People who live and work in Indian Trail can now experience Dunkin’s store of the future. Dunkin’ will open its new restaurant at 6405 Old Monroe Road, featuring the brand’s next generation design, with a modern atmosphere and innovative technologies – including a drive-thru exclusively for mobile ordering — to make running on Dunkin’ faster and more convenient than ever before. The new Indian Trail location is one of only 50 or more new and remodeled Dunkin’ restaurants featuring the new design this year.

To celebrate the opening and franchisee George Ross’ fifty-first store, the restaurant will host a grand opening event on Friday, April 12^th. The doors will open at 5 a.m. to award free coffee for a year to the first five customers in line, $20 gift cards for the next 46, and free samples of Nitro from the innovative new tap system and Dunkin’ swag to all. Beginning at 6 a.m. KISS 95.1’s MRL Morning Show will be broadcasting live. The festivities will continue throughout the morning with appearances by Dunkin’ mascots, Cuppy & Sprinkles, and a ribbon cutting at 8:00 a.m. with Mayor Michael Alvarez.

Exciting elements of Dunkin’s new restaurant experience at the Indian Trail location include:

• Modern Design: The openness, colors and materials used in the design help to create an approachable, positive and energetic environment.
• Faster than Ever Drive-Thru Experience: An exclusive On-the-Go drive-thru lane lets DD Perks® members who order ahead via Dunkin’s Mobile App bypass the ordering lane and head straight into the line for the pickup window. Dunkin’ is the first national restaurant brand to offer this type of drive-thru innovation and convenience.
• Premium Pours: Dunkin’s signature cold beverages are now served through an innovative tap system serving eight consistently cold beverages such as coffees, iced teas, cold brew coffee and nitro infused cold brew coffee. Crew members will also use top-quality flavor-maximizing espresso machines to make hand-crafted drinks to order.
• Dunkin’ on Demand: With fully-integrated digital kiosks coming in the near future, guests will be able to choose to order with or without the help of a crew member.  Dunkin’ has also introduced an area dedicated to mobile pickups, so that members of the DD Perks® Rewards program who order ahead via Dunkin’s Mobile App can get in and out of the restaurant faster than ever before. Guests will be able to track the status of their orders placed for pickup inside the restaurant via a new digital order status board.

“We are thrilled to be a part of Dunkin’s next generation store initiative and can’t wait to bring this innovative new restaurant to the Indian Trail community,” said George Ross, Dunkin’ franchisee. “The new menu offerings and approachable atmosphere will grab the attention of Dunkin’ fans and help keep Indian Trail running on Dunkin’ for years to come.”

Tupelo Honey just announced plans to open their 15th location this year in Uptown. The southern brand will open its second Charlotte location in a 4,800-square-foot space in the heart of the Bank of America Plaza.

As the North Carolina eatery continues their transition from a local diner in Asheville to a culinary powerhouse across 7 states, it’s now putting even more emphasis on responsible sourcing.

“With ingredient and sourcing transparency becoming more and more important to the consumer, we feel it necessary to help our guests with guidance and information to make the smart choice they desire,” states chef Eric Gabrynowicz. “The future of our food system is everyone’s responsibility and we will continue to do our part and try and be at the forefront of positive change.”

“For us, our regional and North Carolina based vendor partnerships are our oldest and strongest. We’ve grown our businesses together; they have strengthened our story and our commitment to our roots. Not to mention the incredible quality and integrity they bring to the products they offer. We are so proud of our partners with these strong shared roots,” Gabrynowicz added.

Tupelo Honey aims to locally source as much as possible in each individual market. Unlike many restaurants, Tupelo does so with more than just food products. Listed are purveyors local to North Carolina and detail as to what they each provide to the restaurant.

• Imladris Farm (Fairview) – Tupelo’s signature blueberry preserves that are served with the restaurants famous biscuits start with blueberries from this North Carolina farm
• Custom Living Quarters (Fletcher) – Tupelo partners with this woodworking shop to create wooden masterpieces and various architectural elements for many Tupelo Honey locations.
• Annie’s Bakery (Asheville) – Tupelo partners with this Asheville bakery to supply bread for its artisan offerings like avocado toast and on every plate of Tupelo Shrimp & Grits.
• Goodnight Brothers Produce Company (Boone) and Carolina Mountain Trout (western NC) – Menu items, such as the sustainable Roasted Carolina Mountain Trout and Fried Chicken & Biscuits, incorporate meat from these local purveyors.
• Hickory Nut Gap Farm (Fairview) – This purveyor has a long family history in this region and provides breakfast sausage and chorizo to all locations.  
• Renwood Mills (Newton) – Located just a stone’s throw from Charlotte, Renwood Mills makes all of the biscuit flour for every Tupelo Honey store. In fact, wheat that grows in the south produces a softer flour, making it great for biscuits.
• Simone Wilson – Although she is now located in Atlanta, Wilson connected with Tupelo Honey back when she was based in Asheville, and her art is heavily featured in all of the restaurant’s locations, including the new Charlotte store.
• Two South Carolina companies not far from Tupelo Honey’s CLT store are Adluh grits in (Columbia) and Orangeburg Pecan (Orangeburg).