Soul Restaurant, a soul food eatery, has opened at 33 Ranck Ave., in a spot just off East King Street.

The restaurant's menu includes fried fish, pork chops, fried chicken, BBQ chicken and jerk chicken as well as collard greens, potato salad and baked macaroni and cheese. In addition to a daily menu, Soul Restaurant also has regular specials, including pasta and steak nights.

Soul Restaurant is owned by Derrick Burch and Elizabeth Kirej who are helped by a couple of friends. Burch and Kiref have operated DD Catering and Event Planning and will continue catering as part of the new business. Burch is the former site director for Weed and Seed, a crime prevention program in Lancaster.

Before opening, the owners oversaw some cosmetic renovations to the restaurant, including some painting, new furniture and new lighting. The walls have several jazz-themed murals.

Soul Restaurant is in a spot that has housed a number of restaurants, including Manna Restaurant, Fedora's Pizza, Disma's Pizza and Goodfella's.

Hours: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. 617-2005.
Fresh Farms near F&M, Rockvale
Fresh Farms Cafe is slated to open in mid-January along College Row, the retail strip at Franklin & Marshall College. The restaurant will occupy the corner spot at the intersection of College and Harrisburg avenues.

The fast-casual restaurant is also working on a second Lancaster restaurant along Route 30, across from Rockvale Outlets. That restaurant is being built next to Chick-fil-A and is expected to open in mid-February.

Fresh Farms Cafe features soups, salads, sandwiches, burgers and pizzas. It offers a full range of coffee drinks as well as smoothies. The cafe makes a point of using locally sourced, sustainable and healthy ingredients, said Dave Redmond, one of the owners.

The College Row restaurant,which is on target to open Jan. 14, will have seating for 45 inside as well as some outside seats, Redmond said. It will have about 20 employees and be open seven days a week.

Fresh Farms Cafe, which first opened in Baltimore in 2010, also has restaurants planned for York and Norfolk, Va.
Yogurt shop for Ephrata
A self-serve frozen yogurt shop, Yogurtworks Cafe, is slated to open by early March in Ephrata's Cloister Shopping Center, 108 N. Reading Road.

The yogurt shop will be in a 2,200-square-foot spot at the west end of the shopping center, next to Domino's Pizza.

Owner Jean Shank said the shop will feature 21 frozen yogurt flavors and 50 toppings and will also have coffee and cold drinks. Shank said the shop will have seating for about 35 people, including some lounge seats. There will also be a children's area.

Shank, who operates an income tax business, used to be a manager at the Cloister Dairy ice cream parlor on South State Street.
Fashion Bugs closing
The four Fashion Bug stores in Lancaster County have either closed or will be closing by the end of January as part of a corporate reorganization.

Charming Shoppes Inc., the former parent company of Fashion Bug, was bought this summer by Ascena Retail Group Inc. Because Ascena also owns Dress Barn, it is closing its Fashion Bug stores, as the two stores sell similar types of clothing.

Fashion Bug sells casual and business clothing and accessories for women.

As previously reported, the store at 1036 Lititz Pike, Lititz, will close by the end of January. Also closing by the end of January will be the store in New Holland at 665 W. Main St. and the one in Willow Street at 2600 Willow Street Pike North.

The store at 1617 South Market St. in Elizabethtown closed last week.
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