Another pizza joint is joining Benny’s, Toppers and Artisan Pizza Kitchen on Franklin Street.
Lotsa Pizza opened a new Chapel Hill location on Tuesday, Aug. 8 on the corner of Franklin and South Columbia Street.
The pizza place differentiates itself from others by its quick service, only taking 150 seconds for a personal pizza to bake.
“We place an emphasis on fast. Our main thing is the build-your-own, create-your-own pizza,” General Manager Dan Newton said.
Newton said the shop is different because of its unique dining experience.
“We kind of fit into our own category,” Newton said. “You’ve got your fancy sit-down place, your late night slice kind of place. Again everybody has their preferences for what they like, but we know as a whole that there isn’t really anyone else in this area that does things quite the way we do.”
Although the majority of Lotsa’s sales come from students, the restaurant wants to cater more than pizza to Chapel Hill by offering fundraising opportunities.
“That’s one thing I’ve noticed about Chapel Hill is it’s all about community,” Newton said. “We love being a part of the community, and helping the community out is a great way to do that.”
Açaí bowls have come to Franklin Street with the opening of The Purple Bowl.
The Purple Bowl
Franklin Street might seem like it has everything-- ice cream, burgers and everything else along the fast-food spectrum. But Purple Bowl is offering yet one more addition: açaí bowls.
The Purple Bowl opened July 26 on Franklin and offers a variety of açaí bowls, including a build-your-own option. The Purple Bowl creates their bowls with the basic açaí berry (pronounced a-sigh-ee). The berry is blended with hemp milk and other bases such as strawberries or bananas to make a thick paste. It is served with granola and/or fruit toppings.
Purple Bowl Shift Manager Evan Amber said there were many health benefits of the açaí berry. “The açaí berry is a superfood so to speak,” Amber said. “It’s very high in antioxidants, good carbs, protein, essentially everything you need to fuel the body and when you combine that with all the fruit toppings and stuff like that, not only is it a filling lunch, it’s really healthy for you.”
The Purple Bowl also caters to gluten-free and vegan customers. The shop has no meat products and uses hemp milk instead of cow milk for everything except coffee drinks.
The Chipotle on Fordham Boulevard now has a new neighbor--Chopt.
The salad restaurant opened on May 9. General Manager Stephen Ellias said Chopt will focus on using local ingredients and creating aesthetically pleasing dishes.
“So we’re really trying to focus on the seasons and getting some local inspiration,” Ellias said. “In fact, right now our destination is destination local and you’ll find some local inspiration on the menu as well.”
Chopt offers a wide variety of ingredients and dishes for those who don’t crave locally inspired salads.
“The seasonality of our ingredients [is what makes us different],” Ellias said. “We change our destination items every 60 days. We’re constantly in search of new and interesting ingredients people may or may not have heard of.”
Ellias said Chopt has experienced a pleasant atmosphere and has had many customers since opening. Despite the competition from other Franklin Street eateries, Ellias said he looks forward to a substantial increase in customers when students return.
“We’ve really enjoyed being in Chapel Hill,” Elias said “The neighborhood and the town have been really supportive of us, so we’re really happy to be here.”
