Tampabay.com -  Small breweries may not be as mighty as Anheuser-Busch distributors, but they showed a little muscle on Monday by helping to reshape a House bill that could have put some out of business.

"Some folks recognized that there were problems that needed to be addressed," said Josh Aubuchon, a Holland & Knight lobbyist who represents the Florida Brewers Guild, a consortium that includes 90 local breweries in Florida, including 28 in the Tampa Bay region.

HB 1329, sponsored by Rep. Ray Rodrigues, R-Fort Myers, would have legalized half-gallon containers, known as growlers, to sell craft beer. That size is legal in 47 other states, but not Florida.

But while Rodrigues' bill would make half-gallon growlers legal, it also came with many restrictions small breweries didn't like, so that only those with certain licenses were eligible. Aubuchon said additional restrictions would have made it difficult for many of the 90 breweries he is representing to operate. Continue

Fansided - Chicago Bears defensive lineman Henry Melton was arrested in December for an incident in at a Dallas area bar. Aside from throwing punches, he also allegedly but the owner of the bar.

The bar was trying too remove Melton for unruliness and details of the incident have leaked out, including allegations of the verbal jabs Melton threw at the restaurant employees.

According to the lawsuit, at the bar the night of the incident, Melton was telling restaurant workers that he “was a millionaire and the bartenders were nothing but poor white trash.”

Not so surprisingly, Melton’s agent Jordan Woy has released a statement in response claiming the opposite.

“We have recently reviewed the lawsuit and do not believe the validity of the allegations made. We look forward to providing the true facts in court and will defend this matter vigorously. We will seek to hold The Chill and others accountable for any and all damages Henry has suffered at the hands of multiple men who attacked him.”

Latinospost.com -  South Carolina police are looking for a man who attacked a 20-year-old man for belching at a fast food restaurant and not apologizing.

Police authorities from South Carolina reported that the young man was in the company of a friend in a Taco Bell when a man approached them and asked him if he had belched without apologizing, physically attacking him with a chair to his left elbow, reported The Huffington Post.

Early this year an act of intolerance ended in a tragedy after a Texas man stabbed his girlfriend for bringing pizza and not a chicken sandwich for dinner. Continue

Miaminewtimes.com - Attorneys have filed a lawsuit in Miami-Dade Civil Court that claims Versailles Restaurantfired two employees for reporting illegal goings-on at the iconic eatery, including hiring undocumented workers, sexual-orientation harassment, and wage and hour violations.

The lawsuit, which names Versailles and its owner, Felipe A. Valls Sr., as defendants, was filed this past Friday on behalf of former Versailles general manager Rigoberto Hernandez and Adriam Mena, a former waiter there. The suit lists numerous charges the two men claim they witnessed during their time at the restaurant, which attracts some of Miami's top politicians. Hernandez claims the restaurant's human resources officer and co-owner, Janet Valls, said that "she could make the undocumented workers 'disappear' if they were ever investigated by immigration authorities." Continue

Forbes.com - It may be boom times for some restaurant chains, like stars Chipotle and Panera Bread, but don’t count Sbarro among those benefiting from the fast casual trend.

The fast food pizza chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in less than three years after it tried and failed to boost sales by revamping its menu and shuttering its worst-performing restaurants. In February, Sbarro said it would close 155 out of the 400 restaurants it owns in North America, though it still has more than 800 locations abroad and about 600 owned by franchisees (the latter will not be affected by the bankruptcy).

In its 2011 bankruptcy, the company slashed 80% of its $400 million debt load. This time, it wants to cut another $140 million worth of debt. While Sbarro is inviting other parties to submit offers to buy the company, its main lenders voted to support a “pre-packaged” plan to exchange the debt for control of a reorganized Sbarro. Continue

WCTV.tv - Police in suburban Atlanta say a man who was assaulted during a robbery in the bathroom of a fast food restaurant has died.

Gwinnett County police say 74-year-old Frederic Cooper died Tuesday of his injuries and 58-year-old Donald Thomas is now charged with murder.

Authorities have said Thomas followed Cooper into the bathroom of a McDonald's on Feb. 28 and tried grabbing Cooper's wallet. Police say Cooper turned around and was pushed to the floor. Investigators say Cooper fractured his back in the fall.

Police say surveillance video showed Thomas leaving the bathroom and hiding the man's wallet in his clothes Continue

Motorsportstalk.com -  A restaurant in Fort Worth, Texas that’s inspired by the 2006 NASCAR-themed movie “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” is now being sued by the studio that made the film.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Sony Pictures – which distributed the Will Ferrell comedy through its subsidiary, Columbia Pictures – filed a trademark lawsuit last week in federal court against the restaurant’s parent company, Rick’s Cabaret International, which deals primarily in running gentleman’s clubs in the United States.

RCI’s eatery is known as the Ricky Bobby Sports Saloon and Restaurant, which features a full-size replica stock car by its front door and waitresses that are known as “Smokin’ Hotties.” Continue

NRN.com - Zoe’s Kitchen Inc., the parent company to the 111-unit fast-casual Zoës Kitchen chain, filed Monday for an $80.5 million initial public offering of stock.

The Plano, Texas-based company is majority owned by private-equity firm Brentwood Associates, which bought into the concept in 2007.

According to Securities and Exchange Commission Form S-1 documents, the company had revenues of $116.4 million for the Dec. 30-ended 2013 fiscal year, compared with $79.7 million in the prior year. Continue

Newsday-  The Town of Oyster Bay has denied allegations in a federal lawsuit filed by the owner of a restaurant padlocked last year that the town fabricated building and health code violations.

In the suit filed two weeks ago in U.S. District Court in Central Islip, Philip Morizio, owner of Cafe Al Dente in downtown Oyster Bay, says his rights were violated. He asserts that Oyster Bay's commissioner of planning, Frederick Ippolito, orchestrated a conspiracy to shut him down in September because he would not relocate from 2 Spring St. to a vacant Italian restaurant Ippolito owned or use an attorney the commissioner recommended. Continue

Yelp.com - Remember those lofty goals you made this time last month to eat better? Ha, we don't either. So now that we've all thrown those resolutions out the window, let's talk about the spots Yelpers have deemed the ultimate, try-before-you-die, food-coma-inducing, so-good-it-makes-you-want-to-slap-your-momma places to eat across the globe. Add these babies to your Yelp bookmarks STAT and worry about that unused gym membership later.

From cheap eats to $$$$, food stands to Michelin stars, this list runs the gamut of dining experiences. Leave it to Yelpers to be in-the-know on the spots you’ve heard buzz about (like the fabled Le Bernardin at #45 and Chicago’s molecular gastronomy masterpiece Alinea at #7), and unearth hole-in-the-wall joints the locals would love to keep secret (a food stand serving only sweet potatoes at #54, or the hot dog cart with reindeer, elk and rattlesnake options in Denver at #12). Continue