Medical Scare Closes Mays Landing Restaurant Temporarily

That was a close one! I think I speak for everyone who has ever eaten at Merrill's Colonial Inn in Mays Landing when I say we are lucky that the medical scare that forced the closure of the restaurant this week was only a scare.

Owner Angel Merrill posted of Facebook Thursday to tell the story of an experience she said, "scared the hell out of me".

So, on Tuesday afternoon, I had an severe attack which mimicked a stroke or a heart attach. I stupidly did not go to the hospital after the incident slowly subsided. However, the next day Wednesday, my doctor ordered me to go to the emergency room. I did, and after many many tests…..they ruled out a stroke or a heart attack.

If you didn't know, Merrill's Colonial Inn is an old-school restaurant in Mays Landing that's has been serving up family-style Italian since 1959. If it feels like sitting down at Grandma’s house for a traditional meal, that’s because all the recipes here are the product of one woman – Dot Merrill, who opened Merrill’s and was a fixture in the kitchen for most of that time.

Dot died in 2017 at age 95, and Angel -- her daughter -- took over the running the restaurant.

Here's the rest of Angel's Facebook message.