Karen’s Diner is normally known for its ill-mannered waiting staff, but its manager hopes to show another side of the restaurant through their new sponsorship.
The diner will work alongside Sheffield City Lionesses Football Club, which recently underwent a significant rebranding following its creation in 2020.
Karen’s will not lose its trademark charm of insulting paying customers; employees will attend matches and shout rude remarks from the sidelines.
Venue manager Lisa Cholerton said: “My first initial thinking was that it would be good for us as Karen’s Diner to be seen to be giving back.
“I wanted to make sure that people knew that we provide a theatrical experience – it doesn’t mean we’re all bitches and we don’t care about the community we’re in.
“It would be good to get the club noticed and for us to watch some of the games, get some videos, do some little skits.”
Chairman of the club, Ash Greenwood, explained that Sheffield City has been going through a rebuild of its female sector.
Part of this involved changing the team’s name from Sheffield City FC to Sheffield City Lionesses, which Greenwood felt was “more of an attractive name for branding purposes”.
Arranging the sponsorship was initially an uphill battle, with a number of phone calls eventually culminating in a deal just before Christmas 2022.
It was not until the past week that employees of Karen’s Diner visited Olympic Legacy Park, the home of the club.
Greenwood continued: “It’s different, obviously getting this sponsorship. We probably have ruffled a few feathers in Sheffield this week.
“Looking at the bigger picture, the brand Karen’s Diner has been brilliant with us. They are really supportive, not just of the women’s game but of the club as a whole. Showing them round, they were blown away by it.”
The announcement comes at a perfect time for the restaurant as it approaches its one year anniversary.
“I’m absolutely thrilled,” said Chorleton. “I was there from the beginning and we just didn’t know how it was going to take off – it was the first one in the UK and we just weren’t sure how it would be responded to.
“The fact that we’re now coming up to a year and we’ve got all these birthday plans in place for next week is amazing. We’ve got all sorts of things planned and I know the rest of the team are really excited to be celebrating our one year.
“We never thought for a minute the impact that Karen’s Diner was going to have; we didn’t even know if we’d be here a year later.”