You’ve probably noticed the construction crews working on the huge space at the far east end of the Addison Walk restaurant strip at Belt Line and the Tollway. There’s no large tenant moving in, but two new restaurants that we can look forward to – Jason’s Deli and Zarandez, a high-end Mexican seafood chain out of Monterrey, Mexico.

The space has been vacant for at least two years, says Dan Shoevlin, UCR Realty senior vice president. UCR struggled to attract a large enough tenant to fill the space since the parking lot is so small. So, workers are downsizing it to create two separate storefronts.

Check back for more on the new Mexican restaurant’s concept, which is still being fleshed out by the broker, Shoevlin says.

This must have happened overnight. I live down the street from 12 Burgers and just noticed the completely new look and name. The restaurant, which has been open at Preston and Belt Line since February 2010, is closed for renovations and has changed its name to Judy’s Burger and Shake. It will re-open April 2, according to the sign posted on the window.

No word yet on whether it’s the same owners or not. I’d be surprised to see 12 Burger close for good since it has received many props for its 12-topping burger. Plus, they had really good tacos, too.

Check back soon for an update.

Some North Dallasites have teamed up to open a new health food restaurant complete with professional chefs and a full-time nutritionist on staff. Vitality House is scheduled to open in late April in the Promenade Center on Coit between Belt Line and Arapaho.

Co-owner Kelly Crawford will serve as the restaurant’s nutritional consultant. She is a certified by the Cooper Institute and American Fitness Professionals and Associates.

“We’re all into fitness and health,” she said. “We thought there was a need for a place with balanced meals that you could prepare ahead.”

Vitality House rivals similar establishments such as My Fit Foods, which offers pre-portioned, packaged meals to-go. While Vitality House will offer quick meals on the go, it also will operate as a sit-down restaurant.

Chris Smith (Crawford’s brother) and his wife Sandy are the head chefs and both graduated from Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Scottsdale, Ariz. The customizable menu spans all food genres from American to Greek to Southwest, and it includes nutritional facts. Plus, there are options for vegetarians and gluten-free folks. Prices range from $10 or less for breakfast and and $10-$15 for lunch.

Crawford says the meals will adhere to nutritional standards that vary by person – whether you’re an average Joe trying to lose a few pounds or a hardcore athlete looking to carbo-load. No dish contains more than 600 calories, which is pretty good if you’re eating out.

The restaurant also will offer catering and grab-and-go snacks.

Salado Wood Fire Salsa is hosting another fundraiser for the JJ Pearce High School Mighty Mustang Band. Stop by 5-9 tonight, tell them you’re with Pearce, and 20 percent of sales will go toward the band.

The restaurant, located at Coit and Campbell, has become a new favorite among neighbors. Also, we hear that Salado has now started making its corn tortillas from scratch. So now, all the tortillas are homemade.

Finding a good burger in Far North Dallas isn’t too hard. Here on the blog, I’ve written about neighborhood gems like 12 Burgers and Goff’s. Plus, it seems like everyone has burgers on the brain, anticipating In-N-Out’s arrival. But until that sweeps in and revolutionizes the burger as we know it, killing our cravings for anything else, I’ll stick with my favs, which now includes Burg-it, a new spot at Preston and Frankford.

Burg-it, which opened just about six weeks ago, offers huge burgers on cheap. Nearly every burger on the menu is less than $6. And it’s not all filler. I ordered the blue cheese burger for $5.65. It has a half-pound beef patty with crumbled blue cheese, lettuce, grilled onions, tomato, pickles and mayo. Fries and other sides are extra but trust me, one of those burgers easily fills you up.

The space is large and open with a sizable patio as well. I stopped in on a weekday evening, and the place was pretty quiet and empty. But I’ll definitely be back.

Jersey Mike’s Subs has partnered with Wipe Out Kids’ Cancer for the second annual fundraising campaign to help raise awareness about pediatric cancer research. The month-long campaign concludes Monday, March 28 with a special deal at Jersey Mike’s – make a minimum $1 donation to WOKC, and receive a free sub sandwich.

Last year, the campaign raised more than $50,000, which went to fund four pediatric cancer research trials at five hospitals in the southwest. According to WOKC, cancer is the No. 1 cause of death by disease in American children.

All Jersey Mike’s locations are participating in the fundraiser, including those in and around our neighborhood: Preston & Dilbeck, Campbell & Central and Spring Valley & the Tollway.

We’ll soon have another option for bowling in Far North Dallas in time for summer vacation. Pin Action Bowl will begin construction at the long-vacant Tom Thumb store just outside our neighborhood at Marsh and Trinity Mills with plans to open by July 1.

The 53,000-square-foot space will include 48 lanes, recycled from other closed alleys across the state, says Mark Pierce with Capstone Commercial. The venue also will house a restaurant, bar, karaoke, a gaming area and meeting rooms. Pin Action Bowl is affiliated with Super Bowl Entertainment, which has several locations across the Southwest.

We already have some choices for bowling in and around the neighborhood, including AMF at Campbell and Central along with the more upscale 300 in Addison. There’s also Main Event and Plano Super Bowl. Pierce says Pin Action Bowl would offer a casual, family atmosphere at low cost while also catering to local bowling leagues.

There is a flaw with this wine. It doesn’t have a screwcap. Otherwise, it’s pretty close to a perfect $10 wine.

Some two years ago, the Notorius was the first great, cheap Sicilian wine that I tasted, and it led to even more great, cheap Sicilian wines. The 2009 vintage of the Notorius ($10, purchased, available at Centrsl Market) has much of what the 2007 did: a richness not usually associated with wines at this price; a clean, long finish, and subdued lemon fruit. There’s also some spiciness I don’t remember from the 2007, as well as new, well-done, U.S. consumer friendly packaging.

Don’t be intimidated if you don’t recognize grillo, the grape used in the wine. It’s native to Sicily and has been around for centuries as a grape in marsala, but only recently has been successfully turned into table wine. It’s a seafood and grilled chicken kind of grape, and would also pair with vegetarian main courses. I drank it with couscous flavored with onions, mushrooms, and saffron, and it did quite nicely.

• Notorius 2007 review: “More complexity than the usual cheap Italian wine.”

Tucked away in the Preston Valley Shopping Center lies a little piece of Greece.

There’s an old joke among people who don’t like red wine: The reason they don’t like it is because all red wine tastes the same.

This month, news from J Dorian, Greenz Salads, BoConcept and more …

I’m never quite sure what to make of the Layer Cake wines. A year-old review of the shiraz on my wine blog was one of its most popular posts in 2010, and it’s still getting comments. Is it the quality of the wine that elicits so much enthusiasm, or the quality of the label, what with it featuring a chocolate cake?

For the primitivio ($12, sample, widely available) the answer is the quality of the wine. It’s made in Italy, but done in a decidedly New World Style — lots of oak and lots of dark black fruit, with vanilla thrown in for good measure. But it also offers plenty of traditional zinfandel-style spice and brambliness, which helped balance the wine — and the alcohol is only 13 1/2 percent. Another point in its favor: I tasted the wine about a year ago, and it wasn’t as interesting as this. Another year of bottle aging seems to have helped.

Why the zinfandel reference? Because primitivo is apparently the same grape, though there is still some debate about the subject. In this, too many Italian primitivos I’ve tasted, including one the other night to compare to the Layer Cake, go whole hog for the New World style without understanding what’s involved. It’s not a pretty sight.

Pair this with almost any Italian-American red sauce dinner (I did Mark Bittman’s take on chicken parmigiana).