Eat'n Park on southbound McKnight Road to close

Soon there will only be one Eat'n Park on McKnight Road.

The Eat'n Park restaurant on southbound McKnight Road in Ross Township will close on Dec. 1 after 46 years in business, a spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday. 

But regulars won't have to go far to find another restaurant. There's an Eat'n Park on northbound McKnight Road, just about a half-mile away. 

Eat'n Park says it has offered all the employees at the southbound restaurant other jobs. 

"We have offered all of them positions at our numerous nearby Eat'n Parks ahead of the busy holiday season, including the Eat'n Park on the other side of McKnight Road heading northbound," the company said in a statement. 

Eat'n Park didn't give a reason for closing the restaurant.

The southbound McKnight Road location is a special spot for Louise Malburg of Allison Park.

"My husband will say, 'Where are we going to eat? Let me guess, same place again?'" Malburg said. "A lot of memories, you know, coming here all the time, the salad bar, the waitresses. I get emotional."

It's where she used to go every week about 15 to 20 years ago with her friends.

"We used to come here and just sit at night and drink, get French fries and have a good old talk," Malburg said.

While these days she comes about once a month, now living farther away, she made sure to be there on Wednesday after learning about its upcoming closure in December.

"I had to come over and say hi to everybody," Malburg said.

Audrey Lagamba of the North Hills said her sister has worked there for 40 years.

"It's a hard decision. You know, it hit everybody pretty bad," Lagamba said.

So far, she said her sister hasn't made up her mind. Malburg hopes some of them decide to stick in the area.

"The waitresses were just amazing, you know, good-hearted waitresses," Malburg said. "They know how to serve people, know how to treat people, you know, you don't get that everywhere."

In the meantime, they're all going to savor those last moments there, until the lights turn off.

"We'll get here again before it closes," Lagamba said.

"It definitely won't be the same," Malburg said.

Eat'n Park employs 8,000 people at restaurants across Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. The family-owned restaurant chain opened its first location in 1949.