How does Perkasie’s Pennridge based restaurant stack up to the competition?

Since it opened in 1854, the popular restaurant ‘The Perk’ has had a death grip on the restaurant industry in Perkasie. But after six years and four million dollars of investments, the former Thompson Family Hardware Store from 1926 has entered the competition for the hottest restaurant in Perkasie. This new restaurant is called ‘The Ram’ named after Pennridge High School’s mascot, truly embracing the Pennridge community right off the bat. While the restaurant has a nice backstory and a feel-good name, to become the best, you must beat the best. How does The Ram stack up against the other restaurants in Perkasie, and namely The Perk itself?

The first factor to consider when comparing restaurants is the menu. Looking at the menu tells a lot of different information about the restaurant in question, and it goes deeper than the food selection. On the surface, it’s clear that The Perk has an advantage over The Ram, as a quick look tells us that The Perk has a three-page menu, as opposed to The Ram’s single one-sided sheet. When looking for different kinds of foods and a more diverse selection, The Perk is without question the way to go. On top of that, the question of price comes into play. A common staple in a pub-style American restaurant is the cheeseburger, and when it comes to the price of this popular food, The Perk once again has the advantage. Even when paying an extra dollar for a side of fries, a Perk Burger is a $10.00 meal, as opposed to the $11.00 Ram Burger, including fries. When it comes to the price and diversity of food selection, The Perk is the clear-cut favorite.

A make or break factor for any restaurant is the service and atmosphere. The people you as the customer interact with for the duration of your meal can be the deciding factor when thinking about ever showing your face in a restaurant again. As for The Ram, they do an excellent job of hiring high-character people and creating a friendly work atmosphere. Among these employees are Pennridge High School’s own T.J. Gouge and Gryphin Dean, who both described their job as fun. Gouge went as far as to say “It’s fun, I have no complaints. The atmosphere is the best,” attesting to the interview process and character search done by The Ram’s higher-up management. Along with excellent customer service, The Ram is over 9,000 square feet over three floors, compared to The Perk having around 2,000 square feet on one floor. As a result of this dissimilarity in square footage, The Ram has more seats than The Perk, and much lower wait times to be seated.

Finally, the most important aspect of a restaurant is the taste of the food. According to Yelp, The Perk scores higher than The Ram according to critics in the Perkasie area coming in with four stars, compared to The Ram’s three and a half. Pennridge High School’s Brett Mussleman, who has eaten at both The Perk and The Ram. Mussleman stated “I had a cheesesteak and that was alright, but The Lenape Burger from The Perk was very good and the service was great. They were very nice.” he then went on to elaborate saying “I would recommend The Perk, it’s cheaper and has higher energy.”

Despite The Ram being the hot new location in Perkasie, it still has not overtaken The Perk for the title, best restaurant in town. The Perk has a clear-cut better menu, better prices, and has gained the recommendation of the community. With all this being said, The Ram still deserves its flowers, and is a nice place to sit down for a quick meal and enjoyable food, and will most likely continue to improve over time.