Eat'n Park to go upscale with spot in cultural district

The chain donated to the orchestra for the right to be in the district.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Jumbo shrimp. Plastic silverware. Anarchy rules! Upscale Eat'n Park.
That last one isn't an oxymoron anymore.
The Pittsburgh-based restaurant chain that once featured carhops and is best known for its smiley-face cookies and family meals under $10, plans a 10,000-square-foot upscale location in the heart of Pittsburgh's cultural district.
"We've always wanted to be downtown. We really felt that this location was an excellent location," said Adam Golomb, a spokesman for Eat'n Park Hospitality Group.
The new location will open sometime next year, catty-corner from Heinz Hall -- home of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra -- in what is now Curtain Call, a coffee shop that sells books, music, videos, greeting cards.
The symphony opened Curtain Call after a drugstore moved out in 1996, simply because they wanted to "preserve that corner."
"We never intended to get in the retail business," said symphony spokeswoman Jody Doherty.
Coffee shop to move
Curtain Call will make its curtain call in the third week in January, likely moving to another location, perhaps Heinz Hall, after which Eat'n Park will take over. The chain, which has more than 75 restaurants in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, bought out a five-year lease from the symphony for an undisclosed sum, and donated $250,000 to the orchestra for the right to try a new kind of restaurant in the cultural district.
The new restaurant will offer "quality dining with an eclectic American menu and comfort food with a twist," said Mark Broadhurst, the chain's director of concept development.
What the restaurant won't have is the Eat'n Park name or the familiar orange-and-white sign. All is not lost in the translation from the typical Eat'n Park, however.
"If we do a cafe bakery option, we'll definitely have Smiley cookies," Golomb said.
Eatery's history
Eat'n Park was established in Pittsburgh in 1949 by Larry Hatch, then an executive of the Isaly Company. The first 13-seat restaurant also had 10 carhops who served customers in their vehicles -- a novel concept that caused a traffic jam on Saw Mill Run Boulevard when it opened.
As the carhop phenomenon grew in Pittsburgh and the rest of America, so did signs that said "Park 'n Eat," which is why the company couldn't copyright the name. Hatch reversed it to Eat'n Park.
While the restaurant business and Pittsburgh have both changed in the 50-plus years since, Eat'n Park officials think they can make a go of their latest makeover.
Kevin Joyce, who owns The Carlton Restaurant downtown, noted that three downtown restaurants have closed in recent months.
"It doesn't mean you can't come in and succeed. It means you're taking a risk," Joyce said.
"We believe that the downtown Pittsburgh market is on the verge of a rebirth because of the growth in the cultural district, and the convention center and the [pro sports] stadiums on the North Shore," Broadhurst said. All are within walking distance of the new restaurant.