... Jan. 15 (next Saturday), with an event starting at 11 a.m. with, naturally, fried pickles, along with live music and giveaways. Big Game Brands is the Charlotte-based company looking to "expand the Penguin Drive-In's brand throughout the U.S.," according to a press release. That's owned by Martin Sprock of Charlotte, best-known for his Raving Brands, and for creating multiples of such spots as Moe's and Flying Biscuit.
"We are excited about bringing the Penguin's unique brand of traditional American cooking back to the Charlotteans that have supported this restaurant for generations," Sprock said in a press release, and added he has his eye on other cities. The Penguin, a landmark in Plaza Midwood since the mid 1950s, has been "completely refurbished," but keeps the (now trademarked, according to the release) Famous Penguin Fried Pickles and Famous Penguin Pimento Cheese dishes. It's at 1921 Commonwealth Ave. Spokesman Bruno Lucarelli (reached this morning in New Jersey) said folks at the restaurant are "running in circles" trying to prepare. A website is up at www.penguinrestaurant.com, but the menu is not yet posted.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Penguin slated to open...
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44 comments:
Spokesman Bruno was reached in New Jersey? This cannot end well.
rather go to pinky's
PINKY'S rocks go there and when the Diamond opens go and see the real staff and friends from the old Penguin. I spoke with Brian last night he says two three weeks. When the Diamond opens I hope this reporter and site give the Diamond and all the people there who were thrown out of their jobs before Christmas just as much press and more. Bruno reached in NEW JERSEY that's says a lot about how they will support the neighborhood. The Penguin is dead LONG LIVE THE DIAMOND Brian and Jimmy.
Well whoop-dee-doo.
The new Penguin should just be a Mcdonalds.
I thought everyone from New Jersey was already down here.
Hope the wait staff at the new Penguin will be much nicer than at the old Penguin. Loved the food but the servers were extremely rude.
Spokesman is in New Jersey!? Might as well be New York City, no one knows how to make hamburgers, fries and deep fried pickles like Charlotte. The sooner the northerners learn that it's not about selling better old timey drive-in food that is surely only found in the south, and that it is about southerners selling to other southerners the better we will all be.
what a shame. a franchised penguin ran by folks out of jersey. no matter what you think about the original, good or bad, this is just pathetic.
The Bird is dead. R.I.P.
Diamonds, on the other hand, are forever...
can't wait to eat at the Diamond. with all due respect to the "new" Penguin, they're coming into a neighborhood full of people who hope they fail. very uncharacteristic of this 'hood, but there you go.
If a band plays in an empty restaurant does that make it music?
Anyone considering a peaceful protest?
@ Anonymous 5
Nice one, Sprock.
Martin and the "New Penguin" crew are going to fail. The new owners have been contacting former employees of the Penguin who were layed off in October to show them the ropes of how the business was ran. They have no clue, what they are doing.After working for five years at the former penguin and watching someone bank on our hard work. I wish them the worst. Plaza Midwood does not welcome big business.
I am so confused.I used to eat at the penguin on thomas ave or pecan, and the diamond which is on commonwealth about 1 block away.I knew the ballantynes owned the penguin and i guess sold it a year ago.Now i am hearing names like pinky's,the "new" diamond and another penguin on morehead st.Did this become a soap opera,or are the years going by like months for me?I used to live in plaza mid-wood in the 80's and 90's....moved away in 2001,and am now back,but in cornelius on lake norman.Please help me weed this mess out.I hope the subway is still there at the corner of central and the plaza and the harris teeter across the street.I can even remember playing pac-man at the circle k at parkwood and the plaza back in 1982 lol.Life was good!!
Anon 2:12: Here's a link to a story that gives some history and context: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/10/04/1737743/the-polarizingplight-of-the-penguin.html
I don't know a single person that is excited to see the monstrosity that is the new "Penguin" open. Everyone I know can't wait for the Diamond to open. The bird got shot down by it's own owners. RIP Penguin.
trademarked fried pickles and pimento cheese? what a joke.like thats the only place that makes them. these clowns may eventually expand to other places like, oh New jersey or something but I can see the "original" location failing. the patrons that made the Penguin what it is, HATE the new owners from the go.
since parking there was tight, I used to park at the Diamond and walk to the penguin. It will be funny to see it the other way around now
New Jersey Huh? Maybe the Penguin is getting back to it's roots and the half fast bartender.
Actually what we're witnessing is the beginning of the Penguin's decline. Sad.....
This reminds me of the episode of Southpark where people from New Jersey started to take over everything.
No, no one is seeing what is really going on. The Diamond's new owners are more money hungry than the new Penguin people. Doesn't one of them already have ownership in that soul sushi place? Why takeover something else?
You think parking was bad around there before, you just wait. It's already been told that the new Diamond people will be towing cars without a second thought. What a nice way to open and welcome people. The cab company behind there also has made it clear they will not tolerate drunks blocking their entrance/exits or they will tow. Sounds like great fun just to get a nasty sandwich.
Maybe the Diamond will be like Dixies Tavern!! God help us.
bunch of crybabies. Just because someone is from Jersey doesn't mean they are evil and going to destroy your southern ways. Food IS much better up there by the way. That being said, hopefully they keep the cuisine as it was, because it was some of the better southern drive in food you could get.
Worst wishes to the new Penguin. I hope it flops and goes broke in 6 months.
I did not appreciate the way the Penguin girls treated me when they waited tables. It is necessary to clean house sometimes. The sanitation grage must have been in serious trouble because of the way it was kept. Thank God someone is cleaning all that mess up.
I will pray for the new penguin, in hopes that the keep the place clean and make their staff treat people decently. A fried pickle doesn't mean much if it's served by rude people. What a legacy!
I hope the new Diamond fails. those people are nothing but greedy. Just bulldoze the place and we could use it for parking!
To those (yuppies) who criticize the old Bird, probably have been there once or twice. For most of us, it was a weekly trip to the heart of Plaza Midwood. The place was always clean and the staff our friends, therefore friendly. They worked hard to make it what it was, then the owners, realizing the success, pretty much just stole the concept to make it a bleached place. Can't wait to try the Diamond!
Although the new Penguin will get business, it won't be from many in the neighborhood. It just won't be the same. The old Penguin was made up of people, it had a culture. Kind of hard replacing an institution.
Our experience was the servers at the old Penguin couldn't have been any nicer and we went there once a month or so. Everyone hustled and did different tasks and was always friendly. Rude is the last word I would use.
Anonymous 3:17p:
The Diamond's owner since the 1960s was retiring, and instead of simply closing the place down, he wanted to sell the business to new owners who would keep the feel of the longtime neighborhood restaurant intact. The owner of Soul, as well as the guys from The Penguin, made a good offer and it was accepted, and they have put a lot of money fixing the place up to last another 70 years. I don't see how that can be a bad thing.
As a show of how much the new owners respect The Diamond's legacy, they've welcomed the old owner back to meet and greet his old friends and customers several days a week once the restaurant opens. Hands-on local ownership, continuity with the old owner and customers - to me it seems like an ideal changeover from one generation to the next.
I'm one of the servers from the last days of the Penguin and really hate that people felt they were treated rudely by the servers there. I tried my best to be sweet to my tables and we all will do the same when it comes time to open the Diamond! <3 It's not going to be the entire ex-Penguin staff- there are new hires and staff from the Diamond before,from what I understand.I can't wait! As far as the comment about parking situation I'm sure there will be no problems there- its a neighborhood where people like to park and eat and shop- the Diamond owners support that and surely won't tow- they didn't when they ran the Penguin- why would they turn into tow-Nazis now? :) in fact i remember when Brian paid a guy to stand out in the cold and inform shoppers that the beauty mall was towing like crazy-saving them from the trouble. It will all work out. There will be plenty of parking and good grub to go around whether it is fried pickles you want (gross, haha) or breakfast jams.... :)
Went to Pinky's Dec. 28 since The Penguin was closed. I worked in restaurants for 9 years and have eaten in them for over 40. The patty melt I had was horrible the only flavor was the buttery/greasy toast. The pickles were great, big deal that is gourmet cooking. Would have to say a McDouble would have been equally as tasty but a double cheeseburger's flavor would have surpassed Pinky's burger. They were packed. I don't believe this was an off experience. I won't return.
I ate at Moe's (once) and Flying Biscuit (once). I can't say I'd care to repeat either experience. Moe's was beyond awful. Flying Biscuit was better, just mediocre corporate treacle. A Penguin chain owned by the same guy has zero appeal to me.
I will boycott the new Penguin.
I will shun anyone who eats there. They will not be my friends. I will not do business there.
If my friends play music there, it will be to me as if they died. Same if my friends work there.
As somebody said, this is a battle between money and truth. Truth has to work a lot harder than money to win.
There are so many comments on here about the "real Penguin" that just are not true. If the Penguin was such a horrible place, why did people stand outside for hours waiting to get in. Not just on the weekends, but during the week also.
Whether you went monthly, weekly or daily, the people made the Penguin what it was.
The food was what it was, it was not Sullivans, or Morton's or any of the fancy restaurants around Charlotte, it was just good comfort food. The kitchen? As far as I remember it always got a good sanitation grade, and considering the volume that place put out, I was surprised how clean it was.
I cannot believe the lies about Jimmy and Brian being money hungry or rich. If they were rolling in money, the Diamond would have been open by now, they are normal people just like you and me.
The staff, may have been abrupt, but I am not sure rude is the word. They were responsible for turning tables over fast and getting people in and out. The Penguin was not really a place to linger over your food, unless it was late at nite. I was never treated rude, or with any disrespect and I went there often.
If you didn't like the staff there, well then you should go to the new Penguin where there probably will be no soul at all, except what is left over from the last crew.
Anon 3:10am -- I hope you're being funny or trying to poke a little fun at the people here who get a little intense over a place to eat & hang out. Maybe you just need to go to bed & not stay up so late. Otherwise, I cringe to think about you walking around loose.
Last time I checked, this country's economy was founded on patriotism, and a healthy attitude toward free enterprise. Who belongs to this little cult of people who feel like they "own" a restaurant because they hang out there? The vicious and one-sided attacks toward The Penguin Restaurant are absurd, and very revealing. Grow up, children. Imagine someone treating your parent's business or their employer this way. But you probably can't, because you don't know what it is like to work hard and run a business. You only know how to pout and "boycott" when you don't get your way.
in regard to the previous post
"Last time I checked, this country's economy was founded on patriotism, and a healthy attitude toward free enterprise."
Last time I checked patriotism and a healthy attitude toward free enterprise is what brian and jimmy made sure the penguin was fueled on.
"Grow up, children. Imagine someone treating your parent's business or their employer this way."
really? how far disconnected from this neighboorhood are you?
this neighborhood is so full of people who love it and have worked hard for so long to keep it the way it is.
To US this is the same as Walmart shutting down a neighborhood hardware store or grocery. Watching our "FAMILY" lose what they have worked so hard for.
to quote you again...
"It was about working hard and loving what you did for a living.But you probably can't, because you don't know what it is like to work hard and run a business."
Take those words you typed and think long and hard about how well you know the people who called The Penguin "The Bird"
One anonymous poster has asked why his/her post does not appear, so let me note here as a reminder that I do monitor for several things -- profanity and offensive language (including ethnic and other generalized group slurs), primarily -- all of which have come up in this thread. But I do allow posts on all sides of the topic, as I hope you can see. Have at it, but please keep it clean and generally respectful. Thanks.
Dear Angry Hannah:
The remarks above were in reference to those who routinely talk of restaurant boycotts and threaten to "de-friend" anyone who patronizes The Penguin in the future. These people are indeed pouty, immature,and inappropriate.
I am not sure how far disconnected you are, but your Walmart vs the neighborhood store is quite misdirected. The sole owner of The Penguin is an 80-something year old widow. She was 24 when she and Jim Ballentine bought the place. The two of them worked for fifty years providing food and drink to generations of families in Plaza-Midwood and far beyond. The Penguin is hers, and she has a right to turn it into a bowling alley if she so desires.
I encourage you to take a basic business course. There you will find the legal definition of words like owner and lease.
Greg, Brian and Jimmy will be fine. Mrs. Ballentine will be fine. The Penguin will be fine. And "The Bird"? That nickname was given to The Penguin by Betty Zigler's Mom back in the 1950s, and no doubt will continue.
let's get this straight.
The owners of The Penguin (name and building) from the original start of the business back in the 50's is yes, still the Ballentine family. And of course they have a legal right to that building and that name. To simply leave it at that is not only dismissive, but insulting to the original owner but certainly the owners of the BUSINESS of the last ten years.
Brian, Jimmy and Greg didn't steal The Penguin away from Jim Ballentine. They came to a business agreement the same way they did with The Diamond when the owner was looking to sell and were concerned with keeping the name and spirit alive.
To simply label a community "pouty, immature, and inappropriate" shows how very little insight you truly have in this matter. it's called PASSION. it's called standing for something. Although some of the responses on here, I don't personally agree with, "de-friending" someone in their own right as well. As a small business myself, the level of underhanded dirty business that occurred in this franchised, "cleaned-up", watered - down version of The Penguin disgusts me. And it makes me sad that I will never go back in there or be able to take clients and crew there as I always have done in the past.
Let's stop pretending this is about Jim Ballentine's family taking over something that is rightfully theirs. Those poor people are just being used by Martin Sprock and John Nichols. Ah, Martin Sprock...and here's where the Walmart analogy comes into play. A shady franchiser who boasts of racking up small business lawsuits like notches on a headboard. I don't know if this is a true story, but someone once told me Jim Ballentine was also approached by Starbucks to buy that property but didn't want to see that space turned into a chain coffee house. If it is true, then it's even more sad to see what it will become. Another mediocre chain masquerading as a small "family" business.
Finally, the issue here isn't whether or not this is legal. And of course, Brian, Jimmy and Greg will be fine. This is an issue about not just business but integrity.
[in-teg-ri-tee]
–noun
1.
adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.
2.
the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished: to preserve the integrity of the empire.
3.
a sound, unimpaired, or perfect condition: the integrity of a ship's hull.
-Sounds like they may not have bothered to cover this one in your basic business course....
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