A heavy dose of nostalgia: Eat’n Park has been in business for 75 years

Claire “Larry” Hatch took a chance.

With no restaurant experience, he got a second mortgage on his home with his wife, Gladys, to get the $75,000 needed to purchase a piece of land along Saw Mill Run Boulevard on Route 51 in Overbrook. Hatch was working for Isaly’s — a family-owned neighborhood dairy store — overseeing six of its Pittsburgh locations. He offered this restaurant concept to Isaly’s, but Isaly’s declined.

So he built a small building with 10 outdoor stalls, 13 indoor seats and 10 carhops — waitresses who took orders and brought food to the car. This dining concept was new and welcomed — and had traffic backed onto Route 51 that opening day. Hatch had to temporarily close the restaurant and simplify the menu to enable faster prep and cooking because of the demand.

Hatch hired Bill Peters, a manager at one of the Isaly’s stores, as president.

In the 1940s, Park & Eat was a generic term, so Hatch and Peters came up with the name Eat’n Park.

From that one leap of faith 75 years ago grew 56 restaurants in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.

“From carhops to mobile ordering, we’re never done pushing the boundaries of what a family restaurant can be, and 75 years is only the beginning,” said Jeff Broadhurst, chairman and CEO of Eat’n Park Hospitality Group, the parent company of Eat’n Park, during a celebration on Wednesday at the Banksville location. “It has been an honor and humbling to have had the opportunity to create smiles for the past 75 years and beyond.”

Courtesy of Eat’n Park

The early days of Eat’n Park included car hop service, where drivers parked and servers brought food orders to the vehicle.

Eat’n Park has the first uniform that servers wore — a shirt and blouse with the name tag attached to the belt. (The one they’ve preserved has the name “Sarah.”) Over the years, the uniforms for team members — Eat’n Park refers to its employees as team members — have been updated.

A new look was created for the 75th anniversary along with new name tags.

“When you see those uniforms you think of all the team members who wore those,” said Mercy Senchur, president of the restaurant division of Eat’n Park Hospitality Group.

JoAnne Klimovich Harrop | TribLive

A wall of menus is located inside the office of Mercy Senchur, president and CEO of the restaurant division for Eat’n Park Hospitality Group, at the Waterfront in Homestead.

Senchur started as a server in Dormont before moving to a management position at the Banksville location. She has kept every menu, including the one from Overbrook.

”Generations of families remember dining at Eat’n Park over the years,” Senchur said. “It’s about nostalgia. At some point, today’s uniforms will become nostalgic. Our mission is to honor the past while continuing to innovate.”

Over the years the restaurants have been updated to include history and attract a new generation of diners, Senchur said. Some restaurants have been refreshed and others rebuilt, including Banksville in 2014 and Collier, which will re-open later this year.

There will be 51 stores with pick-up windows — a much-needed amenity during the 2020 pandemic — once Collier and a renovation of Murrysville are completed.

Mary Huggins of Carrick, a server for 15 years at the Banksville restaurant, said she loves the atmosphere, meeting new people every day and the loyal customers. She said the 75th anniversary shows Eat’n Park’s dedication.

“I love this job,” Huggins said. “I care about the customers and like to think I create smiles.”

Speaking of smiles, the Smiley Cookie debuted in 1986 when then-owner Jim Broadhurst, who with wife Suzy purchased the company in 1984, was inspired by a sugar cookie at Warner’s Bakery in his hometown of Titusville. He had the idea to give children a free cookie. Senchur said adults would ask if they could buy a cookie, which is how the Smiley Cookie evolved to seasonal cookies, decorate your own and a website where cookies can be shipped.

Broadhurst also renamed the Big Boy burger — the image was a chubby boy in white-and-red checkered overalls carrying a tray with a special hamburger — to the Superburger.

Other restaurant chains used the Big Boy name, including Shoney’s in the south and Elby’s in West Virginia.

Eat’n Park secured the copyright and was allowed to use the name, ingredients and image for an annual fee of $1, according to the agreement made with Bob Wian, who owned Bob’s Pantry in Glendale, Calif.

The agreement expired in 1974.

Wian reportedly sold the rights to Marriott Corp. for $7 million. Marriott wanted a percentage of sales and Broadhurst, who was executive vice president and treasurer of Eat’n Park at the time, said “no way” and renamed it the Superburger.

Eat’n Park expanded to Eat’n Park Hospitality in 1999. It employs nearly 10,000 people across Eat’n Park, Hello Bistro, The Porch, Parkhurst Dining and SmileyCookie.com.

Courtesy of Eat’n Park

Eat’n Park celebrated its 75th anniversary on June 5, 2024, with an event at the Banksville restaurant with elected officials and members of management. Some of the team members modeled vintage uniforms from the early days of the restaurant.

One thing that won’t change in the next 75 years is the Eat’n Park Christmas tree commercial, Senchur said. It was commissioned in 1982 as a Christmas card and a way to thank the community for support of Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh (now UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh). The ad agency Ketchum, McLeod and Grove created a video of a tiny star struggling to reach the top of a tree. The tree bends down to lift the star to the top. When the star reaches the top, the entire tree lights up.

“That commercial will never leave us,” Senchur said. “It brings smiles.”