At Corner Bakery Café, it’s eggs, pancakes, paninis — and Whitney

Jersey legend is perpetual soundtrack of eatery, much to delight of customers and staff

The Corner Bakery Café is just across the river in Philadelphia, but going there is to go back in time — at least, it is if you’re a fan of New Jersey’s own Whitney Houston.

The café, at the corner of 38th and Market streets, serves breakfast and lunch items and a steady stream of Houston hits.

From ballads (“I Will Always Love You” and “You Give Good Love”) to upbeat dance music (“So Emotional” and “I Want to Dance with Somebody”) to the classic that got it all started (“How Will I Know?”), it’s all Whitney, all the time.

General Manager Jermaine Anderson and Supervisor Shirley Carrington wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Everyone loves Whitney,” Anderson said. “You can see the customers singing along — and dancing to the music.”

They aren’t the only ones.

The Corner Bakery Café in Philadelphia. (Tom Bergeron/ROI-NJ)

Carrington keeps the beat when she’s taking orders or delivering the food. Houston, she said, soothes her. Has since Houston burst onto the scene with her debut album in 1985, when she was — at 22 — just a few years older than Carrington, then a teenager in Camden.

“She just spoke to me that way she sings; she has a voice from God,” she said.

Carrington has been with the company for 13 years — “I’ve loved every minute of it,” she says — but that affection only grew when she came to this location two years ago and discovered the Whitney worship.

Anderson said it all happened by happenstance.

“The radio broke, so I just brought in a bunch of CDs,” he said. “When we put on Whitney, everyone seemed to love it. So, we keep her on.”

Plenty of customers comment, Anderson said, but no one complains.

“Everyone loves her,” he said.

The late superstar singer Whitney Houston.

For those who may have forgotten — or are not old enough to remember Houston’s glory days — the soundtrack is a reminder of the depth and soul of her music catalogue.

Carrington said it’s so extensive that she doesn’t have a favorite.

“How can you pick just one?” she said.

For Carrington, Houston is the standard. Don’t even try to bring up Beyoncé’s name.

“She’s an entertainer — and, she’s fantastic, but Whitney is something else,” she said. “If she could walk in here today, she would be able to sing like no one else. No music would be needed.”

Houston, of course, passed away in 2012. A life — and an amazing career — cut short.

“What happened was such a tragedy,” Carrington said.

Carrington prefers to remember Houston from her heyday — which is every day at the Corner Bakery Café.