Dartmouth, Massachusetts – The Dartmouth Planning Board discussed a proposal on Monday, March 25th, 2024, which would bring a Chick-fil-A restaurant to North Dartmouth. The Chick-fil-A would replace the old Sears Auto Center at the Dartmouth Mall Plaza.

Google Image.

The proposed Chick-fil-A would feature a drive-thru with three lanes for ordering, which would then merge into two lanes for meal pickup. The restaurant would have 62 interior seats and 24 exterior seasonal seats, with a patio planned for the left side of the building. The parking area in front of the restaurant is designed to accommodate approximately 87 parking spaces.

Dartmouth Community Media photo.

The development team stated that they will add significant landscaping to improve the overall look of the area and enhance stormwater management. The proposal is still under review, and no final decision has been made.

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Just imagine that you have been waiting in line at your local Wendy’s during the lunch rush, but when you pull up to order everything on the menu is a dollar more than usual. That scenario may soon become real, because Wendy’s plans on testing surge pricing that will increase the price of its spicy nuggets, burgers, Frostys, and other favorites during its busiest times. How do we feel about this? Uber does this for its rideshare app, but should is this a sustainable business practice in fast food?

Earlier this month, Wendy’s CEO Kirk Tanner has this to say: “The fast food chain plans on investing $20 million to roll out digital menu boards to US-based restaurants by the end of 2025. As part of the change, Wendy’s will also introduce something called “dynamic prices” that will change the prices on the digital menu boards based on demand. It sounds similar to the surge pricing system implemented by Uber, which charges riders higher rates in busy areas.”

“Beginning as early as 2025, we will begin testing more enhanced features like dynamic pricing and day-part offerings along with AI-enabled menu changes and suggestive selling,” Tanner says. “As we continue to show the benefit of this technology in our company-operated restaurants, franchisee interest in digital menu boards should increase further supporting sales and profit growth across the system.”

Won’t this practice simply drive customers to their competitors or can we expect other industry leaders to follow suit? This vintage Wendy’s ad reminds of the good times…

“The Westport Police Department just recently had their first annual Portuguese Soup Competition.

In a competitive field of six amazing submissions, the first place trophy went to FTO Fernando Goncalves. Coming in second place was Detective Michelle Donovan.

We’d like to thank our judges Portas Da Cidade Restaruant, Westport Federal Credit Union and our very own Officer Kyle Fernandes.

Hey Westport Firefighters IAFF L-1802, you up for a Portuguese Soup Competition for charity?”-Westport Police Department.

Westport Police Department photo.

One of the best online resources for all things New Bedford is the New Bedford Facebook group. Currently with 23,700 members, you can get any question related to New Bedford answered by the people of New Bedford.

A gentleman who recently moved to the city joined the group and asked everyone for the best places to eat.

Here is what New Bedford residents had to say.

This was one of my favorite answers because they included the full spectrum of restaurants from a quick takeout window (Gary’s Best) to more of a fine dining experience (The Black Whale). Both places are great recommendations and serve different needs.

From what I’ve seen in the thread, this is the most liked comment, and there is a damn good reason why. I lived in Arizona for a few years and can confidently state that No Problemo’s street tacos will compete with any street taco in the southwest!

Here are some more great local recommendations. We recently highlighted Novo Mundo in a video that went absolutely viral on Instagram (for good reason). The charcoal roasted chicken is amazing and Carla is such a nice woman.

A lot of people were recommending Danny’s Seafood, a staple in the north end of New Bedford. I was happy to see people recommending this place, it might not get as much publicity because it’s not located downtown or on the water, but the food here is excellent!

Lastly, this comment gets bonus points for kindness and showing that not all of us New Englanders are grumpy! Also, Dillon’s is a great recommendation for a local place to grab breakfast or lunch.

There were so many answers and there was no way I could fit even half into this article! CLICK HERE to join the New Bedford group and see what’s happening in the city!

New Jersey’s original acai shop “Playa Bowls” will be opening soon in Dartmouth! It will be located within the Dartmouth Towne Center shopping plaza at 380 State Rd Unit 406 (what used to be “Yogurt City”). There is no official date set for the grand opening, but we will most definitely let you know as soon as we find out!

Playa Bowls offers a variety of healthy, delicious açaí, pitaya, coconut bowls, smoothies, cold brew coffee, and pressed juice with sustainability and community in mind. See the menu here.

Founders of Playa Bowl photo.

The founders Robert Giuliani & Abby Taylor were inspired by chasing summer on surf trips to Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, California & Hawaii. Almost every exotic surf town they visited offered their own unique version of an acai or pitaya bowl. They decided to recreate their favorite recipes with their own twist at home at the Jersey Shore.

They made a deal with the owner of the pizza shop they lived above on 8th Avenue in Belmar, NJ. They bought a blender, a patio table, a fridge & a freezer and set up a makeshift pop up stand on the sidewalk in front of the pizza shop. Fast forward nine years and they have spread to over 190 stores nation wide!

Playa Bowls Instagram photo.

Steven Richard photo.

New Bedford may not be perfect and sometimes can get an unfair reputation, but it’s home to roughly 100,000 residents many of which quite enjoy the Whaling City. I decided to ask citizens a simple question, “What’s your favorite aspect of New Bedford?” and I received a ton of answers! There was a plethora of categories but I began to notice a common theme among them, so I present to you:

“The 5 best aspects of New Bedford according to residents”

New Bedford Whaling Museum photo.

5. The History
With the arrival of the railroad in 1840 and easier access to New York and Boston markets, New Bedford became the wealthiest city in the world. This is because New Bedford became “The city that lit the world” or to put it bluntly, we have a history of men that would jump onto wooden ships with spears and hunt massive whales to light the world. One could say that is a pretty interesting and unique history we have!

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Feast of the Blessed Sacrament photo.

4. Culture & Diversity

The diverse community makes New Bedford truly special. With a huge population of Portuguese it makes sense that we host the Feast of the Blessed Sacrament which is the largest Portuguese Feast in the world! New Bedford is also one of the largest Cape Verdean communities in America with roughly 8% of our population being of Cape Verdean descent. Many immigrated to New Bedford to contribute to our whaling history which has now given us a unique and diverse culture today!

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Aerial New England photo.
3. Waterfront

The Waterfront was an obvious answer for many. You can watch the sunrise at East Beach, the sunset at West Beach, take a walk along the ocean at Fort Taber or the Covewalk, and of course you can’t forget the fishing port which happens to be the largest in America!

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Zeiterion Theater photo.
2. Art & Entrepreneurship

The artistic and entrepreneurial spirit of New Bedford is really what sets it apart from similar cities. From the performing arts at the historic Zeiterion theater to the several art galleries and displays in downtown, we have become a destination for artists and creatives. Along with being a creative hub, many residents expressed their appreciation of how many locally owned businesses we get to enjoy in the area. Downtown as well as the Kilburn Mills host an insane amount of different local businesses, something you don’t see in every city!

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Facebook photo.

1. Food

What happens when you take a diverse, entrepreneurial city with rich history, and mix it with a huge fishing port? You get some crazy good restaurants! Easily the #1 answer I received from residents was the “food scene” and quite frankly, I have to agree. There are so many things I could say about the Food in New Bedford, from authentic Portuguese to the “fresh of the docks” seafood. I’ll leave you with this, you won’t find an Applebees in downtown New Bedford!

I must say it’s always exciting when coffee shops release the almighty “pumpkin spice” flavors, but is mid August really the new start of Fall season? Not long ago Starbucks & Dunkin would release the Fall flavors in mid September to kick off fall just as they do for the summer, winter, & spring flavors.

Companies are taking advantage of the growing demand for pumpkin spice by releasing them earlier and earlier each year. 7 Eleven released its pumpkin spice coffee this year on August 1st!

Dunkin Donuts photo.

Dennis Phelps, 7-Eleven’s senior vice president of merchandising noted, “We decided to break out the pumpkin a little bit early this year, It may not quite feel like fall outside yet, but it sure can taste like fall as we enjoy the first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season.”

Dunkin’s August 16th release this year is the earliest to date, beating out last years record by 1 day. You can see the full menu here.

Although I’m guilty of getting myself a pumpkin spice iced coffee from Dunkin the day I hear its available, I must ask the question:

When should “Pumpkin Spice Season” officially kick off?