Bensalem Restaurant Reopens With New Owner

Veteran restaurateur keeps the Pookie's name while expanding menu & adding BYOB

Its menu and owner are different. But the mysterious name remains the same. Pookie’s restaurant, which closed this fall after less than a year in business, has reopened. Bud Jones of Feasterville, a veteran of the restaurant business, opened the door of the eatery in the Village Center on Bristol Road on Dec. 6. “I saw the Century 21 sign in the window. I pass it by on my way to work,” he said. So he got in touch with the former owner, Kent Boyer, who owns the center. Soon after he bought the business and decided to keep the name. “He spent all that money on the sign (outside),” Jones said of Boyer. Jones, 59, said he has owned 12 restaurants in his life and currently owns the Breakfast Nook in Cinnaminson, NJ, and the Dredge Harbor …

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Restaurant Closes Less Than a Year After Opening

Pookie's opened last fall in the Village Center

  Less than a year since its opening , Pookie’s restaurant in the Village Center on Bristol Road has closed. Pookie’s opened in late November 2011 as a breakfast and lunch eatery and in recent months expanded its menu to include dinners. Today, the door is locked and a real estate sign on a chair inside greets visitors. Kent Boyer, who owns Pookie’s and the entire shopping center, could not be reached for comment at the center or at home. An employee of another business in the center said Pookie’s closed about a month ago. Boyer, who grew up in Levittown, said last fall that he was running his first restaurant with son Nick, daughter Jennifer and their mom, Evelyn. "It's really for the kids," the 56 year old said atthe time. He had gutted …

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Jesseka Kadylak

3:37 pm on Wednesday, January 9, 2013

@Kevin Brutschea—Pondeli is a resident and business owner, who must have commented previously and then perhaps deleted his comments. I'm not sure, as I've just taken over the site a week ago... but I assume that is what happened here. So the comments seem a bit out of context.   more ›

Frankie's is the Newest Addition to Bensalem's Restaurant Scene

Just opened at former site of Catherine's, owner says food is "cheaper and better."

  The latest addition to Bensalem’s restaurant scene represents a dream come true for its owner and a rebirth of a once-bustling business. Frankie’s Galloway Café opened last week at the former site of Catherine’s Restaurant on Bristol Road, near Galloway Road. It’s owner, Lou Pettinelli, has worked 25 years in the food services industry but never owned his own restaurant. “This has been a lifelong dream and ambition,” says the 54-year-old Holland resident. “I always wanted this situation.” Pettinelli and his wife, Eileen, and their only child, Frankie, were longtime customers of Catherine’s under its first owner. “We were customers for close to 15 years,” he said. “It’s full circle for us.” Most recently, Pettinelli was working as a buyer…

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SONIC Restaurant Reopens Friday on Street Road

As many as 100 jobs created.

You could call it a Super SONIC Friday. The SONIC Drive-In Restaurant at 1525 Street Road will reopen Friday morning under new ownership and management. The new franchise group, which owns several other SONIC franchises, was expected to hire 80-100 employees, 20-40 of which are full-time positions. The Street Road SONIC opened in 2008 and closed in January. It reopens after some remodeling. SONIC specializes in made-to-order fast food. Favorite menu items include: TOASTER® Sandwiches (sandwiches served on thick Texas Toast), Footlong Quarter Pound Coneys (hot dogs with chili and cheese) and Tots. The chain also offers 398,929 drink combinations. SONIC is the nation’s largest chain of drive-in restaurants, with more than 3,500 drive-ins in …

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Readers' Choice

Patch Poll: Best Mother’s Day Brunch

Where’s the best local place to take mom.

Moms love brunch. Everyone knows it. So why not treat mom on her special day. That’s the topic of this week’s Readers’ Choice poll: Where’s the best place in Bensalem for Mother’s Day brunch? There are some very nice options, including: Parx Casino, Bensalem Country Club and Belle Voir Manor at the Pen Ryn Mansion. Vote for your favorite in the survey below by Friday at 9 a.m. And don't forget to click on the links above and rate the business on its Patch Place listing. You can even leave a review. If there's another local spot with a great brunch that we missed, tell us in the comments section below and we’ll try to add it to the poll. In the event of a tie on our survey, we will break the tie by counting the positive comments written …

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Two Job Fairs Next Week For SONIC Restaurant

Between 80-100 employees sought for reopening facility.

The first of two job fairs for the planned reopening of the SONIC drive-through restaurant will take place Thursday. That will be followed by another next Saturday, the 28th. Both will be held at the SONIC at 1525 Street Road from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Applications can now be picked up there from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The new franchise group plans to hire 80-100 employees, 20-40 of which will be full time. The available positions include shift leaders, crew members and SONIC’s signature skating Carhops who deliver orders to customers who are in their cars or sitting on the patio. The Street Road SONIC opened in 2008 and closed in January. Don Welsh, one of three members of a SONIC franchise group that is adding the local facility to its …

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SONIC Drive-In Restaurant To Reopen Next Month

New ownership group taking over after January closing

The SONIC drive-in restaurant on Street Road, which opened in 2008 and closed in January, will soon reopen under new ownership and management. The franchise plans to hire 80-100 employees, 20-40 of which will be full time, according to company officials. Don Welsh, one of three members of a SONIC franchise group, said the restaurant will reopen next month. "We're shooting for mid to late May," he said. "We're going to a lot of remodeling," he added. That includes new kitchen equipment, redone bathrooms and new patio furniture. Welsh, a Chester County resident, indicated reopening the Bensalem site was an easy decision for his group, which owns and operates eight other SONICs in Montgomery, Berks and Lancaster counties. "Bensalem is a great…

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Vic Monaco

5:41 pm on Sunday, April 15, 2012

A vacant fast-food facility is re-opened and at least 20 full-time jobs return and you have to be negative? Really?   more ›

Chickie’s Hosts ‘Talkin’ Baseball with Dutch’

Former Phillies great Darren Daulton will be at the Parx Casino Chickie’s every Wednesday during baseball season.

Starting next Wednesday April 11 at 6 p.m. and for every Wednesday during the entire baseball season, Chickie’s and Pete’s Parx Casino location will be hosting the live radio broadcast of the popular sports-talk show, “Talkin’ Baseball with Dutch” hosted by retired Phillies catcher Darren Daulton. Daulton was the catcher and team leader of the great Phillies group that went to the World Series in 1993. Daulton’s show will be followed by The Jon Marx Show airing from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. both heard on 97.5 The Fanatic. Fans can come and watch the broadcasts, get autographs from Dutch Daulton and his guests and win great prizes.

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Joe Hart

12:15 pm on Thursday, April 5, 2012

Are you going to stop by to see Dutch?   more ›

Ruby Tuesday Closes to Make Way for New Chain

No opening date set for Marlin and Ray's seafood.

The Ruby Tuesday restaurant on Rockhill Drive has been permanently closed and will be replaced with a seafood restaurant. Spokeswoman Meredith Hammond said the restaurant, which opened across the street from Neshaminy Mall in June 2000, was closed March 18. "This is a conversion to a Marlin and Ray's seafood restaurant," she said while explaining that that franchise is also owned and operated by Ruby Tuesday Inc. Remodeling crews have been at the Rockhill Drive site for several days, with some passersby thinking Ruby Tuesday was getting a makeover to coincide with its recently upgraded menu.  Hammond said an opening date for the new restaurant has not been set. She said the employees of the closed restaurant, totaling about 40, have been …

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Readers' Choice

Patch Poll: Best Italian Food

In this week's Readers' Choice poll, vote for Bensalem’s best Italian food.

When you want to indulge in spaghetti & meatballs or lasagna, where do you go? This week, let Patch know where the best Italian food is in Bensalem. Is it at: Apollo's Family Pizzeria, Calabrisella, La Cena, Carrabba's, Toscana 52, Bertucci's or somewhere else? Vote for your favorite spot in the poll below by this Friday at 9 a.m. and don't forget to click on the links above and rate the restaurant on its Patch Place listing. You can even leave a review. If there another Italian restaurant that we missed in this poll, tell us in the comments section below. In the event of a tie on our survey, we will break the tie by counting the positive comments written below about the tied restaurants, so please let us know why you think your choice is …

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