Eat'n Park: The carhops are gone but this Pennsylvania mainstay continues to drive sales with 'good quality food at reasonable prices'

Nation's Restaurant News,  Jan 28, 2002  by Paul King

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Eat'n Park Hospitality Group calls its base market -- Allegheny, Washington, Westmoreland, Beaver, Butler and Armstrong counties in western Pennsylvania -- its "heritage" market.

It's an appropriate sobriquet because Eat'n Park has a rich history in that area, which until recently was a home for miners and steelworkers and still has a strong core of blue-collar families whose predecessors built this corner of the commonwealth.

"I'm pretty excited about where we are and where we're going," says James Broadhurst, chairman and chief executive of the 77-unit chain, based in the Pittsburgh suburb of West Homestead. "Family dining has struggled over the years, but we still like this segment, and we're continuing to grow out as a regional."

To call Eat'n Park an institution in western Pennsylvania would not be far off the mark. It would be hard to find an adult aged 45 to 95 who doesn't have fond memories of the restaurant known for comfort foods and designed with working-class families in mind.

"Eat'n Park is what we all grew up with," notes Tom Murphy, mayor of Pittsburgh. "Other than the fact that the carhops are gone, Eat'n Park has pretty much been a mainstay in the area for years."

Eat'n Park was the brainchild of Larry Hatch, an executive with the Isaly Co., a local ice-cream maker and deli. Hatch wanted to bring the concept of the drive-in restaurant popularized by A & W Restaurants, to Pittsburgh. In 1949 he and a group of Pittsburghers opened a tiny restaurant -- only 13 seats inside -- on Saw Mill Run 4 Boulevard in Pittsburgh's South Hills. Ten roller-skate-wearing women hit the parking lot to take orders from scores of eager drivers.

According to reports from the time, history and a huge traffic jam was created. Hatch had made headlines, and a local icon was created.

The carhops are a distant memory, but the chain has thrived nonetheless. It stretches a radius of 250 miles through Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland and western New York.

"When I look at the chain, I'm happiest about the reputation we have," says Basil Cox, Eat 'n Park's president and chief operating officer. "We have a great share of the market we're in, and our employees work very hard to maintain the quality of our menu and service."

The concept has been tweaked here and there over the years, but the restaurant's core mission -- "good-quality food at reasonable prices" -- hasn't changed. Eat'n Park's menu is full of comfort foods at prices generate an average check of about $6. Signature items include the double-deck Super burger, strawberry pie and the Smiley cookie, a large sugar cookie frosted with a happy face in various colors.

Ever conscious of the incomes of many residents, Eat'n Park also offers a Breakfast'n Fruit Buffet each morning, a Soup'n Salad Bar at lunch and dinner, a Sunday brunch and a Midnight Brunch. It even has a special menu for seniors called Seniors Especially, which features smaller portions at reduced prices. The company's current advertising slogan "Home Smile Cookin" may sound cheesy in a market like New York or Los Angeles, but it is the perfect tag line for folks in this area.

"There is no doubt in my mind that guests are looking for value," notes Cliff Miller, vice president of marketing. "What works for us is quality products at reasonable prices. When we do a promotion, we are shaving pennies off a price, because we are already working on such low margins to provide customers with a terrific deal."

A case in point is the annual midwinter promotion Eat'n Park has run the last several years, called "Dinner For Two: $9.99." According to Miller, the special allows two people to select from among four entrees and several sides. The dinner special also includes a beverage and Eat'n Park's signature Smiley cookie for dessert. The promotion kicks off in January for five weeks, running from Sunday through Thursday from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.

With a check average of $6, dinner for two people for $10 doesn't seem like that great a bargain. But its popularity is unmatched, Miller says.

"We have people coming to restaurants and waiting in the lobbies until 3 o'clock when we run this special," Miller says. As one might expect, the promotion is particularly popular with the area's growing number of seniors living on fixed incomes. Broadhurst says Eat'n Park's market has one of the highest concentrations of adults aged 55 and above in the country.

Eat'n Park will run four or five promotions a year, such as a barbecue promotion in the summer and the Pie of the Month promotion, in which customers are given the chance to purchase specially priced pies to go, like cherry pies in February and pumpkin pies in November.

The company uses a mix of radio and television ads, direct mail, outdoor billboards and inserts in the local Sunday newspapers to get its message out. Coupons work particularly well, Miller says, as a "visual reminder" for customers.