And now, a word from France...

When a colleague told me his French exchange student had fallen in love with the Penguin in Plaza-Midwood, I asked if he'd like to write a little something -- add to our global perspective here, get a young voice, all that good stuff.

Samuel Fely from Limoges (that's him with the Big Block Burger) complied:

"Le Penguin Drive-In est un restaurant de Charlotte. Il est reputé et c'est merité. Les cheeseburgeurs y sont très bons, ainsi que les frites. Mais pour avoir une place, il faut attendre car l'endroit est petit et il y a de la queue. De plus l'endroit n'est pas très bien fréquenté et les clients fument, ce qui est désagréable. Cependant les serveurs sont relativement polis et le service est effectué rapidement. Et tout comme je l'ai dit, à toute heure la nourriture est vraiment très bonne. Il y a plusiers sortes de sauce à votre disposition. C'est agréable mais il n'y a pas beaucoup de serviettes, ce qui serait utile. ... Je me suis très régalé et c'était une bonne expérience."

IB French teacher extraordinaire Lynn Stultz, from Myers Park High School, was kind enough to translate:

"The Penguin Drive-In is a Charlotte restaurant. It is well-known and it deserves the reputation. The cheeseburgers there are very good, as well as the fries. But in order to get a seat you have to wait because the place is small and there is a line. The clients smoke and that's unpleasant. However, the staff is relatively polite and the service is quick. As I said, no matter the hour the food is really good. There are several kinds of sauces. This is nice but there are not a lot of napkins, which would be useful. ... I enjoyed myself very much and it was a good experience."