By Mick Dillon / The Jambar
Downtown Youngstown’s Penguin City Brewing Co. is partnering with Build Your Own Breakfast for a fresh spin on the catered brunch experience.
BYOB founder Ashlea Duck looks forward to forming a deeper relationship with the local community by sharing her love for food with Youngstown locals from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. every Sunday.
The collaborative brunch experience began in early September and will continue through the end of the year. YSU students receive 15% off all menu items as well as qualifying for various game day specials after each Penguins victory during the 2024 football season.
With several yearlong specials, Duck hopes to see plenty of YSU students coming in for the brunch festivities to wrap up their weekly extracurriculars.
With all of the ingredients purchased and prepared on the morning of each event, Build Your Own Breakfast’s menu features a variety of items such as chicken and waffles sliders, biscuits and gravy, build-your-own omelets and more.
Along with the diverse food menu, the brunch parties also provide plenty of entertainment, such as live DJs, henna tattoos, tarot card readings and a full bar supplied by Penguin City.
“We have been in the heart of the city — that’s where my heart is — downtown Youngstown,” Duck said.
Build Your Own Breakfast and Penguin City seem to share the same love for the community, and both companies reflect this sentiment with its weekly collaborations.
Penguin City’s co-founder Aspasia Lyras said the company is happy to bring other local businesses into its warehouse.
“This space is too big for us. We need to share it with other local businesses. We want this to be an outlet, because there’s not many,” Lyras said. “I love partnering with the food [businesses] because we don’t have a kitchen.”
In its four years of operation, Build Your Own Breakfast hasn’t had a steady location. Likewise, Penguin City released its first beer in 2018, but didn’t find its “perfect spot” until the summer of 2022, when it landed at its current warehouse located on Federal Street in downtown Youngstown.
With both companies starting from similar situations, Lyras said she understands the struggles of trying to find a permanent home for an up-and-coming business.
“This is an incubator space for small businesses,” Lyras said.
Along with hosting weekly brunch parties with Build Your Own Breakfast, Penguin City hosts a variety of other events.
Monthly night markets, country line dance nights, live DJs, karaoke and indoor disc golf matches are just a few examples of the many different events hosted by the brewery.
Lyras puts a heavy emphasis on hosting student-friendly events because she acknowledges that YSU students are a big part of our community.
BYOB looks forward to furthering its relationship with Penguin City, and the feelings are mutual. Lyras said everything is a trial, but has high hopes for the future of its partnership.