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    James Gandolfini Service Area

    2.8 (48 reviews)
    ModerateRest Stops

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    Annie S.

    Not great. Very outdated. Women's bathroom smelled bad and more than 5 toilets didn't work. Towels were gone. Dirty. Only reason why this gets 2 stars is that there were multiple stalls and there is good you can buy. Food options: Burger King Dunkin donuts Auntie Anne's Nathan's famous Travel mart with snacks and drinks

    View when leaving rest area and going onto Parkway South
    Jeannette L.

    I stopped at the James Gandolfini Service Area this afternoon in Montvale while driving North on the Garden State Parkway. Pros: - rest area is accessible from both North- and South-bound lanes (like the Jon Bon Jovi one further south) - in recent years, named in honor of Sopranos series legend and Rutgers alumni James Gandolfini - ample parking - has a variety of fast food options - Burger King, Nathan's, Aunty Anne's, Dunkin' Donuts, and some pre-made grab-and-go items inside the Travel Mart - spacious Cons: - bathrooms were a little scary (women's as seen by my own eyes; men's as verified by my partner) - tbh in need of a renovation In short: This rest area marks all the checkboxes for what you need in a rest stop, but would be nice if it were upgraded.

    A Plus store Sunoco  James Gandolfini Svc Area

    Excellent service at the new APlus Sunoco ! Bathrooms are clean , overall great experience !!!

    Raj S.

    This is the first service station once we enter GSP coming from CT . We generally don't stop here.. today we did . It's good to have a service area of this size in Garden state parkway . They have some good food joints , fuel and good rest rooms .. dunkin donuts , Nathan's , Burger King etc.. we don't eat here much , because it is slightly overpriced and also because there are so many restaurants in all exits of GSP. Parking facility is good . Sunoco is expensive... about 30-40 cents more than Costco/ Bjs. Overall an average experience ...

    Montvale Service Area
    Bruce K.

    Just before the dinner hour, I stopped into this service area for a quick bathroom break and to stretch my legs. It is consistent with others that are operated in New Jersey - there is a coffee shop, a fast food burger place, a convenience store, and a gas station. Bathroom was busy and needed some attention. About what I would expect this late in the day with heavy traffic. Masks are still required in New Jersey and everyone I saw in the service area was wearing one. Even though the highway is limited access, the fuel price here must be contractually pinned to prevailing nearby prices as it was not excessive. [Review 15148 overall, 650 of 2021, number 82 in New Jersey.]

    Dave O.

    This is your basic rest area, I found nothing profound here, most of the shops were closed so it was more of a "time to take a break stop" for me. I decided to go inside for the restroom and found the entrance was accessorized with a unique arcade looking device, this my friend was the most interesting part of this stop. This device named "Peso Exacto" translation is "Exact Weight" according to Linguee. It provides vital information as well as some entertainment before entering or after exiting the facilities I guess it's location could be referred to as the bathroom lobby. The list of features is impressive. Digital accurate weight Weight capacity of up to 500 lbs Flashing LED lights English, Spanish, or bi-lingual Battery life of 2 years with battery switching technology Lucky lotto numbers Minimum floor space required for machine Optional digital speech Optional personal good luck message This amusing device has almost everything except a hand sanitizer station next to it - I mean do you really want to touch this thing? I personally opted not to but apparently it does have a purpose and could provide some valuable data - I guess. For those that over indulged at the food court could get a weight before entering the restroom and then again upon exiting the restroom - I guess this could help you establish some sort of benchmark. I could use a lucky set of lotto numbers I guess or attempt to raise myself esteem with a random personal good luck message but I think l'll stick with the random lotto numbers and trust the last fortune cookie I cracked open to seal my fate...

    Buy NJ Lottery tickets!
    Jerry P.

    This place. The last rest stop on the GSP before hitting NY (or the 1st one coming in from NY). It is pressed between the northbound and southbound lanes, giving it a claustrophobic feel, especially during busy times. There's a BK, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, Nathan's, Auntie Anne's & a "Travel Mart" inside, so there's lots of choices. It is generally fairly clean. Unfortunately, every single person working here I have ever come in contact with is absolutely miserable. Every. Single. One. I don't know what they do to these people, but I've never seen a group of people in bigger need of a team building activity, or a stiff drink. They also had ONE recycling bin in the entire place when I stopped in most recently. Pathetic. One bonus star for prominently displaying the wife's designs for the NJ Lottery.

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    10 months ago

    Neat and clean rest rooms. Reasonable variety of food services. Good directions for parking and reentry back onto thruways.

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    7 years ago

    Very clean and lots of staff on hand. Your standard rest area with a nice selection of vendors.

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    8 years ago

    Dirty, poor service and very rude people. This is by far the worst rest stop experiences I have had.

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    Ask the Community - James Gandolfini Service Area

    Review Highlights - James Gandolfini Service Area

    Nice little rest area with a dunkin, burger king, Annie's, Nathan's, vending machines, and a mini mart.

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    Visitor Center

    Visitor Center

    (2 reviews)

    Ok...I really don't know where exactly this is, but if you are going north toward Bear Mountain on…read morethe Palisades Interstate Parkway (if you cross the GWB go towards NJ and you'll see a sign toward the PIP..you'll start at exit 2 so keep goin!), you cannot miss this sign. Its the only "visitor center" posted on some wood or something on that parkway. I know I shouldn't share this with random readers, but I have to explain it for you guys to understand why I reviewed it. I have a weird thing for rest stops and 24/7 gas stations no matter where it is. I have no idea why. Maybe its b/c time seems to fall back at rest stops, or the fact that you stop there in transit and it becomes a community of drivers in one, creepy location. Whatever the reason, I love stopping at these places. So anyone as odd as myself, I had to share. Okay this is no ordinary rest stop. First, if you need to use the john don't bother going here b/c they have port-a-pottys and they do not smell "potty". This is for the sheer enjoyment of going to a random linkin log place in the middle of Rockland County, and saying "hey, I could use a shiny rock." Also, this place closes early. I think 6. Alright so there is the most RANDOM load of fun filled crap here. It's like a local street fair from 1987 threw up here and nobody bothered to clean it up. Finger traps, rock shiners, an assortment of rocks, camoflage toilet paper on a ROLL, candy that belongs in a museum..It's awesome here. It's bizarre and so creepy, but it was friggin super. I think I even bought a couple of rocks (I'm a science nut; what do you want from me?). Anyway, everytime I pass that place I feel like I'm hitting the twilight zone because it sure as hell isn't 2007 over at that joint. CHECK IT OUT!!!!!!

    We used to drive past this alllllllll the freakin time (and stop there too) when we had a summer…read moreplace and we had to get over Bear Mountain (for some reason always reminds of the song, The Bear Went Over the Mountain) to get to it. Convenient spot for bathrooms. Notice I said convenient, not clean or good. And odd info abounds.

    Alexander Hamilton Rest Stop

    Alexander Hamilton Rest Stop

    (26 reviews)

    $

    This is the first rest area shortly after entering the New Jersey Turnpike heading southbound after…read moreleaving New York City and the Manhattan Cruise Terminal. My visit here was on October 5, 2019. After some issues debarking the cruise due to technical issues, we got to our driver to get us back to southern New Jersey where we would be staying for a few days before going home. All of us needed to use the restroom, so we stopped at this rest stop. This was a typical rest stop, but not like others I have seen in New Jersey along the turnpike. This rest area had a convenience store and gas. Many of the others have more options than a convenience store, such as fast food restaurants and the such. The good thing is that we weren't looking for any food items, just the restroom. The restrooms here were clean and maintained, which you don't always find at rest areas. The inside was your typical convenience store, but a bit larger. There's lots of snack and drink items here if you are looking for that kind of stuff. There is a Sunoco gas station at this rest area as well if you need gas. Gas was not needed at this time, so there was no stop there. Overall, this was just a rest stop. If you need to get some gas, use the restroom, or just get a few snack type items, this would be a place to stop. Further down, it seemed quite a few of their rest areas were closed for renovations. Although there was nothing to wow me about this place, it did get the job done and back on the road to my destination.

    Came in here briefly on the way home from NYC. We didn't stay to buy snacks or food, it was…read morestrictly a potty break. What made me decide to rate them was the bathrooms. For a rest stop, the restrooms were impressively clean and most importantly smelled great! It definitely exceeded my expectations. They seem to have a really good/big selection of snacks, and the parking lot has many spaces available.

    Plattekill Travel Plaza - Inside

    Plattekill Travel Plaza

    (58 reviews)

    $$

    We stopped at the Plattekill Travel Plaza on I 87 on our way to the Adirondaks, which is a sentence…read morethat sounds more romantic than it has any right to be. A travel plaza is a place where human beings briefly admit they have bodies. We eat and drink as quickly as we possibly can, we wash our hands, and then we climb back into our machines and hurtle north or south with emptier bladders and greater optimism. The good news is that after its recent renovation, the Plattekill Travel Plaza looks exactly like every other rest stop along the Thruway. This is not an insult. Sameness can be a comfort. You walk in and your brain says, I know how this works. There will be light, food, and a restroom that I do not have to search for and, more likely than not, will not frighten me. The building is airy and generous with natural light. Due to complete glass walls on two sides, sunlight spills in as if this particular corner of the Hudson Valley has been invited inside to keep an eye on us. There is a modest parade of quick serve restaurants greatest hits. You can secure chicken at Chick-fil-A, provided you're not traveling on the Lord's day of course, bread and soup at Panera Bread, a pretzel the size of your forearm at Auntie Anne's, and caffeine at Starbucks. There is also a respectable Applegreen convenience store, open 24 hours a day, which is where we did our foraging. We emerged with snacks and drinks, the sort of provisions that make you feel prepared for a journey that will last another two hours. The restrooms are large and generally clean. This is progress, particularly when compared to the pre-updated plaza. Not much more you could reasonably demand from a building whose chief purpose is to host people who are in a hurry. Parking is the only real adventure. Spaces are somewhat limited, and at busy times vehicles line the access road like a small and determined migration. The snow and freezing temperatures this winter have not improved matters. Slush narrows lanes and turns simple geometry into a test of faith while snow piles reduce available spaces considerably. You may find yourself circling once or twice, contemplating the nature of patience. On the whole, this is a solid rest area along I 87. It performs its duties without drama. Once inside, you could be almost anywhere, which may be the point. Highways are about going somewhere else. This plaza understands this. It feeds you, tidies you up, and sends you back into the wide and indifferent world with a warm coffee in your hand and crumbs on your shirt. Four stars.

    I needed a stretch and a biological break and this fit the bill. The parking area ample in size…read morewith a fairly modern and clean interior. Coffee was for sale as well as a Chic Fillet. I got what I wanted and needed!

    James Gandolfini Service Area - reststops - Updated July 2026

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