Make way, Smiley: Frownie Brownie is back

Surly dessert makes return to Kings menu

Wipe that smile off your face. The Frownie Brownie is back in town.

Kings Family Restaurants is reintroducing its chocolate-iced brownie with an attitude this week at all 23 locations in the region.

The signature item — which was first cooked up in 2005 as a good-natured foil to Eat’n Park’s Smiley cookie — was scrapped from the menu in 2015 when the local chain was purchased from founder Hartley King by San Diego-based Kelly Restaurant Group.

“Our loyal customers, many of whom have been coming to Kings their whole lives, have missed Frownie, and we have listened,” said Alisha Merico, marketing manager at Kings.

Billed as the “meanest dessert in town,” the Frownie will be the star of a new marketing campaign (heckling “You want a piece of me?” on billboards), while the Frownie mascot will return to local events throughout the Pittsburgh area beginning this spring.

Besides the individual $2.29 brownie, Frownies will be available in a Pity Party six-pack for $7.99 and as a shareable Angry Mob including 12 Frownie Jrs., 12 scoops of chocolate and vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream and a cherry for $24.99. There’s also a Frownie sundae for $4.99.

Although Frownie may be looking for a fight, Eat’n Park chief marketing officer Kevin O’Connell wasn’t biting.

“All Smiles here!,” Mr. O’Connell emailed when asked to comment on the Frownie’s return.

Kings will be giving away Frownie Brownie Jrs. with all kids’ meals. Unlike Eat’n Park’s always free-with-a-meal Smiley cookies, the Kings’ give-away will last only through the summer.

It’s not hard to imagine all the dirty looks to come.