Penn Station (restaurant)

{{Infobox company

| name = Penn Station Inc.

| trade_name = Penn Station East Coast Subs

| logo = Penn Station East Coast Subs.jpg

| logo_size = 200px

| image = Penn Station Springboro OH USA.JPG

| image_caption = Penn Station location in Springboro, Ohio

| type = Private

| genre = Fast casual

| foundation = {{start date and age|1985}} in Cincinnati, Ohio

| founder = Jeff Osterfeld

| key_people = Jeff Osterfeld (CEO)

| industry = Restaurants

| products = Sandwiches, wraps, salads

| hq_location = Cincinnati, Ohio, United States

| locations = 306

| area_served = United States

| revenue = {{increase}} US$415 million (2021)

| num_employees = About 2,000

| homepage = {{URL|https://penn-station.com/}}

| footnotes =

}}

Penn Station is a chain of restaurants specializing in what it calls "East Coast subs." The first restaurant was opened in 1985 by Jeff Osterfeld in Cincinnati, Ohio.{{cite web | url=http://www.penn-station.com/history.php | title=History | publisher=Penn Station | access-date=2012-07-30 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120630080527/http://www.penn-station.com/history.php | archive-date=2012-06-30 }} Currently, Penn Station has over 300 locations in 15 states.{{cite press release|title=Penn Station East Coast Subs in Loveland celebrates 16 years|first=Julie|last=Rose|publisher=Mahan Advertising (Cincinnati.com)|date=2010-05-19|access-date=2010-05-24|url=http://rodeo.cincinnati.com/getlocal/gpstory.aspx?id=100092&sid=166486|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130119080531/http://rodeo.cincinnati.com/getlocal/gpstory.aspx?id=100092&sid=166486 |archive-date=2013-01-19}}

History

File:Penn Station (restaurant) original logo.png

The concept for an East Coast sub restaurant came to Jeff Osterfeld soon after he graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. In 1983, he opened "Jeffrey's Delicatessen" at the Dayton Mall in Dayton, Ohio. It was during a trip to Philadelphia that he first realized the popularity of the cheesesteak sandwich. He began selling a version of the cheesesteak sandwich at his own restaurant, and it instantly became a huge hit.

He eventually expanded to Cincinnati, where he opened his first Penn Station restaurant in 1985. Originally, only four sandwiches were available, including the cheese steak. However, this first restaurant also offered fresh-cut french fries and freshly squeezed lemonade, two items that would become trademarks for Penn Station in the future.

By 1987, Osterfeld had opened several Penn Station restaurants in and around Cincinnati. He began selling franchises that year and restaurants soon opened in St. Louis, Louisville, and Nashville. As of 2023, Penn Station has become a large chain across the

East coast with 306 restaurants open in 15 states across the United States.