26 Free Eats In Easton On Saturday

Looking to enjoy the sunny forecast on Saturday?

Spring into Easton returns noon to 4 p.m. The free event welcomes visitors to peruse Downtown Easton’s shops. Each participating shop will be partnered with an Easton restaurant that will be offering samples.

According to a news release, 26 participating shops will also have game cards that visitors can pick up and get stamped throughout the day at each shop. A full card can be dropped off at a concierge booth in Centre Square to be eligible to win Downtown Easton Gift Cards.

Check out the participating shops and figure out where to go for your favorite restaurant’s samples.

Read more:

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/food/index.ssf/2015/04/17_free_eats_in_easton_on_satu.html

Owners Of Burned-Out McDonald’s In Ephrata To Begin Rebuilding

The owners of a burned-out McDonald’s in Ephrata plan to soon begin tearing down the old restaurant and building a new one that could be open by mid-July.

The McDonald’s at 140 N. Reading Road in the Cloister Shopping center was destroyed by a fire last June.

Read more:

http://lancasteronline.com/business/local_business/owners-of-burned-out-mcdonald-s-in-ephrata-to-begin/article_38b10996-df7e-11e4-b95b-c30bb5aceab5.html

Vote Clears The Way For Food Trucks In York City

Free-market ideology narrowly overpowered fears of the unknown Tuesday with the York City Council’s 3-2 vote to legalize and regulate food trucks on city streets.

The decision marks the end of a long and sometimes divisive debate over the financial impact roving restaurants could have on traditional brick-and-mortar establishments.

Where some saw food trucks as a potential boon for a growing downtown business landscape, others saw a potentially diluted customer base wreaking havoc on profit margins.

In the end, mobile food proponents got what they’d asked for and more.

Read more: http://www.yorkdispatch.com/ci_27869256/vote-clears-way-food-trucks-york-city

Pittsburgh: Best Places In The World To Visit

Food Truck And Wine Festival Cruising Back Go Pohatcong Township

Editor’s note:  This is near Phillipsburg, NJ, right across the river from Easton, PA. Can’t go wrong with food trucks and wine ;).

Searching for food trucks?

You won’t have to go far. Alba Vineyard is hosting a Food Truck and Wine Festival later this month.

The Pohatcong Township vineyard hosted a food truck festival in November 2014, and will bring it back noon to 5 p.m. April 25-26.

Admission costs $10 for adults 21 and over, $5 for ages 13-20 and is free for children under 12. Parking is free; food prices will vary by the truck, according to a news release.

Read more:

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/food/index.ssf/2015/04/food_truck_and_wine_festival_c_1.html

Newark, N.J. To Get World’s Largest Indoor Vertical Farm

AeroFarms, an aeroponics company that was started in 2004, is bringing what is soon to be the world’s largest vertical farm to a former steel factory in Newark, New Jersey’s Ironbound community.

The vertical farm will manufacture short, leafy green vegetables grown in vertically stacked trays that will fill 69,000 square feet of the former Newark factory.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/home_and_design/Newark-NJ-to-get-worlds-largest-indoor-vertical-farm.html#6hOeyD2lDQ1rD9Rq.99

Heroin Found In Dough At Hazle Township Commercial Bakery

HAZLE TOWNSHIP, PA — Heroin packets were found on dough being processed on a production line at Aryzta, a commercial baker of breads and donuts, earlier this week, state police at Hazleton said.

State police in a news release said an employee checking dough on a production line to a sheet dough machine found a suspected heroin packet at about 6 p.m. Monday.

The employee notified a shift supervisor as production was stopped and inspected. Other suspected heroin packets and drug paraphernalia were found inside the dough machine, state police said.

State police said Aryzta, based in Zurich, Switzerland, stopped production on the dough machine and destroyed all the products.

Read more: http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news/152605611/

Aldi To Reopen 30 Of 66 Shut Bottom Dollar Stores

Discount grocer Aldi said Friday that it will reopen 30 of the 66 former Bottom Dollar stores it took over in Pennsylvania, South Jersey, and northeast Ohio after the previous owner, the Delhaize Group, shut Bottom Dollar last year.

Five ex-Bottom Dollar stores in Philadelphia and 14 in the suburbs will reopen. Four Philadelphia stores will stay shut, along with 13 in the suburbs.

Aldi, an Illinois-based U.S. arm of Germany’s Albrecht family grocery conglomerate, said in 2013 it planned a $3 billion expansion, and Friday’s announcement is part of that effort.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20150328_Aldi_to_reopen_30_of_66_shut_Bottom_Dollar_stores.html#PzL7PW1CHTgYrswX.99

Additional article about Lehigh Valley locations:

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/breaking-news/index.ssf/2015/03/aldi_to_convert_2_of_8_bottom.html

Fly Magazine Keep South Central Pennsylvania Up To Date On Entertainment, Dining and Nightlife

http://flymagazine.net/ is a great site to visit if you live in or visit Lancaster, York or Harrisburg.  Keeps you up to date on what’s going on, events, dining, music and arts and culture.  Happy Friday!

Lancaster City Council Approves Vegan Bar

Come mid-May, Lancaster city should have its first vegan bar and restaurant.

City council on Tuesday unanimously approved a liquor license transfer that paves the way for restaurateur Rob Garpstas to open root (The “r” is lower case) at 223 West Walnut Street.

Council approved the transfer following a brief public hearing that included a recommendation from Mayor Rick Gray for approval. No one opposed the transfer, which had been in Ruby Tuesday Inc.’s name, but was being held in safekeeping by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.

Gray wondered if there were many vegan bars around. Vegans do not eat or use animal products.

Read more:

http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/lancaster-city-council-approves-vegan-bar/article_82e16b44-d288-11e4-81c1-3fe7a453c3cd.html

With New Owners, Haines Shoe House Becomes Bakery & Treat Shop

Where else in the world can you eat cake pops from inside a gigantic work boot?

Probably nowhere.

Melanie Schmuck is banking on that novelty, as she and her husband, Jeff Schmuck, convert the ground floor of the Haines Shoe House into a bakery and dine-in treat shop.

“We wanted something quirky,” Jeff said. “Something that would stand out.”

Read more:

http://www.ydr.com/business/ci_27751427/new-owners-haines-shoe-house-becomes-bakery-treat

iCreate Café Draws People To Pottstown With Healthy, Plant-Based Meals

Pottstown, PA – “Vegiterranean” might not be an official word in the dictionary but it’s the word iCreate Café owner Ashraf Khalil uses to describe his dishes that are a combination of vegetarian and Mediterranean food.

The café at 130 King St. may seem like just another building from the outside but once customers walk in, they are greeted with a variety of colors, comfortable couches and plenty of seating. The small café does a lot with a little including also being a computer training center. But in recent years, it’s been the vegetarian fare that keeps people coming back.

Khalil, or Ash as most customers know him, said Mediterranean fare uses a lot of legumes such as chickpeas, fava beans and lentils. As a native of Syria, he grew up on dishes that included more plant-based foods than meat. He said there were very little animal sources in meals, partly because it’s very expensive to buy overseas.

“That’s one of the reasons we love hummus. We grew up eating it back in Syria, not knowing it has all this protein but because it’s cheap and affordable,” he said during a recent cooking demonstration at the café.

Read more:

http://www.pottsmerc.com/lifestyle/20150323/icreate-cafxe9-draws-people-to-pottstown-with-healthy-plant-based-meals

Turkey Hill Robberies In Wilkes-Barre Area Raise Security Questions

Sheetz, a popular convenience chain in Northeastern Pennsylvania, is open all night year round. Yet it seems rare that the chain’s stores get robbed.

The same can’t be said, however, for Turkey Hill stores in the Wyoming Valley.

There have been 10 robberies at Turkey Hill stores in Wilkes-Barre and Kingston since Jan. 26, of which three of those robberies happened last week.

What’s the difference?

Read more: http://www.timesleader.com/news/home_top-local-news-news/152453142/

Mosaic Community Land Trust Community Gardens 3rd Annual Garden Contest

Calling all gardeners!

Mosaic Community Land Trust Community Gardens is hosting its 3^rd Annual Garden Contest!

This year, the contest is BIGGER and BETTER than ever, offering up more than $2,500 is cash prizes and other gifts!  More categories = more chances to take home a top prize!  Newly added is our Neighborhood category where three or more houses can work on a garden project together for a change to win up to $800!  And our Junior Gardener category (for entrants under 18 years old), giving them a chance to win up to $100 cash!

And best of all, we are pleased to announce that this year’s contest is open to all borough residents! Anyone living in the Borough of Pottstown can enter for a chance to win BIG!

Check out the Garden Contest Flyer and the Registration Form for more information.

14-0332 PAHWF HomeGardenContest_RegForm_31115WKG, 14-0332 PAHWF HomeGardenContest_Flyer_31115

A warm thanks to our sponsors, including Dick and Sally Heylmun of Pine Hill Tree Farms, Colonial Gardens and the Pottstown Health and Wellness Foundation!

Sheetz To Add Food-Only Stores To Promote Growth In Urban Areas, Exec Woodley Says

Family-owned convenience store chain Sheetz Inc. crossed a milestone last month when it opened its 500th store, one of about 30 the Altoona-based company plans to open this year.

Known for its large gas stations with myriad fresh made-to-order food choices that are popular with travelers, the company grew to $6.9 billion in sales last year, up nearly 5 percent from the previous year.

In a bid to expand into urban markets, the company, which employs more than 16,000 people, is pushing a new store model — one without the gas pumps that focuses on higher-margin sales of food and beverages, said Dave Woodley, the company’s executive vice president of sales and marketing.

Read more: http://triblive.com/business/headlines/7934196-74/woodley-trib-stores#ixzz3UktblLyN
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook

Naturi Startup Of Pittsburgh Created Out Of Desire For Better Yogurt

Aditya Dhere and Anes Dracic got their idea for a yogurt company when they couldn’t find what they wanted on supermarket shelves.

The recent MBA graduates of Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business ate a lot of yogurt and enjoyed making up recipes with fruit and nuts, but they wanted an organic, high-protein option.

“By being both active and engaged in physical activities … (we) thought, ‘Hey, why not give food a try and change the landscape a bit?’ ” Dracic said. “So we came up with our own brand.”

Naturi, based in the Strip District, was incorporated in February. The pair envision their yogurt as an artisanal alternative to Stonyfield, Chobani, Fage and Yoplait Greek yogurts filling grocery shelves. It tastes better, they said, because it is made with milk from grass-fed cows.

Read more: http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/7894091-74/yogurt-naturi-company#ixzz3UfoQBUi1
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook

Irish Music, Dancing, Oysters Highlight York St. Patrick’s Day Parade

The oversized oyster that rang in 2015 for West York is making a re-appearance at the York St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

York Fish & Oyster Co.’s first-ever entry is designed as an oyster bar, and leprechauns will shuck raw oysters on the float, said Jenn Emig, who co-owns the West York business with her husband, Steve.

After the parade, the company will head to Waterway Bar & Grill and sell about five different oyster dishes — complete with green horseradish, she said.

“St. Patrick’s Day is the day to have fun,” Emig said.

Read more:

http://www.yorkdispatch.com/breaking/ci_27705319/irish-music-dancing-oysters-highlight-york-st-patricks

Grass-Roots Effort For A Marketplace In The Mall At Steamtown Continues

SCRANTON, PA — The idea of a Reading Terminal Market marketplace in the Mall at Steamtown is gaining momentum.

The concept to create a marketplace in a portion of the mall began nearly two months ago as brothers, Michael and George Boyd, both of Scranton, started a Facebook page to gauge public’s interest to save their city’s retail hub.

Thousands in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties have weighed in on the idea. Last month, the Boyd brothers said the positive responses were “overwhelming.”

Today the Facebook page, Reading Terminal Market at the Mall at Steamtown, has more than 5,800 “Likes” and is getting people talking about how to revive the mall.

Read more: http://www.timesleader.com/news/business-local-news/152278963/

Craft Beer Festival Coming To Reading In April

Join us as we celebrate great Craft Beer from local and around the country selections, at the inaugural Reading Craft Beer Festival! Breweries and beer enthusiasts from across the region will gather one Saturday afternoon for an unlimited sampling of over 100 fresh beers of all colors, styles, and tastes and a whole lot of fun! 

The Reading Craft Beer Festival will be held at the Santander Arena in Reading, PA on Saturday April 18, 2015. Downtown Reading has not been the site of a craft beer festival of this size and scope.

Join Us

Tickets are available now at:

• The VF Outlet Box Office at the Santander Arena
• All ticketmaster outlets
• Charge by phone at (800) 745-3000
• Purchase online at ticketmaster.com

For more information check out the Reading Craft Beer festival website: http://www.readingbeerfest.com/

Has Philadelphia’s Market East’s Time Finally Come?

If Philadelphia were a basketball court, Market Street East would be that inexplicable dead spot on the floor, the place where the ball just doesn’t bounce.

The eight-block corridor has four Dunkin’ Donuts and two Subway sandwich shops — but no outdoor cafe. A McDonald’s sits in what used to be a porn emporium.

The mid-street shopping selection on what should be a glittery avenue ranges from drug store to cut-rate clothing to cash-for-gold. Addicts come and go from a methadone clinic. The homeless own the corners, and the constant, rolling wall of buses fouls the air.

For years, when people like Paul Levy pitched the route’s potential to developers, they answered, “Yeah, I get it, but nobody goes to Market Street.”

Read more:  http://www.philly.com/philly/business/Mall_to_the_Hall.html