Monday, September 29, 2008
Meatloaf – An American Institution
It’s almost October, which means that for the past couple of months, I’ve been busy perfecting our new fall specials. One of our new features is the “Mile-High Meatloaf,” and I thought a little background on the history of meatloaf would be in order.
Nobody knows exactly when meatloaf was first created. Early records show that for centuries, cooks would mince already-cooked meat by hand and re-form it into molds. Some even believe that meatloaf has its origin in scrapple, a mixture of ground pork and cornmeal served by German-Americans in Pennsylvania since Colonial times.
But it wasn’t until the Great Depression and World War II that the American public began incorporating ground meat into family meals on a widespread basis. It was critical for families to stretch food dollars as much as possible. Using an inexpensive ground meat and throwing in leftovers and other less-than-fancy ingredients along with a few spices gave cooks a way to use up things that might otherwise go to waste. This is the reason we all feel that our mom’s meatloaf is the best. There are as many different variations as there are families and generations.
Today, many hail meatloaf as the ultimate comfort food. Because of its appeal as a traditional family dinner, Americans are ordering meatloaf at restaurants in record numbers. For that reason, I invite you to try our Mile-High Meatloaf.
We’ll fill your need for comfort food with four slices of our private recipe meatloaf served over a grilled slice of homemade Italian bread. To make it a Mile-High, we top it with two large scoops of fluffy mashed potatoes, savory beef gravy and crisp onion rings. You really have to see it (and eat it) to believe it.
The Mile-High Meatloaf will be featured at Eat’n Park from Monday, September 29th until Wednesday, November 26th. It is a limited time offer, so be sure to stop in and give it a try. Then come on back to the blog and let me know what you think.
Until next time,
Regis Share
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Nobody knows exactly when meatloaf was first created. Early records show that for centuries, cooks would mince already-cooked meat by hand and re-form it into molds. Some even believe that meatloaf has its origin in scrapple, a mixture of ground pork and cornmeal served by German-Americans in Pennsylvania since Colonial times.
But it wasn’t until the Great Depression and World War II that the American public began incorporating ground meat into family meals on a widespread basis. It was critical for families to stretch food dollars as much as possible. Using an inexpensive ground meat and throwing in leftovers and other less-than-fancy ingredients along with a few spices gave cooks a way to use up things that might otherwise go to waste. This is the reason we all feel that our mom’s meatloaf is the best. There are as many different variations as there are families and generations.
Today, many hail meatloaf as the ultimate comfort food. Because of its appeal as a traditional family dinner, Americans are ordering meatloaf at restaurants in record numbers. For that reason, I invite you to try our Mile-High Meatloaf.
We’ll fill your need for comfort food with four slices of our private recipe meatloaf served over a grilled slice of homemade Italian bread. To make it a Mile-High, we top it with two large scoops of fluffy mashed potatoes, savory beef gravy and crisp onion rings. You really have to see it (and eat it) to believe it.The Mile-High Meatloaf will be featured at Eat’n Park from Monday, September 29th until Wednesday, November 26th. It is a limited time offer, so be sure to stop in and give it a try. Then come on back to the blog and let me know what you think.
Until next time,
Regis Share
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Friday, September 26, 2008
Uniontown Eat’n Park Receives Community Choice Awards
Congratulations to General Manager Kim Gunsallus and her team at the Uniontown, PA, Eat’n Park! Thanks to readers of their local newspaper, the Herald Standard, our Uniontown restaurant grabbed top honors in the following categories:
-Best All-Around Restaurant
-Best Breakfast
-Best Brunch
-Best Salad Bar
-Best Health Food Menu
-Best Homemade Desserts
We’re especially proud of the award for “Best Health Food Menu.” We’ve worked hard to make our menu accessible to everyone, including those with special dietary needs like a gluten-free diet. In case you haven’t been in to one of our restaurants lately, throughout our menu, we use our “Eat’n Smart” symbol to denote items that are healthier with less calories, cholesterol, and fat. The back of the menu lists the items on our menu that will fit into celiac, reduced-sodium, and vegetarian diets.
Regardless of diet restrictions, we hope to offer something for everyone, and we want to do it with a smile. Kim and her team are clearly doing that and more for the Uniontown community. Congratulations! Share
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-Best All-Around Restaurant
-Best Breakfast
-Best Brunch
-Best Salad Bar
-Best Health Food Menu
-Best Homemade Desserts
We’re especially proud of the award for “Best Health Food Menu.” We’ve worked hard to make our menu accessible to everyone, including those with special dietary needs like a gluten-free diet. In case you haven’t been in to one of our restaurants lately, throughout our menu, we use our “Eat’n Smart” symbol to denote items that are healthier with less calories, cholesterol, and fat. The back of the menu lists the items on our menu that will fit into celiac, reduced-sodium, and vegetarian diets.
Regardless of diet restrictions, we hope to offer something for everyone, and we want to do it with a smile. Kim and her team are clearly doing that and more for the Uniontown community. Congratulations! Share
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Thursday, September 18, 2008
Back to school presents challenges for family meal planning
Some life changes seem to arrive with the seasons. I have two children in grade school, and each September brings the crush of the schedule back into our life from the carefree days of summer. School and homework would be enough, but there is also football, cheerleading, soccer, piano lessons, PTA, etc. When do we eat together?!?!?
Often, this time of year, our options include more takeout. We don’t have time to cook and we don’t have time to sit down someplace, so takeout becomes our cook for the night. At Eat’n Park, we know many families face the same dilemma that mine does during this time of year, so we try to make our takeout satisfying for the whole family. Our menu already offers something for everyone, but we’re always looking for ways to improve our takeout service and food quality.
Our sandwiches and salads travel especially well, but one of our most popular takeout items is the Quart of Soup. We have chili and chicken noodle soup available every day, plus our soup of the day (like my personal favorite, potato soup on Wednesdays and Sundays).
As I mentioned earlier, we’re always striving to improve our takeout experience. So, we’d love it if you’d give our takeout a try, and comment back on this blog with what you liked and what we could do to make it even better. In fact, here’s a coupon for 20% off your next takeout order, valid through October 10, 2008 (click here). I look forward to seeing your comments!
Enjoy,
Kevin
Sr. VP, Marketing Share
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Often, this time of year, our options include more takeout. We don’t have time to cook and we don’t have time to sit down someplace, so takeout becomes our cook for the night. At Eat’n Park, we know many families face the same dilemma that mine does during this time of year, so we try to make our takeout satisfying for the whole family. Our menu already offers something for everyone, but we’re always looking for ways to improve our takeout service and food quality.
Our sandwiches and salads travel especially well, but one of our most popular takeout items is the Quart of Soup. We have chili and chicken noodle soup available every day, plus our soup of the day (like my personal favorite, potato soup on Wednesdays and Sundays).
As I mentioned earlier, we’re always striving to improve our takeout experience. So, we’d love it if you’d give our takeout a try, and comment back on this blog with what you liked and what we could do to make it even better. In fact, here’s a coupon for 20% off your next takeout order, valid through October 10, 2008 (click here). I look forward to seeing your comments!
Enjoy,
Kevin
Sr. VP, Marketing Share
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Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Smoke-free dining is better for our team members
On Thursday, September 11, the state of Pennsylvania is going smoke-free. More than a year ago, on May 31, 2007, we decided to make all of our restaurants smoke-free voluntarily. It wasn’t an easy decision at the time. We knew that many of our guests would love the change, but we also knew that some of our guests who smoke would be disappointed by our decision. We’re in the hospitality business. Trying to make everyone happy is what we do. It’s in our blood! This would be a choice where we would have to make some people happy and others not.
The group that was most important to us in this decision was our team members. The Eat’n Park experience is delivered every day by our more than 8,000 team members. The evidence is pretty clear that working in an environment with second-hand smoke is not good for your health. When the state of PA (Ohio had already gone smoke-free in December 2006) delayed its smoke-free legislation, we felt we couldn’t, in good conscience, continue to ask our team members to work in an environment that we knew to be hazardous to their health.
We have received tremendous positive feedback and support for our decision, and we have never regretted it. Our team members enjoy a healthier work environment, and we have heard from so many families who appreciate a place where they can dine smoke-free.
To thank you for your support, we will be serving FREE Smiley cookies with dinner on Thursday, September 11 (from 5-8 pm). So, stop by your neighborhood Eat'n Park and enjoy a great dinner and a Smiley Cookie on the house!
See you at Eat'n Park,
Kevin Share
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The group that was most important to us in this decision was our team members. The Eat’n Park experience is delivered every day by our more than 8,000 team members. The evidence is pretty clear that working in an environment with second-hand smoke is not good for your health. When the state of PA (Ohio had already gone smoke-free in December 2006) delayed its smoke-free legislation, we felt we couldn’t, in good conscience, continue to ask our team members to work in an environment that we knew to be hazardous to their health.
We have received tremendous positive feedback and support for our decision, and we have never regretted it. Our team members enjoy a healthier work environment, and we have heard from so many families who appreciate a place where they can dine smoke-free.
To thank you for your support, we will be serving FREE Smiley cookies with dinner on Thursday, September 11 (from 5-8 pm). So, stop by your neighborhood Eat'n Park and enjoy a great dinner and a Smiley Cookie on the house!
See you at Eat'n Park,
Kevin Share
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Friday, September 5, 2008
Welcome to our blog
Hello, and welcome to our blog! My name is Jeff Broadhurst, and I am the President and CEO of Eat’n Park. We’re excited about this new feature, and we are hoping that we can connect with you through the blog and incorporate you into the Eat’n Park family.
Obviously, the world we live in is constantly changing. The way we communicate today is far different from the way we did back in 1949 when our company first began, but we’ve always strived to hold on to those personal interactions that are so much a part of our history.
This blog is an extension of that goal. 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!
You’ll be seeing a variety of topics here, ranging from our sustainability practices to menu development to our restaurant remodels. Some of our most innovative team members will be posting their thoughts, so expect information that you haven’t heard before. Check out the author bios on the right to see who you’ll be hearing from.
So please, take a look and let us know what you think! We’re looking forward to hearing from you and very much appreciate your business.
Keep Smiling,
Jeff
President and CEO Share
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Obviously, the world we live in is constantly changing. The way we communicate today is far different from the way we did back in 1949 when our company first began, but we’ve always strived to hold on to those personal interactions that are so much a part of our history.
This blog is an extension of that goal. 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!
You’ll be seeing a variety of topics here, ranging from our sustainability practices to menu development to our restaurant remodels. Some of our most innovative team members will be posting their thoughts, so expect information that you haven’t heard before. Check out the author bios on the right to see who you’ll be hearing from.
So please, take a look and let us know what you think! We’re looking forward to hearing from you and very much appreciate your business.
Keep Smiling,
Jeff
President and CEO Share
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Size does matter...for tomatoes
I love tomatoes….nothing speaks local like a great tasting, juicy tomato picked at the height of ripeness!! So, of course we wanted to make sure all of our guests enjoy that home grown favorite. But as you know, these global orbs tend to also come in a variety of sizes and shapes, which makes it difficult to execute for a company with as many locations as we have. We needed to make sure our local farmers could deliver tomatoes that had a consistent size and shape.
So this past winter, with snow still falling and fields still frozen, I got in my car and visited with a few of our farmers. Two of the farmers were in western PA: Art King from Harvest Valley Farms (http://www.harvestvalleyfarms.com/) and Don Brenckle from Brenckle’s Farm and Greenhouses (http://www.brenckle.com/). During this meeting, we talked about the importance of the consistent size and shape of our tomatoes…but we also couldn't lose the fantastic, fresh taste that is the hallmark of a locally produced vegetable. As I sat at the kitchen table at Art’s house and stood in the greenhouse at Don’s, we leafed through numerous seed catalogues to find that seed that would produce the perfect tomato for Eat’n Park.
Since we have restaurants stretching from Ohio through Central PA, it was necessary to partner with a farmer in the East that would be willing to meet these same specifications. The most logical choice was Steve Groff, a farmer that I met 6 years ago at the PASA (http://www.pasafarming.org/) conference in State College, PA. Steve welcomed the business and is now supplying our eastern restaurants with tomatoes from Cedar Meadow Farms (http://www.cedarmeadowfarm.com/) in Holtwood, PA.
What I like best about featuring local tomatoes is freshness of the product. Our tomatoes go from the vine to the plate in our restaurants in less than three days!!! That is the only way to keep the wonderful fresh taste. My only regret is that the season is too short. But don’t fret; I’m working on that…
Jamie
Director of Sourcing & Sustainability Share
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So this past winter, with snow still falling and fields still frozen, I got in my car and visited with a few of our farmers. Two of the farmers were in western PA: Art King from Harvest Valley Farms (http://www.harvestvalleyfarms.com/) and Don Brenckle from Brenckle’s Farm and Greenhouses (http://www.brenckle.com/). During this meeting, we talked about the importance of the consistent size and shape of our tomatoes…but we also couldn't lose the fantastic, fresh taste that is the hallmark of a locally produced vegetable. As I sat at the kitchen table at Art’s house and stood in the greenhouse at Don’s, we leafed through numerous seed catalogues to find that seed that would produce the perfect tomato for Eat’n Park.
Since we have restaurants stretching from Ohio through Central PA, it was necessary to partner with a farmer in the East that would be willing to meet these same specifications. The most logical choice was Steve Groff, a farmer that I met 6 years ago at the PASA (http://www.pasafarming.org/) conference in State College, PA. Steve welcomed the business and is now supplying our eastern restaurants with tomatoes from Cedar Meadow Farms (http://www.cedarmeadowfarm.com/) in Holtwood, PA.
What I like best about featuring local tomatoes is freshness of the product. Our tomatoes go from the vine to the plate in our restaurants in less than three days!!! That is the only way to keep the wonderful fresh taste. My only regret is that the season is too short. But don’t fret; I’m working on that…
Jamie
Director of Sourcing & Sustainability Share
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The story behind the voice of Eat'n Park
We are very excited to be working with a Pittsburgh-based singer to provide the musical sound of Eat’n Park. Sarah Marince, a Moon Twp., PA resident, is an aspiring country singer. She’s been opening for big name artists, including Taylor Swift, Trisha Yearwood, Kellie Pickler, Julianne Hough, and Reba McEntire, preparing to get her own big break.
Here’s a little history on how we hooked up with Sarah. At the beginning of 2008, we wanted to update our famous “Place for Smiles” jingle with a fresh new voice. We saw Sarah perform at the release party for her new CD and were amazed how young and old gravitated to her sound and her personality. She is truly a great person and it comes across in her performance. Add to that the fact that she has a tremendous voice! We thought she would be the perfect representative for Eat’n Park. We’ve posted the new version of our jingle and a free song from her new CD on our website so that you can hear Sarah yourself. We also recorded a video of Sarah when she was in the studio recording our new jingle. Catch it all at http://www.eatnpark.com/promo.asp
This summer, we wanted to share Sarah’s sound with our guests, so we took her on the road to perform outside various Eat’n Park restaurants. We had a blast and so did our guests. You can check one of Sarah's latest performances below, or see all of our videos here: http://www.eatnpark.com/newsVideo.asp.
We thank Sarah for helping to make Eat’n Park the place for smiles this summer!
Kevin
Senior Vice President, Marketing
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Here’s a little history on how we hooked up with Sarah. At the beginning of 2008, we wanted to update our famous “Place for Smiles” jingle with a fresh new voice. We saw Sarah perform at the release party for her new CD and were amazed how young and old gravitated to her sound and her personality. She is truly a great person and it comes across in her performance. Add to that the fact that she has a tremendous voice! We thought she would be the perfect representative for Eat’n Park. We’ve posted the new version of our jingle and a free song from her new CD on our website so that you can hear Sarah yourself. We also recorded a video of Sarah when she was in the studio recording our new jingle. Catch it all at http://www.eatnpark.com/promo.asp
This summer, we wanted to share Sarah’s sound with our guests, so we took her on the road to perform outside various Eat’n Park restaurants. We had a blast and so did our guests. You can check one of Sarah's latest performances below, or see all of our videos here: http://www.eatnpark.com/newsVideo.asp.
We thank Sarah for helping to make Eat’n Park the place for smiles this summer!
Kevin
Senior Vice President, Marketing
Share
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