Uptown Charlotte and SouthEnd have Einstein Bros. bagels - and now Ballantyne can too!
According to an article in the Charlotte Business Journal, the national bagel chain will be soon be occupying the stand-alone store at 13736 Conlan Circle. The building was previously the Ikos Aegean Grill and before that Back Yard Burger. Einstein Bros. expects to be open in late March or early April.
Link to the BizJournal article for more info.
The first Mix at Six in Ballantyne Village for the 2011 season has been canceled due to a forecast of rain and storms for Wednesday evening. There will be an additional Wednesday added to the end of the series to make up for it. Find more info on Ballantyne Village's Facebook page
Item: Authorize the City Manager to submit six preliminary applications to compete for funds from the federal National Infrastructure Investment Grants Program.
None of the projects listed are currently funded for construction. Receipt of a grant would permit a project to begin construction several years ahead of when it otherwise would have occurred without the grant.
North Community House Road Bridge over I-485 ($800,000) (planning/design grant only)
CDOT proposes to plan and design the missing segment of North Community House Road, a bridge over I-485 in Ballantyne. The street would be an alternate, lower-speed route parallel to the high-speed, controlled-access Johnston Road. This bridge would allow bicyclists and pedestrians to cross I-485.
Local Matching Funds: Street Connectivity Program in the Transportation Capital Investment Plan.
Each preliminary application will request up to 80% of the project cost from the federal grant program and identify the source of local matching funds.
In a tiny storefront in Ballantyne Village next to Villa Antonio, there is a new bakeshop open called The Blushing Bakeshop. The store specializes in fresh-baked "couture" cupcakes, featuring six permanent offerings (think vanilla cake, chocolate, red velvet, etc) as well as six other rotating flavors of cupcakes each week of the month. Some notable items on the menu: blueberry cake topped with lemon buttercream, spice cake topped with cinnamon infused buttercream, and vanilla cake with apple caramel filling topped with vanilla caramel buttercream.
Usual hours are Mon.-Sat., but they were open for Valentines Day on a Sunday, selling a display case full of lucious red velvet cupcakes with pink vanilla cream cheese frosting. The cupcake was very good: perfectly baked, with moist cake and a very slight crunch to the top of the cupcake, topped with delicious frosting. The store also serves coffee and espresso. The Blushing's website, theblushingbakeshop.com explains that the owners started a small catering operation in DC area that made cupcakes for jewelry photo shoots, and eventually opened this Ballantyne store as their first retail operation. They can do pre-orders for large orders of cupcakes for parties, catered events, showers, etc. If you're in BV, give The Blushing a try for a decadent treat!
Follow The Blushing bakeshop on twitter: http://twitter.com/blushingbakery
Buffalo Wings & Rings is set to open this week in the retail center of Cedar Walk near Ardrey Kell Rd and Marvin Rd. The restaurant is part of a national chain based in Cincinatti. With a sports-bar theme, they offer wings and other pub food. More details in this CBJ article.
See the menu at the Buffalo Wings and Rings website:
http://www.buffalowingsandrings.com
More quick, healthy food choices for BV! A new tenant upfit is underway for Ballantyne Village in the space next to Moe's...the signs on the windows indicate "Extreme Pita" is on its way. The international franchise serves up customized pita sandwiches with a healthy approach. According to their website, they will offer "Lunch, dinner and late night menu items includ[ing] our Extreme Club, Philly Cheese Steak, Grilled Chicken, Gyros, and Falafel, all combined with a choice of different vegetable varieties served fresh or sautéed to perfection right in front of your eyes." Freestyle pitas are simple pita sandwiches customized to your liking, but they also offer "Chef Inspired" pitas such as Chicken Caesar, Rustic Italian, Thai Beef or Chicken, and Meatball. What really caught my eye on the menu was Flat Baked Pitas, which are basically pita pizzas - Hawaiian Luau, Buffalo Chicken, Meditteranean Chicken all sound very enticing.
Aloft Hotel is now open in Ballantyne Corporate park! The hotel is a "vision" of the parent "W Hotels" brand associated with Starwood Hotels. Just like its sister hotel in uptown, the Ballantyne Aloft includes swanky cocktail spot "W XYZ Lounge." Along with an exciting decor and bar drinks, W XYZ appears to have a cozy outdoor patio area. Aloft Hotel bills itself as "a setting that combines urban-influenced design, accessible technology, and a social scene that’s always abuzz." It offers amenities such as an indoor heated pool, re:fuel refreshment stop, re:charge gym, touch screen info terminals, hotel-wide Wi-Fi, camp Aloft for kids, dog-friendly policies, and more. They also have green programs to help conserve water, energy and other resources in place at the hotel. The photos on the Aloft website show that the Charlotte hotel falls right in line with the Aloft chain's typical funky, colorful decor and hi-tech feel. A quick check of rates shows a 1 King sized bed room ranges from $80-130. All in all, Aloft seems it will be a great alternative for business and leisure travelers to the Ballantyne area.
Check out this link to the Aloft Charlotte website.
