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Recent openings and closings saw the arrival of a new cafe in downtown Gastonia, the closing of a Belmont restaurant, and word of a new fast food burger joint coming to the bustling East Franklin Boulevard retail strip. Here's a look at restaurants making headlines since January.

Sake Express, Belmont

Sake Express is closing its restaurant in Belmont, but the owners of the business say they hope to reopen soon at a new location.

Linda Nguyen, who co-owns the restaurant with her sister, Lisa Nguyen, said that Belmont Abbey, which owns the property at 675 Park St., decided to lease the property to Chase Bank.

"We fought long and hard for three months. Unfortunately, it was out of our hands," Nguyen said.

The sisters will close the Park Street location, which opened in 2010, on Jan. 24.

Dallas Tavern & Taphouse, Dallas

Sammy’s Pub of Dallas, located at 130 W. Trade St., was recently sold and became Dallas Tavern and Taphouse.

Part owner Megan Lorusso said on a social media post that when she and her husband bought Sammy’s Pub, the restaurant was on a downswing.

Despite the fact that it was losing money, Lorusso said the couple, “fell in love,” with the staff at the time and wanted to save the restaurant.

“We made the decision not to close the restaurant, make all the changes, then re-open for a few reasons, but the primary one is that we don’t want 38 people out of work before the holidays,” Lorusso said in the December comment. “So, this group has continued to keep business going while simultaneously adapting to our (much different) way of doing things…”

The new menu at Dallas Tavern and Taphouse features items like pulled pork macaroni and cheese, burgers, wings, sandwiches, salad and craft beer on tap, according to the website.

Elena’s Argentinian Café, Gastonia

Elena’s Argentinian Café is now open in Gastonia, bringing Argentinian food and pastries to the city’s downtown.

The café sells Argentinian pizzas, sandwiches, empanadas, cakes by the slice or whole, coffee with beans from Javesca Coffee Roasters, and a variety of pastries.

Paz said her favorite menu item is alfajores, because it is “one of the most Argentinian,” desserts someone could get.

Whataburger, Gastonia

Gastonia is one of a handful of North Carolina cities to see a popular fast food restaurant on the horizon.

Whataburger will open in late spring on East Franklin Boulevard where Backyard Burgers once stood.

Villa Roma, Gastonia

Villa Roma, a family-owned Italian and pizza restaurant in Gastonia, is permanently closing after the most recent operator, Dennis Fascella Jr., died in January at 57.

Family members said they believe Fascella's commitment to the community and way with people are two of the main reasons customers kept coming back to the restaurant over the years.

The Fascella family relocated to Gastonia in the '70s when Dennis Fascella Sr. personally built much of the building that housed Villa Roma and opened the restaurant with Angelo Fascella at 5000 Union Road.

The Bottle Tree, Belmont

The Bottle Tree in Belmont is closing its doors after about five years in business on Davis Street.

After a brief closure, the restaurant will reopen with a new name, menu and theme, according to owner Gabe Sawhney and General Manager Taylor Daniel.

"It was time to do something different and think about what the next step in the future of our organization looked like," Sawhney said. "We decided to close The Bottle Tree and reopen as Kaya Gastrolounge."

Cleveland County restaurant closings

Shelby has seen three restaurants close this year:

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State baseball embarks on its longest road trip of the 2025 season as the Sycamores head down to Gastonia, N.C. for the season-opening weekend series against Wagner. First pitch at Caromont Health Park on Friday afternoon is set for 2 p.m., while Saturday (1 p.m.) and Sunday (Noon) are expected to complete the weekend series.

Video will not be available for the series, but live stats will be available courtesy of GoSycamores.com with links on the Indiana State baseball schedule page.

The Sycamores head into head coach Tracy Archuleta's first season with the program looking to repeat the success the program has had over the last two seasons. Indiana State enters 2025 as the two-time Missouri Valley Conference regular season champions, while adding trips to the NCAA Postseason four out of the last five seasons.

The task will be different this season as the Sycamores lost 32 players from last year's team, including 2024 MLB Draftees Randal Diaz (5th Round, Washington Nationals) and Luke Hayden (8th Round, Cincinnati Reds), as well as free agent signee Grant Magill (Chicago White Sox). Overall, seven players from last year's team went on to sign professional contracts following the conclusion of the Sycamores' season in the NCAA Lexington Regional Championship game.

With the departure of 32 players, new faces will abound on the Indiana State roster as the Sycamores welcomed 22 players courtesy of the transfer portal, while nine freshmen made the final 40-man roster announced on Friday morning. Nine Sycamores return from last year's team including Carlos Pena, Keegan Garis, Max McEwen, Jacob Spencer, Aaron Moss, and Jordan Austin who all saw time on the field last year, while redshirts Cole Chace, John Curl, and Jackson Taylor are active again for the 2025 campaign.

The Sycamores enter the year receiving votes from the NCBWA Division I preseason poll and are projected to once again play one of the toughest schedules across the country. Indiana State entered the week projected with another Top 50 RPI schedule according to WarrenNolan.com with the 25th-best nonconference schedule including midweek games against Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois, Purdue, and more.

Projected opening day starter Ryan Karst heads into his first season with the Sycamores as the right-hander joined Indiana State by way of Madison College. No stranger to the Missouri Valley, he pitched at fellow Valley school UIC his freshman season and was selected to Perfect Game's preseason MVC All-Conference list heading into the year.

Indiana State will have a new lineup across the board with players fighting for position on the field throughout the early few weeks. The early projected lineup features familiar names including Pena and Garis, while Thomas Emerich, Alex Nevils, Weston Fulk, Eli Gipson, Carter Beck, and more will be named Sycamore fans will need to watch over the course of the year.

Scouting Wagner Wagner heads into the 2025 season picked second in the Northeast Conference (NEC) preseason poll as announced by the conference office in early February. The Seahawks posted a 26-30 overall record in 2024 with a 21-12 mark in conference play on their way to advancing to the NEC semifinal round in the postseason.

The Seahawks return leading hitter Xavier Ulrich (.320, 11 2Bs) as the graduate student is expected to be back behind the plate once again this season. Outfielder Lukas Torres (.293, nine 2Bs) and infielder/outfielder Diego Tavarez (.289, six 2Bs) are also back as Wagner returns the services of their top three hitters from the 2025 season. Slugger Mateo Matthews is also back on the roster after posting a team-high seven home runs to go with 33 RBIs in the 2024 season.

Wagner returns one of their three weekend arms from the 2024 season as senior right-hander Connor Hayden is back for the Seahawks. The Aliso Viejo, Calif. native posted a 4.60 ERA over 74.1 innings with a 45:30 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Also returning to the mound include key arms Jake Toporek (16 appearances, 6.55 ERA) and Griffin White (14 appearances, 7.29 ERA) as Wagner will feature a new look on the mound in the coming season.

The Seahawks combined to hit .259 from the plate as a team over the course of the 56-game 2024 season including 22 home runs, 80 doubles, and 11 triples. Wagner's pitching staff compiled a 5.93 team ERA over 489.0 innings with a 401:277 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Series History Against Wagner, Northeastern Conference This weekend's series marks the first time the Sycamores and the Seahawks will take the field against each other in their respective program histories.

The Sycamores are 1-0 all-time against current Northeastern Conference teams. Indiana State lined up against Maryland Eastern Shore early in the 2012 season at the Bulldog Classic held in Huntsville, Ala. The Sycamores took the 17-2 win over UMES in the win.

Follow the Sycamores For the latest information on the Sycamore Baseball team, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Fans can also receive updates on Sycamore Athletics by downloading the March On App from both the App Store and the Google Play Store.

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Gaston Gazette

Cool Beans Cat Café in Gastonia will soon have both a new owner and a new location, but the business isn't going far.

Gastonia resident Jenny Motes is buying the café from owners Julianna Coon and Sue Ann Propst, and she plans to move from the East Main Avenue space to 176 S. Chester St.

"I've known the owners for years, and they approached me in August just kind of out of the blue," Motes said. "I've always been a cat person since I was little. I've always loved cats. It just sort of made sense to jump on it."

From that point on, Motes said, everything fell into place. She said that after the rent went up at the current location, she began seeking someplace new to open up.

"So really, it took less than 24 hours, and the next property literally fell in my lap," she said.

Someone mentioned property to her that was for rent, and when she went to look at it, she felt it was perfect.

"It was another one of those, 'OK, this is meant to be' kind of moments," she said.

The current space for the cat café was once a law office. The new building is a house.

"They're going to have windows to look out of, and it's going to be a more familiar transition from going from our shop to their forever home," she said.

Motes, a stay-at-home mom of five children, has never owned a business before, but she has worked in a coffee shop, and she loved it.

"One of my first jobs as a teenager was at a coffee shop, and I loved it. I absolutely loved it. That was my favorite job I've ever had," she said.

She aims to reopen the shop in March, and she plans to expand the menu.

"We'll still have the coffee. We're going to be adding more tea. We're going to be adding a lot more drinks," she said.

She said she is putting art on the walls to sell, and she plans to host live music at the shop.

"We're gonna have our parking lot, so plus, we're gonna have the parking across the street where the county buildings are, so there's more options for people to stay for a while," she said. "So I want to have maybe little events, like some acoustic musicians on the porch, maybe on the weekends, or have sort of like a paint and sip deal."

Motes said that she and her husband, Christopher, like to travel, and when they do, they visit small businesses.

"It's basically like I'm taking things from every place I've ever visited," she said.

She said it will be hard not to adopt all the cats at the café.

"But getting to see them go off to what I know will be a nice home makes me happy, because I've been rescuing cats like my whole life, against all of my family members wishes," she said. "So I think my family's a little relieved, because this might tame that bit."

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.

The Crisis Assistance Ministry in Gastonia received 409 applications for rent assistance in January, a record number, according to Executive Director Kim Wheeler.

Now the ministry will be working to fill those needs without previously available funding from the Department of Social Services, which has been out of funds for Rent Assistance since November, according to the county.

Emergency Rental Assistance Program funding was awarded to applicants starting in 2021 to relieve the financial hardship caused by the pandemic, and on Nov. 19, the last of that funding was exhausted, county spokesman Adam Gaub said.

While tax return season has slowed the flow of applications in February, Wheeler said she expects the numbers to increase again throughout the year.

In 2023, Leah Hedgpath, the executive director of Dallas High Shoals Christian Ministry, said she had seen more of her clients go from having homes and vehicles to living on the streets than ever before.

Hedgpath said at the time that the lack of access to rent assistance in the area in combination with other hurdles related to finding affordable housing was contributing to the problem.

This year, CAM has seen large increases in call volume from residents all over Gaston County, Wheeler said. CAM only assists residents of Gastonia and in addition to turning those outside of the city away, the organization has also had to turn people away with rent issues that are simply too large.

The team is currently looking to raise awareness about the rising cost of living and find solutions to continue helping Gastonia residents to the fullest, she said.

According to the North Carolina Housing Coalition's 2025 report, Gastonia is one of the North Carolina cities with the highest fair market rent rates. HUD defines fair market rent as the cost to rent a moderately priced dwelling unit in a designated market.

The NCHC report listed Gastonia's fair market rent alongside Charlotte and Concord at $1,824 per month.

Out of the 409 applications for rent assistance submitted to CAM in January, 60 were from people who had never applied before, which Wheeler said is indicative of the state of rent prices and overall economic struggles in the area.

Wheeler said CAM continues to partner with other groups in the area to find assistance for those living outside of Gastonia, but the options are limited and could become scarce moving further into the year with less available funding.

Victory Christian Academy PatriotsVarsity Boys Basketball Gastonia, NC84Followers

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