Is a new restaurant coming to Cruz Bay? Well according to a recently-created Facebook page, one is.
Peno Mediterannean Grill St. John USVI appeared on Facebook back in February, and announced it would be bringing “the freshest food to St. John”. They claim to be opening “in the heart of Cruz Bay” although no location has been announced.
Peno Mediterranean Grill currently has two North Carolina locations with three more pending in both North and South Carolina. According to its website, it’s a franchise.
On March 20th, the Facebook page wrote, “We will be reviewing our location this week so that we can hopefully start the construction process soon. Stay tuned as we are very excited together to bring authentic Mediterranean food to St. John.” And on April 22nd, they wrote about working on permits; however they’ve still yet to announce a location.
We reached out to them to ask for more info and this is part of their response:
I can tell you our place will be locally owned by residents of 15 years who own other businesses in USVI, this will not be a franchise and will employ local residents.
Hmmm…
That’s all we have right now folks. We will keep you all posted as we learn more. In the meantime, have a great Monday everyone!
Although I love this type of food, I’m generally not excited about chain restaurants or retail stores on St. John. In reviewing their FB and website, it shows that all the food is served on plastic plates with plastic tableware. Considering that the Vi is striving to eliminate the use of plastics, they may need to reconsider their extensive use of plastic.
They are in my town, Wilmington,NC. First opened as BABA Ganouch and folded. Now PENO and will most likely fold as well. I would not get too excited.
Haha, i too live in wilmington. I’d never even heard of them. Then again, i dont eat out here or deal with wrightsville beach any longer since living in stj from 2010-2015.
Hmmm well that’s certainly interesting…
So nice to hear the locals coming out and supporting the local restaurant community and the hard working local entrepreneurs who make it happen. We have a vibrant foodie scene here It helps our whole vibe as a community because the owners are a part of that community- doing so much more than just running their places. It’s crazy to think that this is a rare situation, but it is. Nice!