. “Now, they can welcome many more people, and they can serve in a larger capacity.”

The Emanets expect to officially open the new location Dec. 13,  pending further inspections. In the meantime, the family continues preparing the menu and the new space. 

“Our mission will always be to be of service to our community,” Emanet said. “Every single opportunity that comes our way, we never turn it down to be of service.”