Penn Station East Coast Subs — Restaurant in Forest Park

I went to this Penn Station today, and it was my first time going to ANY Penn Station location. It was not a great experience, but the sandwich was pretty tasty, and service was as good as it could be, all things considered. I had placed an order online and took my time. I didn't get there much ahead of the time the order was supposed to be ready.

When I arrived at the building, I saw they had a pick-up window with a sign that said you couldn't place orders there, but could pick up if you had an online order. It had a doorbell to ring and listed the phone number. I rang the bell several times to no avail. Either they have it disabled, couldn't hear it, or were ignoring it. I also tried calling the phone number a couple of times, only to get a voicemail that said it was full so there's no ability to leave a message.

Finally I gave up, parked, and went inside to see what was going on. The parking lot only had a few cars, so it didn't seem like it would be that busy. When I walked in, there were probably almost a dozen people standing around either placing orders or waiting for their orders. There were only 2 people behind the counter, and immediately I felt sympathy for them. They were clearly buried.

I thought this was going to be a very long wait. It really wasn't, though - within less than 5 minutes, I was helped. My sandwich was already done and the guy behind the counter scooped up some fries and a cookie, handed me a cup for my drink, asked if I wanted any sauces - ketchup, mustard, etc..I said yes to the ketchup and he overloaded me with an unnecessarily large amount of ketchup packets which seemed like a small gesture to be taken almost as an apology. I thanked him and went to get my drink and leave....

Filled up on Pepsi only to find that there were no lids sitting out for my (regular) size of cup. As I looked around, I saw there were no straws either. I attempted to get the attention of the guy behind the counter for a couple of minutes before I gave up, gulped down as much of my soda as I could to make it safe to drive with and headed out. Luckily, I work a short distance away and there are no big bumps, so I managed. I was frustrated by this, though.

As easy as it would be to just complain and give a poor rating, I can't - I don't feel like any of this is a very big deal considering that they are definitely under-staffed and doing their best. My fries were not fresh (I had just seen them drop a new basket in the fryer when I walked in), but I don't mind. I chalked it up to them attempting to just help me and send me on my way in case I was in a hurry, because they could not have known whether I would have the patience to wait for the fresh fries. (Some people don't!)

Despite the number of people ahead of me, my order was ready for me on time and I was in and out of the store quickly. It was obvious how hard this very small staff is working. My sandwich was pretty great, and the giant cookie was nice too. Whatever they're making, those workers deserve a serious raise because there's no way it's enough. I hope they find some more...

First of all, there are some characters living around this location. We started talking with the cashier and he was upset with the new avengers movie because "he was not in it". Also he saw my friends' justice league t-shirt and said "that movie sucked". After telling him we were out of town and got the shirt locally he said again "It SUCKED". I asked him how much a gallon of Lemonade was and he said "5000 dollars". Most people would of been upset or offended by this gentleman but I was getting a kick out of it and thought he was absolutely hilarious. At least he is trying to be somewhat outgoing with the customers. While my friends waited for their food my buddy starts taking pictures of the menu, another guy walks in, jerks his head back a little and says "you feelin ta open up a Cheesesteak place of your own!?" I died laughing, apparently this guy thought my friend was gonna be competiton for Penn Station. He replied to the guy" No I'm just showing my peeps down in Texas what real philly steaks look like lol". After getting my lemonade this lady comes up behind me and says "you feeling to get robbed in the parking lot young man, but not for your money, they gon rob ya for that gallon uh lemonade". That was the last straw, I literally laughed the rest of the entire trip about the cashier, the gentleman and the lady. It's not every day you walk into a fast food restaurant from out of town and get that kind of attention and humor from random locals.

Now, on to the actual review, I absolutely love Penn Station. The Cheesesteaks are extremely flavorful. The fries are fresh, and the lemonade is delicious. I still haven't found phillys or lemonade this good in Texas but I'll keep searching.

Thank you Penn Station and thank you to anyone who sat there and read this...

Ever since mnagement changed back in June, this place's customer service has gone down the tube. I have been a regular customer there for a while now so I can absolutely see the change in the staff and service. What is the point in calling ahead if you get there and it's not ready yet? This has happened three times this month. Most recently, I called at noon for two sandwiches and they said it would be ready in 20 minutes. I arrived at 12:19 and the guy at the window said "Just a minute ..." - ten minutes later I rang the bell at the window again and the guy working there was surprised to see me sitting there still. He opened the window and said, "we're really busy it's going to be a few more minutes" I proceeded to tell him that I preordered and it has now been 30 minutes since my order. He said, "i'm not the one cooking it."

TERRIBLE. Why hadn't they made my order? Again? Three times this month trying to get a sandwich which they say will be ready in 15-20 minutes and it's still another 10 minutes once I arrive. And no one working there ever knows what is going on. Now I'll just have to go to the other store that's out of my way because they never disappoint and they always have my sandwich ready when I arrive.

They need to figure out a better system or something for their pick up orders. The wait and the excuses and the terrible service is annoying and unacceptable. They just...