Penguin Drive In

Penguin Drive In Charlotte, NCFood: The Philly Cheese Stake was good however the aju was really special, truffle fries were delicious crispy on the outside and tender inside. The Spicy Shrimp could of had more bang, bang sauce however was a really tasty dish.Service: Exceptional customer service, from the greeting at the door to the friendly waitress we had the pleasure of having.Ambiance: A very clean and orderly establishment with fun decor and a spacious dining area, booth and table seating.

I stopped by here on a Sunday evening and it was pretty empty. I love the fact that they have plenty of parking considering the location. We walked in and waited for quite a bit to be seated. We weren't greeted warmly by the hostess, and we were seated at a table that was too wobbly, so I opted to switch to the table right next to us which worked out fine. In my opinion this place needs a serious makeover! It gives dark and dingy. They have cute elements but more tacky with mix match chairs, wobbly tables, dark tight spaced bathrooms. IDK.. On the up side they have a free play arcade which I thoughts was cute, but a good bit of the games don't work, so again outdated and in need of upkeep. Our waitress Juliana was sweet as pie, she was very accommodating and hospitable. I ordered the smash burger, the kids meal cheeseburger, and the firecracker shrimp for an appetizer.Honestly, everything was just okay. The smash burger was cooked perfectly, but it was bland... I mentioned this to my waitress when she asked how our meal was and she was extremely apologetic and offered to bring out additional sauce, but I told her no worries after dipping the burger in ketchup it was much better, but I appreciated her willingness to help with my concern. The shrimp was actually better than my burger (tho not great either), I really enjoyed the pairing with the fresh Avocado and veggies, I do wish they had more of the sauce on the shrimp which I'm sure had I asked for that my waitress would have brought it out no problem. I just didn't think to ask for more of the sauce, that's on me. My son said he really enjoyed his burger and fries, but I'm starting to think he'd like any burger! LolI also ordered the spicy margarita and it was watered down, I did not feel like brining this up tho because I hate to be that person and honestly was over it at this point, I wish I would have switched it out for something else. I don't think we'll be back, but I'm so happy that we got to give them a try.

February 16, 2025 @ 2:30pm My wife had made reservations for us for lunch which we arrived 5 minutes before. The parking lot was pretty empty with a few cars present We parked directly by the main door and upon entering from the main entrance from the lot as my wife informed of the reservation I could immediately see about 14-16 people seated and scattered around the primary seating area so there were a lot of seating for the two of us however the host proceeded to escort us towards the left side towards the back near the bar past the game room closet to one of the booths in a very dimly lit area with a Caucasian couple with 2 youngs kids running into and out of the small game room (nowhere near as bright or vibrant as a lot of their photo advertisements I've seen online) Considering that we were African American about to be seated and we only saw 1 other younger black couple already seated, that was not the area for us to be seated and we asked to be seated in the front side area with a lot of open seating we'd just walked through. The host then says we can sit wherever we wanted in what I thought was a bit sarcastic at an uncalled for at the time. So I ask him to please escort us to all table where someone would service us as when this has happened before I've sat a at a table where the waitress was on break and wasn't aware someone was at her table and we waited for more than 10 minutes before we had to get up and choose to leave so I wanted to be sure someone would wait on us. Anyone black knows they may have experienced this at some point in their life.As he proceeded to say you can sit where you'd like but again it felt very sarcastic and not very welcoming at all. So we decided to leave. Upon leaving and walking towards the check in desk which is directly by the door I proceeded to offer the suggestion that during middle of the day service and ample open seating is available to not let the back area of your establishment be the first choice to seat African Americans unless requested. This was the first time visiting this restaurant and I was looking forward to giving them a shot but this experience unfortunately has happened to us before and we can usually tell especially during a middle of the day lunch date when it's happening. We're sharp enough to tell exactly what's going on and we refuse to be subjected to this type of service that we're paying for. Needless to say we will not be visiting this business again.

The smash burger was BUSSIN! I was craving a good burger and Penguin delivered!!! Nice day so the husband and I sat outside. We went on a Thursday for a late lunch. Service was great. Marg was okay but I would definitely go back for the burger.

nch with the work crew. Arrived around 1130ish and was not busy at all. They sat us towards the back of the restaurant to be able to accommodate us. Our server "May" was friendly and efficient & just overall very pleasant. I ordered the Nashville chicken wrap with fries. Unfortunately I didn't see anywhere that the chicken was spicy, so I was struggling eating it as it was very spicy and I don't do spicy well BUT it was so delicious that I trugged through it with my fries. Overall, it's so delicious, and I will be back to try other things on their menu. They do have a parking lot with plenty of parking spaces to choose from.

May was our server. She was friendly and she got our orders correct. We came at lunch time and it wasn't too crowded. Friendly staff and good food. We were pleased with the service and the meals.

This place has the BEST burger in Charlotte I've had in years. I'm salivating missing the classic smashburger!We ordered the spinach and artichoke dip and they gave us like 10 chips with a large bowl and then charged us $4 for a damn refill smh. It was good but for $4, I should be getting at least like 20 chips.Now I got the smashburger and my stepdaughter got the french dip burger. Both were tasty but the smashburger was way better. Her burger came with au ju? Like broth to dip the burgers in and it was great. 10/10. The mashed potatoes and truffled fries were delicious too! 10/10 My boyfriend got the philly steak and subbed with chicken and it was delicious too!Cute retro theme makes for a good date spot too!We were the only guests there for the evening and I could not believe it. Can't wait to come back.

Our food was really good. I had the hamburger it was delicious. Service was nice and friendly. The place is nice and big, but it was kind of empty that night so that made even better experience.

The smash burger is everything. Soo good.. I won't eat any other burger else where. The service was good. Very friendly and attentive. I was seated out on the patio. Very nice.

Stopped by for lunch since I worked a block away. Today was really nice to sit in their patio area. The staffs were all nice and friendly. Lizzy was our waitress and she was great. However it's the food that got the 3 stars: Bang bang Shrimps was a 4/5. It was pretty good. Have a kick. The fish sandwich was a 2/5. It's supposed to have coleslaw. I'm just eating plain veggies cut like coleslaw. But nothing else too it. Fish was ok. Everything was sooo plain. I wasn't sure what I make of it.. I didn't finish the sandwich.. I asked for the potatoes salad as a side. Again this didn't like taste anything. It was a little off. You can see they may have add Mayo. But no celery. No seasoning etc. I had to sent it back and ask for just plain fries. Maybe I'll come back to say the drinks menu. But not anytime soon.