I have lived in Charlotte for much of my life and I have never been to this place. I happened to be over in the Plaza Midwood area (cool place) and I had heard that I should try the Penguin. I never knew about old owners, but this was a during the day need some lunch type trip. As soon as I walked in everyone was very friendly and welcomed me in. Not in a CiCi's way though. It was a little past normal lunch hours, but still people seated around. Crowd was diverse. Couple drunk old timers at the bar were funny.
I figured I would try the staple burger named after the restaurant. The Penguin. As some have said its pimento cheese with deep fried pickles and onion rings as my side. For all the comments Ive seen on here talking bad about it, I even made a comment to the bartender about how good it was. Pickles were thick cut, burger was juicy. Bun was a little large for the size of the burger, but it tasted really good. I was surprised.
I had a couple beers for dessert. The mug was frosted and refreshing on a hot summer day. They even let me keep the mug because I asked for a souvenir cup and they were out so overall a very enjoyable lunch.
Not sure why the reviews are so mixed, but like I said didnt know the old place and went after peak hours.