The results are in! Thanks to YOU, we raised $322,838 to benefit local children’s hospitals. That’s a pretty incredible accomplishment, and we owe it all to our dedicated team members and compassionate guests. As you may recall, this was our 30th annual Caring for Kids Campaign, and our goal this year was to break the $7 million total contribution mark. We’re proud to announce that, together, we did just that.
We’d like to offer a sincere “THANK YOU” to our team members for all of their hard work. You organized raffles, coordinated spaghetti dinners, and even donated your hard-earned tips to the campaign. You truly worked tirelessly for the kids! Of course, we couldn’t have done it without our fantastic guests. We’re proud to be a part of your community and are grateful for your help in supporting children’s hospitals. Even though times are tough, you really rallied to help us achieve our goal. Thank You!
Here's our team at the Whitehall Eat'n Park. With Smiley's help, they raised $782 during their Tips for Tots event. Nice work!
At Eat’n Park, our goal is to make everyone feel welcome. We want our menu to provide selections for every appetite, and our guests have often told us that we are the one place the whole family can agree on because of our broad menu.
Last year, some of our guests complimented us on some things we didn’t even know we were good at. Some of these guests had Celiac disease (an allergy to gluten), and they told us that they appreciated that we offered a gluten-free menu on our website. We also heard from people trying to cut back on calories and fat who liked our Eat’n Smart options, and from vegetarians who appreciated the multiple options we offer for them.
Though we were happy to hear this positive feedback, we also thought we could do a much better job at making our menu accessible to people with special diets. So, we redesigned the back of our menu to be especially for this purpose. This page of our menu includes sections for gluten-free items (our Celiac-Friendly menu), our Eat’n Smart selections (lower in calories, fat and cholesterol), reduced sodium selections, and vegetarian options. Our goal was to make it easy for people with special dietary needs to find the items on our menu that fit their diet. We also continually evaluate new items we introduce for how they may fit into these special sections.
We have received a lot of positive feedback on our new menu sections, and we hope everyone always feels welcome at Eat’n Park. We’re are continually looking for new menu ideas so if you feel we’re missing an item that could be your new favorite, let us know! You can pass on your suggestions by commenting here on this blog or in the Contact Us section of our website.
To get in the spirit of the season, Eat’n Park recently participated in Macy’s Celebrate the Seasons Parade in downtown Pittsburgh. Smiley loves a parade and the crowd really seemed to love Smiley. To make it a little more fun, we invited Sarah Marince, rising country singer and singer of our “The Place for Smiles” jingle, to join us in the parade. She sang Christmas songs and our famous jingle. There was a big crowd watching the parade, and we all had a great time. Here are a couple pictures and a short video in case you missed the parade.
I hope everyone has a joyous season. Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! I’ll see you at Eat’n Park!
It’s hard to believe that December is here and the holidays are already upon us. While there are busy schedules and stress that sometimes come along with this time of year, there are also long-beloved traditions that we look forward to all year long.
One long-running tradition here at Eat’n Park is our cherished Christmas Star commercial. Every year, we are moved by the comments we hear about this classic spot. Many of you have told us that it is what gets you in the holiday spirit, and that it reminds you of what the holidays are all about. We’ve even heard that the commercial has been referenced in Christmas Eve sermons!
This year marks the 26th anniversary of the commercial – and because it’s so timeless, it’s hard to believe that it has been around for so long. And just how did this classic come to be?
It all started in early 1982. Eat’n Park was just beginning to blossom into the family restaurant chain that you’re now familiar with, and the company was prospering. Our CEO at the time, Jim Broadhurst (who recently retired), wanted to create a holiday card on video to thank the city of Pittsburgh for their support of Eat’n Park.
So, Jim charged Ketchum, our ad agency at the time, with creating a message that would “last for 20 years.” Easy, right? Craig Otto, then a young Art Director, and Cathy Bowen, a fledgling Copy Writer at the time, lead the project. The pair worked for 3 weeks to generate over 30 ideas, none of which were met with approval. Eventually, they hit upon the idea of an animated commercial, but they still weren’t sure where they were going with it.
One Sunday shortly thereafter, Craig decided to come into the office. He sketched out a star, a traditional holiday image, and then stopped. “How does the star get to the top of the tree?” He played around with a few ideas until deciding that, of course, the star would need some help from the tree itself. In a fateful coincidence, Cathy had also decided to come in to the office that Sunday. So, while Craig worked out the illustrations, Cathy devised a simple, yet perfect sentiment to wrap up the commercial.
Jim immediately loved the spot, and an ageless favorite was born. Even better, the commercial has outlasted his original expectations. The idea of the relationship between the tree and the star illustrates a timeless holiday lesson – by helping another, you’re helping yourself, and you’re making the world a better place.
So, from everyone here at Eat’n Park, here’s hoping that the special lift you get this holiday season lasts all year long!
Click above to view the commercial, or here to see when it will air on a station in your area. And please, feel free to share your thoughts and stories about it – we love hearing them!
For many of you, “Black Friday” probably jump starts your holiday shopping. So, you won’t be surprised to know that that day is really busy for our restaurants. After all, shoppers need fuel in the midst of searching for great deals. Did you know that almost one-third of Black Friday shoppers hit their first shopping destination before 6 am? No wonder people are so hungry for a good breakfast!
To be ready for those of you who are at the mall before dawn, we’re opening our doors early, between 4-6 am, at most of locations located in or near shopping centers. We’re also featuring a Shoppers’ Buffet until mid-morning at most of those locations. It’s a great way to get in, get a great meal, and get back to shopping. Just click here to find out if the Shoppers’ Buffet is being offered at a location near you.
And just to show you how hungry people are on the biggest shopping day of the year, here’s a sample of what we served at Eat’n Park last year on Black Friday:
More than 70,000 eggs (3 times more than a typical Friday)
16,000 cups of coffee and 2,500 lattes
More than 14,000 breakfast buffets
In addition, we have another reason to be excited about Black Friday this year: Smiley Merchandise. All of our restaurants now carry Smiley-branded gift items like coffee mugs, shoe charms, and Sarris Smiley chocolates. We’ve even stocked some of our locations with apparel, like our new sweatshirts featuring our beloved Christmas Star commercial. The apparel is only available in a few locations right now, but it’s available near many major shopping areas around Pittsburgh, including our locations in Grove City, Cranberry Twp., Robinson Twp., Monroeville, Uniontown, North Huntingdon, Center Twp., and McKnight Rd.
We think these items will make great gifts and stocking stuffers, so hopefully we can save you some time by being a one-stop-shop for not only a good meal, but also for special holiday gifts. We just hope we don’t sell out too quickly! Of course, if that does happen, you can find most of our items in our online store.
Family and food have always been the cornerstone of my Thanksgiving celebrations, and I am sure it is the same with you. My family has a great tradition. Each year I plan a themed menu. I put together an entire meal of recipes using the theme in every course. The recipes are divided up amongst my siblings, and on Thanksgiving we gather at my home and share our creations. One year, the theme was apples and another it was root vegetables. This year’s theme is Italian American. This tradition of themed menus has kept my family’s Thanksgivings interesting year after year, so I thought I’d share the idea with you.
However, none of these celebrations would have been much fun if, because of unsafe food handling, we all got sick. So, here are some food safety tips you can follow to help you make the most of this holiday season:
Thaw the frozen turkey in the refrigerator. Allow one day for each five pounds of turkey. A twenty-pound turkey will take about four days to thaw. Hint: Remove neck & giblets from inside the bird as soon as possible to hasten thawing.
Do not let any juices from the turkey come into contact with any other food.
Wash your hands with hot, soapy water before and after handling raw poultry.
Wash all knives, cutting boards and utensils also after using for raw poultry.
Cook fresh turkeys within two days, thawed ones within four days.
Never slow-cook poultry overnight.
Use a meat thermometer that is set for an internal temperature of 165°. Remove the turkey from the oven and allow it to “rest” for 20 minutes before slicing.
If you are traveling with food, keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold. Wrap hot foods in foil and heavy towels to keep it above 140°. Keep cold food in a cooler with ice packs to maintain 40° or below.
Promptly refrigerate leftovers in shallow platters instead of one large container. Remove the turkey from the bone to help it cool quicker.
Reheat any leftovers to an internal temperature of 165°. Gravy should be brought to a rolling boil.
Be sure to use up your leftovers within four days.
If you have any questions about food safety or need more details about my tips, just leave a note on the blog and I’ll get back to you.
I would like to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and remind you that Eat’n Park is closed Thanksgiving Day. But, all of our locations will be open bright and early Friday morning so we can all grab breakfast before hitting those sales!
‘Tis the season for our annual Caring for Kids Campaign. This is our 30th year raising money for children’s hospitals, and with the help of our team members and guests, we want to make it the best yet! Since the inception of the campaign, we’ve raised almost $7 million - that’s pretty amazing. This fundraising campaign benefits 13 children’s hospitals in the neighborhoods around our restaurants, but I wanted to share one story that hits particularly close to home for two of our own team members.
Let me introduce you to Davis Rees - he’s the son of Krista, who is a manager at our Robinson restaurant, and Jim, who is a cook at our Moon Township restaurant. Davis was born with a rare condition called Prune Belly Syndrome. The result of his condition caused him to have stage 5 kidney failure, and he is currently awaiting a kidney transplant.
It’s been a challenging journey for the Rees family, but the team at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh has been there every step of the way. Krista says, “I cannot say enough about the doctors, nurses and overall staff at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Everyone is so caring and compassionate. When Davis first arrived there, it was the scariest time of our lives. We had never been to Children’s Hospital. We didn't at the time know what was wrong with our son, but the staff was incredible, explaining everything to us. Children’s does so much for patients' families that I am sure most people are not even aware of. Because of the work they do, we’re able to concentrate on what’s really important: our son.”
We hope that you’ll visit one of our restaurants this holiday season and help us support Davis and all of the other kids that benefit from this campaign! For more information, just click here or stop by your neighborhood Eat’n Park Restaurant for details.
Throughout this blog, we hope to share a bit of our culture with you through stories, recipes, and other information that we think you’ll enjoy. More importantly, we hope you’ll share with us – we want to answer those questions you’ve always had about Eat’n Park (how did we come up with that name, anyway?) and we want to hear your ideas, feedback, and hopefully, a few compliments too!
So, please feel free to comment on postings that pique your curiosity. We'll do our best to respond to questions within 72 hours. Please keep in mind that we are a family restaurant; comments containing offensive language will not be posted.
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