Rey De La Cruz of Salt Pepper Ketchup cooks during the Jersey Eats Food Festival in Secaucus on Saturday, October 26, 2024.

A New Jersey sandwich shop known to serve one of the best breakfast items in the state has shuttered.

Salt Pepper Ketchup (referred to by many simply as “SPK”) closed its brick-and-mortar location in Hawthorne at the end of June after nearly five years in business.

Owner Rey De Le Cruz told NJ Advance Media the shop known for breakfast sandwiches and chopped cheeses is transitioning to exclusively become a pop-up and private events operation as out-of-store bookings have outpaced in-store demands.

De La Cruz spent the past two years connecting with curators of food festivals, farmers markets and private events like office parties to branch into the new space.

“I was working full time in the store and doing pop-up events here and there until it really kicked off last year.” De La Cruz said. “It got to a point where I was getting booked every weekend and getting double-booked so much I had to hire an extra street team just for private events. I feel like the demand is stronger on the road than it is in the store.”

Salt Pepper Ketchup chopped cheese during the Jersey Eats Food Festival in Secaucus on Saturday, October 26, 2024.

Salt Pepper Ketchup opened in July of 2020 and quickly gained statewide acclaim for its version of the New York staple chopped cheese sandwich. Showtime’s “Desus & Mero” even paid the shop a visit to try the sandwich — and gave it a positive review.

Their chopped cheese breakfast sandwich claimed the No. 2 spot on NJ.com’s latest ranking of New Jersey’s 25 best breakfast sandwiches. It also made its way onto the list of The 51 New Jersey dishes you need to eat in 2024.

Aside the delectable chopped cheese, Salt Pepper Ketchup’s menu includes breakfast sandwiches, cheesesteaks, burgers, wraps, wings, empanadas and more. SPK’s diverse menu has fueled success in the private event space, De La Cruz says.

“A lot of people like the fact that I can show up at 9 a.m. and do bacon, egg and cheeses, or at 5 o’clock and do chopped cheeses and empanadas,” De La Cruz said. “It’s so much flexibility.”

Salt Pepper Ketchup will now be operating at locations like the Weehawken Farmers Market, Montclair Brewery, Ghost Hawk Brewing Co. in Clifton and Glenbrook Brewery in Morristown through residencies. The eatery announces pop-up events regularly on social media.

The chopped cheese breakfast sandwich from Salt Pepper Ketchup in Hawthorne.

De La Cruz did not close the door on a possible return to permanent location, emphasizing that the home base helped establish SPK’s name, brand and product.

“I loved the brick-and-mortar,” De La Cruz said. “But doing these pop-ups and festivals helped me get to these markets that I couldn’t get to on a regular basis,”

But if SPK returns to a physical storefront, it most likely won’t be in Hawthorne.

“The location would have to make more sense,” De La Cruz said. “It was hard, I’ll be honest. It was difficult because it’s a town that, if you’re not from there, it’s hard for them to support you... I think that was a decision-maker with transitioning out of there as well. It was like ‘I’m not going to be missed here so I got to go where I’m appreciated.’”

Salt Pepper Ketchup, known for its chopped cheese and breakfast sandwiches, closed its location in Hawthorne after five years to focus on pop-up events.

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Christopher Burch can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @SwishBurch. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us at nj.com/tips/.

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