A new place for smiles
Eat'n Park actually was the place for smiles Tuesday as the company welcomed invited guests and a few community members to see the new building and enjoy a complimentary lunch.
The colorful new restaurant was built on New Castle Road across from Point Plaza, one property east of the 50-year-old Eat'n Park that was torn down in March to make way for the current building's parking lot.
Free smiley cookies, a visit by Smiley at 5:30 p.m. and other surprises will greet guests Wednesday as they eat breakfast, lunch or dinner in the new building.
Becky McArdle, Eat'n Park spokeswoman, said many employees from the old building made the transition to the new restaurant.
She said the restaurant has 30 employees and is looking to hire 10 more.
Brighter colors, a retro feel and rounded corners are features customers will notice at the new Eat'n Park.
“There are a lot of circles to represent Smiley, and round corners for the feeling of family because everyone is family here at Eat'n Park, whether they are employees or customers,” McArdle said.
The connected dining rooms are a mix of large and two-top booths as well as table-and-chair seating that can be arranged to fit parties of any size.
“We have 25% more seating,” McArdle said. “There's a lot more flexibility for larger parties too.”
Booths have two USB ports for charging electronics and a QR code customers can scan to peruse the menu or pay their check.
The carpeting is made from 61% sustainable material, LED lighting saves energy and the entire kitchen area has Energy Star appliances, McArdle said.
The new restaurant is serving as a pilot program for the return of the famous Eat'n Park salad and soup bar, which have been closed in all restaurants because of the coronavirus pandemic.If the salad bar seems popular, it will remain, McArdle said.“But we do ask that you cover your smile at the salad bar,” she said.Sanitizer and gloves are available to salad bar customers, and an employee who tends the bar switches out the utensils every 10 minutes, McArdle said.The Eat'n Park breakfast buffet will be available from 7:30 to 10:30 a.m. Saturdays and 8 to 10:45 a.m. Sunday.The new Eat'n Park offers many ways to enjoy a meal, including a drive-up window, online ordering so meals can be on the table when a customer arrives, curbside delivery, takeout express shelves in the lobby for pickup orders and even delivery.
Team members in updated uniforms scurried around the restaurant Tuesday, waiting on those invited to view the restaurant on the day before its grand opening.One customer who flew in from Nevada for the occasion sat in a booth in the east dining room.Kay Neely was a cook and fill-in manager at the Butler Eat'n Park from the time it opened in 1971 to 1988, when she and her husband moved to northern California.Shortly after she started working at the restaurant, Neely heard on a Pittsburgh radio station around Christmas that donations were being accepted for Children's Hospital.Neely organized a group of Eat'n Park coworkers to carol around Butler Township to collect money for the fundraiser.When she took the $398 to the Pittsburgh radio station, she issued a challenge on the air to other Eat'n Parks in the region to raise funds for Children's Hospital.That challenge resulted in a companywide program called Caring for Kids that continues today, in which employees raise money each holiday season for UPMC Children's Hospital.“I never thought it would get this big, but I'm proud of it,” Neely said.All the money goes to paying for care for children whose families lack health care coverage.In the years Neely worked at Eat'n Park, she organized fundraisers and raffles, including a bride-and-groom fashion show, grocery shopping spree, bake sale, bingo, and breakfast 5 Santa.All the events benefited Children's Hospital.One former employee, Doug Culbertson, suggested she let people bid on shaving his legs. Neely arranged a bidding war for each of Culbertson's legs.She recalled she raised $65 for one leg and $78 for the other, and the female employees shaved his legs with a razor sold at that time known as a Flicker.“It chewed up his legs,” Neely recalled with a laugh.Neely's kickoff of the Caring for Kids program is memorialized on a wall off the lobby of the new Eat'n Park, and another wall in the dining room commemorates events and employees of both the Butler and other Eat'n Parks.
