Mayor eats at every restaurant in town in 24 hours

JENKINTOWN, Pa. — Jenkintown Mayor Ed Foley, in a gut-busting campaign to draw attention to the tiny borough’s varied restaurant scene, set out to visit all 24 of them on Saturday, starting with a pre-dawn visit to IHOP.

The second-term Democrat said he’s had to battle “mom guilt” from restaurant staff as he has eaten his way across Jenkintown, a town so small that he only needed to build in 15 minutes to walk from place to place.

He said several restaurants have opened in Jenkintown in recent years — and more are poised to join them in the coming months — but he was surprised to count them and see 24 restaurants now populate a town of less than a single square mile. About 20 years ago, he said, Jenkintown had only one place to eat.

Foley conceived the meal marathon, complete with photos on social media and a custom hashtag, as a way to promote Jenkintown’s first restaurant week, which starts Tuesday. Several restaurants have set up shop in Jenkintown in recent years and a couple more are scheduled to open in the coming months.

Follow the RJ on Twitter: @reviewjournal