If you currently stake out Montford Drive for its food and drink scene, you're probably acquainted with Jet's Pizza and their signature “deli boats” and square, deep dish pizzas. Fans of the Michigan chain's carb-happy cuisine will now have the opportunity to order their favorites from two new locations. Jet’s will open a store early this month at 2712 W. Mallard Creek Church Road in Charlotte and a second store at 920 Park Center Drive in Matthews in late December.

This is in addition to the five other Jet's locations in the state, as well as to the additional spots being planned in Raleigh and in Cary. “North Carolina has been an excellent market for us,” said John Jetts, vice president of marketing. “We’ve had an incredible response and we’re looking forward to further expansion in the state.”

Jet's also offers salads, subs, wings, breadsticks and “Jet Boats” available for carry out or delivery.

According to Twitter, a new restaurant is opening in Uptown at 225 E. 6th St.

And they're following ME now.

Queen City Q, aka @theQclt, posted this today:

Their bio describes it as "Charlotte's premier destination for Fresh Hot Q Smoked Daily and Ice Cold Beer in a casual, comfortable environment in Uptown Charlotte."

As the website isn't live yet, there's nothing else to go on.

Uptowners, keep your eyes open.

If it's a burger you're craving, you don't have to go far to find one: Charlotte's belly is swollen with burger joints for every palette and price range, from longstanding favorites to recent crowd-pleasers. A relatively new player in the beef and buns scene is Smashburger, a nationwide chain that opened its doors in the Stonecrest Shopping Center over the summer.

Frequenters of the South Charlotte plaza can now count Smashburger as a charity site: the restaurant has recently partnered with the Charlotte chapter of Toys for Tots, joining the foundation in its efforts to provide Christmas gifts for local children in need. For those debating venturing out of the neighborhood for a burger fix, keep in mind that their rosemary, olive oil and garlic "smashfries" are worth the trip.

Individuals who would like to make a donation to Toys For Tots may drop their gifts off at Smashburger (7804 Rea Road) during regular business hours (open daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.) from now through Dec. 23.

One of my favorite things about Dolce Vita in NoDa (aside from the fact that it's like, right across the street from where I live) is the ambiance. I love sitting at a wine-barrel-turned-into-a-cool-table, sipping a glass of chilled white, and watching people walk down Davidson Street.

If you've never had the chance to live this wine-loving life of mine, you should take advantage of today's Living Social deal, which is good for two days. For $10, you get $20 worth of food and drinks at the NoDa wine bar. I just bought mine. Want to meet up?

Dolce Vita is located at 3205 N Davidson St.

Just received this notice from the good folks at Chipotle:

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) will raise up to $1 million to benefit family farmers through its annual “Boorito” Halloween fundraiser. Customers visiting any Chipotle restaurant in the US, Canada and the UK on Monday, October 31st from 6 p.m. to close dressed in a costume inspired by the family farm will be treated to a burrito, order of tacos, salad, or burrito bowl for only $2, and Chipotle will donate proceeds (up to $1 million) to Farm Aid and the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation.

“Boorito has become an eagerly awaited tradition for many of our customers,” said Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle. “We are hoping to use the excitement surrounding this annual event to spark more conversation of the struggles facing so many of America’s family farms, and to raise money to help address these issues.”

Boorito 2011 also features an online costume contest. To participate, customers dressed in a costume inspired by the family farm — such as humanely raised animals, family farmers, or locally grown veggies — must take a photo of themselves visiting a Chipotle restaurant on Halloween, and upload it online at Chipotle.com/Boorito or by texting “COSTUME” to 888222. One grand prize winner will receive $2,500, and five runners up will receive $1,000 each. Twenty honorable mention winners will receive a burrito party for 10 guests.

Now, you have to admit, dressing up in a "family farm" inspired costume is not all that hard. Need some ideas? Here are a few off the top of my head.

A carrot: Orange shirt and orange pants, with a green hat.
Farmer: Overalls — or, as my farmer of a grandfather used to call them, coveralls — and carry a shovel or hoe.
A potato: Cut the top and holes in the side of a large paperbag and wear it over your torso.

See? Not hard. Not only do you get a burrito, order of tacos, salad, or burrito bowl for $2, but you're helping out a worthy charity.

There are four Chipotle locations in the Charlotte area; check and see which one is closest to you here.

For you vegetarians out there, a new restaurant opens in Plaza Midwood today. Coming from the folks who own Something Classic Catering and Cafes and Halcyon, Flavors From the Earth, FERN, Flavors from the Garden (1323 Central Ave.) will offer "a variety of vegan dishes and substitutions accented with Indian, Mediterranean, and Southwestern flavor inspirations." Menu options include The Envious Artichoke (braised artichoke stuffed with local spinach, lucques olives and roasted garlic in a white wine-lemon broth), the Laughing Buddha Bowl (a unique daily balance of the essentials: beans, rice, greens and vegetables) and Beer Donut Holes (chocolate stout glaze and chocolate pop rocks).

Some more info from the press release:

Chef Alyssa Gorelick has also created a chakra-inspired juice menu of elixirs designed to channel the location and emotions of each individual chakra color. Guests can test the waters with combinations like Red Passion (red beet, kale, carrot, apple) and Indigo Intuition (mango, dark cherry, coconut milk) or enjoy Yellow Purpose (golden beet, fennel, apple, cucumber, turmeric) and Green Balance (spinach, kale, cucumber, celery, grapefruit) for the more experienced juicer.

...

The design of FERN, conceptualized by co-owners Jill Marcus and Karen Teed, is intended to provide refuge from the hectic traffic of Central Ave. Shades of green are accented by natural textiles, a living fern wall and custom artwork from figure artist Harriet Goode of Rock Hill, SC; who also created a portrait that overlooks and inspired the dining room at sister-restaurant Halcyon. Guests sit at hand-crafted heart of pine tables, repurposed from a textile mill in Albermarle, NC, beneath custom mason jar light fixtures.

FERN, Flavors from the Garden, will be open serving lunch and dinner Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Reservations are accepted for dinner.

Take a gander at the opening menu by clicking the PDF below.

Fern Opening Menu.

Tonight, my Twitter stream was blowing up with excited tweets for @cupcrazed, a local cupcake cakery. And they definitely deserve all of the props.

Congrats go out to Heather McDonnell, owner of Cupcrazed, located in Baxter Village. She and her assistant Debbie McDonnell won first place in the Food Network's hit show Cupcake Wars. Tonight was the season finale, titled "Country Cupcakes," and if you've ever watched the show, you know it's serious business.

They'll be on Charlotte Today on Monday morning, and you can catch a replay of the season finale episode on Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 8 p.m. on the Food Network.

Featuring casual Italian fare, the restaurant Vapiano currently has 97 locations, spanning 4 continents.

Charlotte can now be included in that count as Vapiano will be opening their doors at their Uptown location to the public today Monday, Aug. 1.

Take a look at these photos taken at their VIP Grand Opening Event Wednesday, July 27.

Slideshow Vapiano

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Vapiano

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Vapiano
201 South Tryon St.
Charlotte, NC 28202

It's pretty hard to resist ordering Chick-fil-A's chicken minis for breakfast, but if you are able, try their new healthy Multigrain Oatmeal, which will be available in restaurants starting Monday, July 25.

No pasty, goopy oatmeal here – CFA's oatmeal is made of a mixture of steel-cut oats, rolled oats, flax, buckwheat flour and whole wheat flour. You can choose one of three toppings, including cinnamon brown sugar, roasted mixed nuts (almonds, pecans and walnuts) or a dried fruit blend (cranberries, blueberries, golden raisins and cherries).

Each serving of oatmeal contains 120 calories and 2.5 grams of fat without toppings and up to 290 calories and 11 grams of fat with the addition of toppings, all with no trans fat.