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In case you missed this news in Saturday's Business section, a former Fuddruckers building in Salem is under contract.

Triad Commercial Properties, the company that plans to purchase this vacant restaurant structure on Electric Road, would like to open an International House of Pancakes at this site, according to Matt Huff, who is a broker with Poe & Cronk Real Estate Group. As of Friday, the sale had not closed, though Huff, who is representing the property's owners, said that should happen soon.

This would be the third IHOP in the Roanoke Valley.

Fuddruckers, a hamburger chain, closed in 2007.  A building plan for renovation work at this 8,360-square-foot building has been submitted to the city of Salem, and it's under review, a building official told me.

I'll keep you updated on future plans at this site, which is located near Lakeside Plaza.

Elderberry's officially opened its new Salem smoothie shop on Tuesday.

This shop at 304 Main St. is Elderberry's third location. Its other shops are in Roanoke County and Blacksburg. The Salem store opened temporarily on Sept.12, serving only smoothies, tea and coffee to coincide with Olde Salem Days, an annual arts and crafts fair.

The shop has a menu of light foods, such as wraps and sandwiches, along with smoothies and other beverages.

Elderberry's Salem hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Here is my previous blog post about Elderberry's.

I just learned that Jimmy John's is expected to open by the end of this year in Roanoke, on U.S. 460. That's according to spokeswoman Ali Goldner.

Many of you know about Jimmy John's. It's an Illinois-based sandwich chain, and it already has two restaurants in Christiansburg and Blacksburg.

Goldner said she could not offer more details about Jimmy John's Roanoke store. Apparently, it's a franchise, and the chain does not release details about its franchisees until after each new restaurant has opened.

This new Roanoke Jimmy John's is planned for the intersection of Blue Hills Drive and U.S. 460.

In other local restaurant news, the owner of The Isaacs Mediterranean Restaurant in Roanoke is making plans to open the Meze World Cafe in the former spot of Trio Bistro Bar Bottle in downtown Roanoke. You can read more about it on the Fridge Magnet blog.

It looks like a new restaurant is coming to a former tearoom in Salem.

There's a sign in front of the former spot of Petticoats and Petit Fours at 311 W. Main St., announcing that the Salem House Restaurant is coming soon.

Petticoats and Petit Fours closed several months ago

I don't yet know the details about the Salem House Restaurant.

Good Monday afternoon, blog readers. Here's some news about another local ice cream business and the closing of a new concept.

In June, I interviewed Martin Bratcher, owner of Bratcher's Ice Cream Parlor, about a new drive-through adjacent to his Roanoke shop where he had begun selling ice cream, smoothies and other sweet treats. But this drive-through was not open for long.

Bratcher closed it in July, after health department officials told him that he could not sell as many food items as he expected inside this tiny shop on Orange Avenue, formerly home to a coffee drive-through.

Apparently, the space did not have enough room for much storage. That meant that Bratcher could not sell hot dogs, hamburgers and other food items there, he told me.

He got out of his three-year lease at the drive-through, and now he's solely focused on running his already established shop at 3436 Orange Ave., which is located inside a retail strip center.

Meanwhile, Bratcher recently added potato and chicken noodle soups to the ice cream shop's menu, in preparation for cooler outside temperatures.

The former spot of a Roanoke hot dog stand has changed hands, but the fate of this building remains unclear.

The Roanoke Weiner Stand's Brandon Avenue restaurant closed in May, but last month, Donald W. Bandy purchased this bright blue roofed building for $250,000, according to city property records.

Here's my blog post in May about the hot dog stand's closing.

Gus Pappas owns the Weiner Stand, which has a location at 3601 Brandon Ave. and on Campbell Avenue in downtown Roanoke. Pappas' nephew, Gus Chacknes, runs the hot dog stand's historic downtown shop, which dates to 1916.

I have not been able to reach the new owner of the Weiner Stand building. I'll keep you updated once I find out more news.

In the meantime, what would you like to see happen at this former hot dog stand? Should it reopen as the Roanoke Weiner Stand or another business?

Update (Sept. 14): Lounge at Fork's opening was delayed last week. It's now planned to open this Friday. Owner Dave Trinkle said the lounge will open most Fridays and on special occasions.

More details have surfaced about what's to come at a white house on Crystal Spring Avenue in South Roanoke, a place that's been home to a host of different restaurants in the past few years.

One side of this house at 2123 Crystal Spring Ave., which last housed Tony Pope Bistro & Wine Bar, will become the Lounge at Fork.  City Councilman, Dave Trinkle, owns this building and its neighboring restaurant, Fork in the Alley.

Already, a cupcake business, Bubblecake, has moved into one side of this Crystal Spring house. Trinkle wants to revive the rest of the space with a lounge area that will cater to patrons of Fork in the Alley. People can reserve the lounge, complete with furniture and a gas fireplace, for private parties and other events. It also will be used as overflow space for Fork in the Alley diners.

The interior decor will highlight the building's past. Trinkle plans to hang signs of this location's failed restaurants, which include the White House, Napa Alley and Spoon on the Avenue. In an email, Trinkle said he is not poking fun at these closed eateries, but he's acknowledging former owners' work "trying to make an old house work as a restaurant." Trinkle himself owned Spoon on the Avenue, a combination coffee house and restaurant.

Also, "by hanging the signs in tribute we are hoping to exorcise the house from any more failings," Trinkle said via email.

Lounge at Fork opens on Friday.

An ice cream business closed one of its Roanoke area locations this week. Gary Lierman, owner of two local Bruster's Real Ice Cream franchises, shuttered the shop on Brandon Avenue in Roanoke on Monday.

The reason? "Not enough sales," Lierman told me.

The Brandon Avenue Bruster's opened in 2006, a few doors down from a Dairy Queen.  This newer shop had a drive-through, unlike another Bruster's location on Williamson Road,  the longer-running of the two.

The Williamson Road Bruster's will remain open, Lierman said.

Photo by Stephanie Klein-Davis

A new Elderberry's planned for Salem will be a mini version of this smoothie and food shop's larger presence in Southwest Roanoke County and Blacksburg.

Last week, I posted news that Elderberry's would be opening in a retail space on Main Street in Salem. Today, I caught up with one of the owners, Diane Elder, who shared a few more details about the shop's third location.

Elder, her husband, her sister and her brother-in-law are partners in the new Salem Elderberry's, which will land in a small space near Mac and Bob's at 304 Main Street. The proximity to Roanoke College was one of the draws for this smoothie business. Elder said some Roanoke College students and other Salem residents are regulars at Elderberry's in Roanoke County, at the West Village retail center.

The Salem Elderbery's will carry a slightly smaller menu of smoothies and food, compared with its other two shops. Still, it will concoct specialized smoothies that are specific to the Salem area, such as a spartanberry smoothie for Salem High School and a maroonberry flavor for Roanoke College.

The new Elderberry's also will have a take-out window and outdoor seats.

The owners are trying to open the new shop by the weekend of Sept. 11and 12. On Sept. 12,  a crowd of vendors and shoppers will converge on Salem's Main Street for Olde Salem Days, an annual arts and crafts festival.

Elderberry's hours be 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. There's a possibility of expanding the evening hours, but Elder said that's not set in stone.

On another note, please keep your comments respectful on this blog. I will delete comments that include derogatory terms and personal insults. This blog is a place for thoughtful and healthy dialogue. Please keep that in mind when you contribute to the discussion.

Also, please use a valid email address when you post a comment.

Smoothie lovers, prepare for a new arrival in Salem.

The owners of Elderberry's, a local smoothie business, plan to open a shop at 304 Main St. in Salem.  It will open next month, according to Elderberry's Web site.

Diane and Alan Elder opened the first Elderberry's in 2001 in Southwest Roanoke County, and the business has been on an expansion roll in the past year. Late last year, the Elders, along with additional partners, opened Elderberry's in Blacksburg at the First & Main retail center.

Elderberry's also has a Southwest Roanoke County location at the West Village shopping center on Virginia 419. 

These shops sells smoothies and some food offerings, such as sandwiches and wraps.

I'll keep you updated as I find out more details about Elderberry's new Salem location.