After serving the Wilmington area for almost 30 years, the owners of Jeter’s Hot Dogs decided to revamp the restaurant by expanding the menu, choosing a new location and opening under a new name. In mid-August, Jeter Grissin and Joseph Spivey opened Jeter’s All American Grille at the Forum II Shopping Center.

“We took the summer off to restructure our business plan,” Spivey said of the owners’ decision to relocate the restaurant, previously known as Jeter’s Hotdogs.

In addition to hot dogs, the grille’s new menu includes hamburgers, cheeseburgers, grilled cheese and grilled chicken sandwiches, milkshakes and sour apple and strawberry “chillers.”  The menu includes other staples such as onion rings, fries, salads and veggie burgers.

The grand opening of Jeter’s All American Grille is set for today. The restaurant will offer various specials throughout the day, and SUNY 104.5 FM will also be a part of the day’s festivities.

Located at 1113 Military Cutoff Road across from Mayfaire Town Center, Jeter’s All American Grille has 1,500 square feet of indoor space that seats 28 people and a small outdoor garden that seats 32 people.  The restaurant is open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. It is closed on Sunday.

After signing a lease with Swain & Associates, developer of The Forum, Grissin and Spivey only had to make minor adjustments to the restaurant’s new location as it already contained a kitchen.

Although Grissin was the sole owner of Jeter’s Hotdogs for a number of years, Spivey said the two are old friends and new business partners.

The restaurant’s primary goal for the first year of business is “to make enough money to pay the bills and to keep everyone employed,” Spivey said.

For more information on Jeter’s All American Grille, visit www.jeters-hotdogs.com.

The Mattress Capital opens fourth store in ILM

Expanding its local business operations, The Mattress Capital will open its fourth store in Wilmington within the next three to four weeks. The new venue, located at the University Square Outlet Mall on South College Road, features 7,500 square feet of retail space.

Jeff Idol, property manager with Maus, Warwick, Matthews & Company, said the locally owned and operated company signed a standard five-year lease with the commercial real estate company.

Kirk Englebright is the president of The Mattress Capital, which was established in North Carolina in January of 2005.

The company offers a complete line of Simmons, Tempur-Pedic and latex mattresses as well as nationwide delivery for its products. In addition to its three current locations in Wilmington, The Mattress Capital has stores in Raleigh, Durham, Holly Springs, Cary and Southport.

For more information on The Mattress Capital and its products, visit www.themattresscapital.com.

Long-time restaurateur redesigns Grand Union Pub

Opting for an open kitchen-style restaurant, local restaurateur Ash Aziz recently started renovating the Grand Union Pub and will open the new venue as “The Kitchen.” Featuring a wood-burning rotisserie and grill, The Kitchen will open next month at The Forum.

According to Aziz, restaurant patrons will be able to sit at a chef’s bar and watch the chef prepare each meal. The menu will offer a number of farm-raised seasonal dishes, all inspired by local organic farms and delivered fresh to the restaurant.

The menu will include more than 40 American wines by the glass as well as an extensive list of micro-brew beers from across the country, Aziz said. Located at 1125 Military Cutoff Road, the restaurant is housed in a 7,000 square-foot space.