When Eat’n Park overhauled its longtime Squirrel Hill location last year, management didn’t just remodel the interior dining area. A stone facade made the local establishment look like something from the new century, rather than an ode to the last one.
And sales rose more than 10 percent.
“People are drawn to new restaurant experiences. Even if it’s the same restaurant,” said Kevin O’Connell, senior vice president of marketing for Eat’n Park Hospitality Group Inc.
The Homestead chain that’s been around long enough to count as a Pittsburgh institution isn’t rushing to open new Eat’n Park sites but it has ordered up some dramatic overhauls of locations that have been part of family dinners and teen gatherings for decades.