North Park Lounge Owner To Open Restaurant Complex On Babcock Blvd.

ROSS TOWNSHIP (KDKA) -- An excavator was hard at work Friday morning, knocking down part of a building that once housed a popular landmark restaurant and entertainment center on Babcock Boulevard called Jergel's.

It was later called Sunseri's until that went bankrupt.

Now the site is going to come back to life.

"We bought the old Sunseri's restaurant, and we're going to turn it into what will be called Rum Runners," owner Mark Baranowski told KDKA money editor Jon Delano.

Baranowski is excited about what's being planned.

"It's going to be a restaurant bar with a lot of TVs. If you want to come in and watch some sports -- Steelers, Penguins -- we'll have more than enough TVs," he said.

Because the old Jergel's was built on a flood plain, Baranowski said part of the building had to be leveled in order to construct a less flood-prone building.

Rum Runners hopes to replicate some of what the old facility offered.

"We're going to do a lot of what Jergel's did with the entertainment. We're going to have live bands and DJs and dancing on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights."

Baranowski -- who also owns the North Park Lounge in McCandless, Cranberry, and soon to open in Murraysville and the South Side -- says the good eating at Rum Runners is also key.

As for food at the new Rum Runners, it's going to be very similar to the food at the North Park Lounge with a similar menu featuring some of those old favorites like those jumbo wings, the strawberry chicken salad, and, of course, this old standby -- the gigantic fish sandwich.

And while a lot remains to be done, Rum Runners hopes to open by November.

"Right in time for Steelers season," noted Baranowski.

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