The Perkins Family Restaurant and Bakery in Pittston Township is seen sitting dark and empty Monday night. A sign on the front door elaborated on the roadside marquee message seen here, indicating that the restaurant ‘has closed permanently.’
Roger DuPuis | Times Leader
Sign on door of Route 315 restaurant directs customers to other locations
PITTSTON TWP. — A longtime eatery on the Route 315 commercial strip has shut its doors.
According to a sign posted at the entrance to Perkins Family Restaurant and Bakery the restaurant “has closed permanently,” while its roadside marquee simply read “closed” on Monday night.
The sign on the front door directed customers to two of the chain’s other locations in the region, on Wilkes-Barre Township Boulevard and in Dickson City.
There was no mention on the sign about why the restaurant had closed, but area Perkins restaurants have cut back on hours since re-opening following the initial coronavirus outbreak earlier this year — and like all eateries, they have had to limit seating in keeping with state-issued COVID-19 mitigation mandates.
The Route 315 Perkins had been among popular spots not just for highway travelers, but for Sunday post-church meals, social gatherings and hungry late-night crowds.
According to the Times Leader archives, the Pittston Township restaurant opened in February 1998, giving the chain access to a greater share of Interstate-81 traffic and the local market.
It was the third Perkins to open in Luzerne County, the paper reported. In addition to the Pittston Township and Wilkes-Barre Township locations, there also is a restaurant on state Route 93 in Sugarloaf Township, near Hazleton.
As of Monday night the Pittston Township location was no longer listed on the chain’s website, which indicates that Perkins operates 284 restaurants nationwide, including 37 in Pennsylvania.
