This is part of a series — A State on Edge — on how life has changed for New Jerseyans during the coronavirus outbreak.

Glenn Catlett, in a well-worn LL Bean jacket, baggy dress pants and a stylish grey fedora, waits patiently outside Jim’s Lunch in Millville.

‘'Best food in South Jersey,'' he says. It’s Friday, which is turkey platter day at the legendary luncheonette, beloved by baseball superstar Mike Trout, a Millville native.

"The Depression was real bad,'' he begins. "I didn’t experience it but my dad did. He told me about it. Soup lines. No work. Nobody could get a job. No money around.

“This,” the 81-year-old adds, “is worse than the Depression. Worse thing I’ve ever seen.”

He doesn’t have to spell out what “this” is. The coronavirus has claimed nearly 6,000 lives in New Jersey, with 100,000-plus confirmed cases since March 4.

Millville, one of New Jersey’s poorest towns, is located in Cumberland County, the state’s poorest county. Millville’s median income is $52,352, according to U.S. Census Bureau 2018 estimates. Its poverty rate is nearly 20 percent, well above the national poverty rate of 11.8 percent.

Downtown is eerily quiet, like downtowns across New Jersey. Jim’s Lunch, the city’s heart and soul, founded in 1923, remains open. Closing would be unimaginable to its owners and customers. Forget about the legendary burgers with the secret sauce, the prime rib, the turkey platters and ham and cabbage. Millville without Jim’s Lunch would be like the Pine Barrens without trees. “Institution” doesn’t do it justice.

These days, you can’t walk inside and sit down, of course, but you can place orders at the pickup window, where signs read No Mask No Service.

"It would have been easiest to shut down, but I couldn’t,'' says Nichole Maul, pausing during the lunchtime rush. "My customers mean too much to me.''

They mean so much that she posted this message on the luncheonette’s Facebook page recently.

That her customers were grateful would be the understatement of the year.

reactions to free food offer from Jim's Lunch

The history of Jim’s Lunch is on its Facebook page: Jim’s lunch has been a Millville landmark since 1923. This Family owned and operated restaurant has been serving the best burgers, breakfast, lunch and early dinner platers for nearly 100 years.

And that’s It. You want the real lowdown, you talk to Rochelle Maul, and I did, over the phone, and haven’t been able to laugh so hard since all this crisis started.

“My grandfather started the business in 1923,'' Rochelle says. "He got off a boat on Ellis Island, worked his way down to Philadelphia. He came here alone at age 15.

"He called his brother, Nicholas, in Greece and said, ‘come to the U.S. Americans have money.' '’

The first Jim’s Lunch started in what is now the adjoining dining room.

"I shouldn’t be telling you this,'' she says conspiratorially, "but I will because it’s history. In 1926, he (her grandfather) got caught making moonshine.''

Jim’s Lunch survived that, and the Depression, and everything else the world threw at it. Despite the owners’ ancestry, there was no Greek food on the original menu. Burgers cost 10 cents, a beef or turkey platter a quarter. For 35 years, Jim’s was open 24/7. Rochelle’s father joined the business after serving as a cook in the Navy.

In the late ’50s, her grandfather decided to close Jim’s Lunch all summer; he took his family to Greece. The summers off became permanent; Jim’s Lunch is now closed from Memorial Day to the second week of October.

Rochelle, 71, started working at Jim’s when she was 14. She retired two years ago, but there’s no question who’s boss here.

"I’m always on the phone, making sure everything’s doing ok.'' She laughs. "I’m not done yet.''

I sweetly ask her for the ingredients in the chili-like secret sauce used on the burgers, but she was having none of my charm.

"No, I’m not going to tell you, you can beg all you want,'' she begins. "Only five people have known the recipe — my grandfather, my father, me, my son and my daughter,'' she explains.

Nikki Maul works the grill at Jim's Lunch in Millville. (Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Med

Her son, Jim, is assembling turkey platters. Rochelle’s daughter, Nichole, mask securely in place, is flipping burgers on the window front grill, the steam rising in hot lazy clouds. She’s also taking orders over the phone, as is Michelle Parliman, who has worked here 22 years.

"Onion rings with cheese, one regular onion rings, one fries with sauce,'' Nicole shouts to her brother.

Jim Maul slices meat from a 36-pound turkey; platters include stuffing and the day’s vegetable, today succotash. It’s the first time I’ve seen succotash on a menu in at least 10 years. Glad someone’s eating the stuff.

An order slip nearby is written in luncheonette hieroglyphics: T W MP CS T W Dry MP MP 8oz succ Dry Bread. Translation: Turkey platter all-white meat with mashed potatoes, cole slaw, turkey platter all-white no gravy, double order mashed potatoes, succotash, dry bread (no butter).

A customer is handed her order through the window in the door of Jim's Lunch. Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Media for NJ.comLori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Med

The hours and menu have been coronavirus-revised. Normal hours were 6 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, Friday until 7 p.m. Now Jim’s is open 10-4 Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 10-7 Friday, 10-6 Saturday. Limited platters are available from the regular menu. No daily specials, no roasts. Turkey is still available on Friday, and good thing, otherwise there might be a curbside protest. Nothing’s changed with the burgers, Jim’s bread and butter.

Booths and tables at Jim's Lunch. Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Media for NJ.comLori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Med

On the sidewalk, customers awaiting pickup orders keep a respectful distance from each other. Mark Hornberger, a painter contractor from Bridgeton, has ordered a turkey platter ("great; my favorite meal'') every Friday for the past five years.

"I’ve never had anything here but turkey,'' he confesses. “And I love burgers.'' He smiles. ”Maybe next week I’ll get one.''

For him, the stay-at-home restrictions have turned day-to-day life into a challenge.

"I spend a lot of time by myself,'' he says. "I go to work, come home and walk. Watch TV, walk a lot. There’s not much else to do.''

Nikki Maul holds up a note for a customer -- "waiting for your onion ring! sorry" -- as Michelle Parliman, right, takes a phone order at Jim's Lunch. Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Media for NJ.comLori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Med

Christine Tardif, sitting on a bench, is also waiting on turkey, plus burgers, hotdogs and Navy bean soup.

"I have to do something on my birthday!'' she proclaims. "You can’t have a party, you can’t go to a bar, you have to do something.''

Inside, Nichole Maul tells a customer over the phone that "the cheesesteaks are on the road'' — the steaks have not yet arrived from a butcher shop.

“I can make you a burger, turkey sandwich, anything you want,'' Nichole says.

”I feel horrible,'' she adds, apologizing.

Her mother, on the phone, says Jim’s Lunch will celebrate big-time in three years, on its 100th anniversary.

"We’re going to put on such a party in the city of Millville,'' she promises.

A sign on the door of Jim's Lunch in Millville, N.J., states "no mask, no service" and "no entry," Friday, April 17, 2020. The COVID-19 outbreak has forced the longtime business to change the way it operates, and now serves customers from the window in the door. Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Media for NJ.comLori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Med

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Peter Genovese may be reached at email@njadvancemedia.com.