By Benjamin Davis / The Jambar
Youngstown is home to many restaurants both in and around the campus of Youngstown State University. Located at 131 West Commerce St., a more recent addition to this line up is Varsity Club, complete with a 35-foot mural of Pete the Penguin.
John Rudy, one of the operating partners of Varsity Club, said that the restaurant has only been open for less than a year.
“We had our ribbon cutting towards mid-December of [2024],” Rudy said. “January of [2025] was when we really started pushing and going. So, we’ve been here for about 10 months right now.”
Since becoming fully operational earlier this year, Varsity Club has developed several partnerships with the university. Rudy said that these partnerships are primarily with the university’s athletics department and teams.
“We sponsor all, I believe 26, athletics [and] we have a [name, image and likeness] deal with the football team,” Rudy said. “We see a lot of support from all the athletics, and we do a podcast once a month too with the different athletics from YSU.”
The close business relationship with YSU has led Varsity Club to commission a mural of Pete the Penguin on the side of the restaurant’s building. At its length, Rudy said it is one of the largest penguin murals in the U.S. According to Rudy, Pat McGlone, a Youngstown firefighter and the mural’s creator, has done other mural art around the community.
“He did our logo, he did the Erie Terminal [Place] across the street, he did the Apollo [Event Center and] he did [a mural at] the Southern Park Mall,” Rudy said. “The Pete the Penguin mural [has] pretty much become a spectacle … and people are just stopping down just to see the Pete the Penguin.”
Moving forward, Varsity Club plans on hosting a special event for St. Patrick’s Day next spring. Rudy said that this would take place along Commerce Street.
“We’re going to start working on a St. Patrick’s Day event,” Rudy said. “We might be closing down Commerce Street, and put up a tent with beer trucks and bands … so we’re looking forward to that.”
Varsity Club is open 4-10 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays, 11 a.m .- 10 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 11-12 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 12-8 p.m. Sundays. More information about Varsity Club can be found at varsityclubyoungstown.com.