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Local family opens TCBY in Olive Branch

TCBY is proud to announce the opening of its newest location in Olive Branch in the Wedgewood Commons Shopping Center. Local family Ron and Michelle Rye are opening their first TCBY in the Olive Branch area, and fourth in the Memphis metro area. The new location features TCBY’s self-serve model, new brand identity and fresh store design. This will be TCBY’s first self-serve concept in the state of Mississippi.

“We believe that TCBY and Olive Branch share the same high standards in excellence with a strong focus on community involvement,” explains Ron Rye, local owner of the Olive Branch location and president of the TCBY national franchise association. “Olive Branch has done a wonderful job of attracting national businesses and industry leaders while protecting the quaint, small town quality of life.”

TCBY hosts ribbon cutting

Sweet treats are coming to Olive Branch and the city’s chamber of commerce is ready to celebrate.

The Olive Branch Chamber of Commerce will hold a ribbon cutting at TCBY, located at 5070 Goodman Road, on November 1 at 10:30 a.m.

Dine out to support scholarships, services for children with Autism

Dine out to support scholarships, services for children with Autism

“Dine Out For Autism” September 27 & 29, 2011

Transformations would like to announce  “Dine Out For Autism” event, scheduled Tuesday, September 27 and Thursday, September 29, 2011″  Proceeds from this event will help fund our scholarship program to provide free services to children affected by ASD.  The following restaurants have agreed to donate a percentage of their proceeds for this worthy cause:

Tuesday, September 27

  • The Commissary – 2290 Germantown Rd., Germantown – All Day!
  • On The Border – 2766 N. Germantown Pkwy, Memphis – (in front of Wolf Chase Galleria)  – 4 p.m. to close.

Thursday, September 29

Dining With Monkeys: Tropical Smoothie Cafe

Dining With Monkeys: Tropical Smoothie Cafe

On a recent play date, Satchel (age 9) went to Tropical Smoothie Cafe with some friends. He really liked it and started craving it. It was annoying to Warren because he makes a smoothie every morning, offers it to the kids, and they usually both say no. (He has been known to throw in some weird stuff.) Satchel drank a strawberry and banana smoothie almost everyday of his life from age 2-5, though.

After making his signature "I must have it now" slurping noise, we finally gave in and went to see what the fuss was about.

When we went inside, I had a nice giggle about the tropical decor. They really want you to feel like you are on an island instead of Union Avenue. Satchel knew exactly what he wanted--a kid's meal with an American cheese and ham wrap, chips, and a Jetty Junior smoothie (strawberries and banana)... Read More

Cow Appreciation Day

Cow Appreciation Day

Cow Appreciation Day is almost here and if you get into the spirit, Chick-fil-A will reward you with free food.

On July 8, if you come dressed entirely as a cow to any Chick-fil-A restaurant you will get your entire meal free.

If you come dressed in partial cow attire, like a spotted accessory, you will get a complimentary entree.

So start getting your costumes ready now, so you can get some free Chick-fil-A July 8.

Photo courtesy Flickr userJelleS.

Restaurant inspection "hot spots"

Restaurant inspection "hot spots"

There's a reason why "pink slime in the ice machine" rears its ugly head so often on Memphis-Shelby County restaurant inspection reports.

The ice machine is one of the "hot spots" on a health department environmentalist's checklist, according to Tom Powell, a former Mid-South restaurateur.

"The mold on the door, no one likes to clean it, or many are unsure how to adequately clean it without chemically contaminating the ice,” Powell said.

That's not the first area that should be inspected, though, he said.

According to Powell, right after the front door, a health inspector should walk in the walk-in cooler.

“Boxes of fruit or produce that are left in the walk-in cooler are often forgotten if the stock is not rotated,” he said. “Then you have rotting produce in the cooler.”

Food temperatures are a "hot spot," too, for obvious reasons.

Restaurant menus full of tricks

Restaurant menus full of tricks

Think of a restaurant menu as a maze -- designed to wind not you, but your money out the exit.

Gregg Rapp is a Palm Springs, CA, menu "engineering" consultant. He has designed menus for everything from fancy Hong Kong hotels to your neighborhood Taco Bell.

Rapp told one of my trusted consumer resources, Bottom Line Secrets magazine, that restaurants regularly use sleight-of-hand in their menu lay-outs. Each trick, Rapp said, is designed to persuade customers to spend more.

"The human eye tends to go first to the upper right-hand corner of a page," Rapp told BLS. "That's where you can expect to find a menu's "stars" - restaurant lingo for popular entrees with the highest gross profit margins.

"The upper right-hand corner won't necessarily display the most expensive things on the menu, only the most profitable. That's because highlighting a costly porterhouse steak or lobster might scare customers away."