“There are two good places to eat—home and here.” That was the motto of Zinke’s Restaurant on Tappan Road in Norwood.
Benjamin and Anna Zinke purchased the old Colonial home at Tappan Road and Blanch Avenue in 1924 and soon opened their restaurant on the first floor. Known for its seafood and German dishes, Zinke’s quickly became a gathering place in the small community. The Zinke family lived upstairs, and Mrs. Zinke served as hostess.
For decades, Zinke’s was the site of wedding receptions, club meetings, fundraising dinners and card parties. In the 1930s, its mixed-seafood “Shore Dinner” was offered on Friday nights for $1 a plate. A daily lunch special from noon to 2 p.m. cost just 40 cents. The restaurant even hosted a midnight cocktail hour for patrons returning from the theater.
“You’ll find our food is excellent, our music ‘the tops,’ and our prices ‘the bottom,’” boasted a 1937 advertisement.
If the building looks familiar, you may remember it as Rainbow’s End in the 1950s and 1960s or Stegemann’s in the 1970s. Over the years, other restaurants—including Brandywine and Timothy’s—occupied the space. But the building itself had a much deeper past.
Built around 1770, it was originally the home of blacksmith Christian Campbell and his wife, Dirkje, a name reflecting the family’s Dutch heritage. During the Revolutionary War, Christian, a patriot, served in Capt. Abraham A.P. Haring’s company, and by 1785 he was operating a tavern from the property.
In 1789, the Campbells sold the house to Capt. Thomas Blanch (1740–1823), a prominent patriot who had served throughout the war. Blanch purchased the land for 112 pounds and 10 shillings, intending it for his son Richard. Thomas and his wife, Effie—parents to 13 children—assisted Richard in adding an extension that became a stagecoach stop. Blanch Avenue takes its name from this family.
Thomas and Effie are buried at Tappan Reformed Church Cemetery. Remarkably, despite having 13 children at a time when childbirth was perilous, Effie lived to age 93.
Through the 20th century, the old Campbell-Blanch house was home to a rotating list of beloved local restaurants: Zinke’s, Rainbow’s End, Stegemann’s, Brandywine and Timothy’s. Many Northern Valley residents recall it as the place where their parents held wedding receptions.
The structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. Sadly, in 1997, the pre-Revolutionary War building was destroyed by fire. Private residences now stand on the site.
