09/29/2026
To the Fat Squirrel friends and family,
Imagine~ Jennerstown, 2018 two Chefs with a big dream purchase a tiny ice cream stand. Almost nine years later that building has transformed into a powerhouse of a tiny restaurant with a heart of its' own!! All because of you! It is hard to find words to express our gratitude for those of you who have dined with us over the years, hunted us down at our many food tent events (we are looking at you Danielle, Jason and so many others), those of you who brought us into your homes & celebrations, allowing us to feed your guests in you most precious & special moments.
We couldn’t have done any of this without all of the amazing staff we have had through the years! Boy oh boy, have we had some fun!! From our first murder mystery Christmas party to paintball, white water rafting & magic shows!! We laughed and cried together! So many of you have grown into these amazing adults with families & careers and dreams ACHIEVED! We were so lucky to have you in our family. You have all changed our lives and who we are as people. We are proud to have known you (even when you made us crazy)!!
Here comes the sad bit~
As many of you know, we have been looking for kitchen staff for quite some time. We have not been able to find a good fit. A from scratch kitchen is not an easy place to work, and we know that. Heck, everything is made in house except the BBQ sauce. So many of you have pitched in and helped! We are grateful for all of the outside help and volunteers from our friends and families. Looking at you Miller family, Brian, Tiffany, Bowers Family, Mcvicker family, Pam & Jeff and that silly little Kroft family!! Even with all of this overwhelming support, we are finding it necessary to take a break. As of Saturday September 26th we will be closing our Jennerstown location in order to consolidate our resources and retool for the future. It is with a heavy heart and many tears that we write this. It has not been an easy decision. It is so very hard to let go of this idea we have boot strapped into existence, and have given so much of ourselves into making work. We can recall the excitement of getting our first orders and the exhaustion of our first summer, the first time Chad made carrot cake mixing it in a soup pot because we didn’t have a mixer yet. Trust us when we say, we are not looking forward to closing our door no matter how temporary.
The happy bit~
We will still be running our Somerset location - The Chubby Chipmunk - with normal business hours. We will be continuing the catering arm of our business, so don’t forget us for your holiday parties, weddings, in house private dining experiences and any other special occasions. We will have the Fat Squirrel available for private events.
We will honor all gift certificates sold at the Fat Squirrel at the Chubby Chipmunk, International Dinners & community events. As we take this time off we will be figuring out what our future has in store we will be bringing some new things to the Chubby Chipmunk, continuing and expanding our Thanksgiving and Christmas Buffets in a Bag and working other exciting things. Keep an eye on Facebook or message us your email and we will put you on our mailing list!
Again I would like to thank our current and former staff, and the community for keeping our weird little dream alive. The front door is closing but the orange door will always be open! All the love and gratitude in our hearts~ Susan & Chad
