Burger King

Food *** (3 stars) Service *** (3 stars) Atmosphere *** (3 stars) The restaurant that's currently the buzz in Annapolis is Osteria 177, a new place on Main Street that bills itself as "the evolution of Italian-Mediterranean cuisine." It has all the right ingredients, starting with the high-style dining room. Check out the huge crystal chandeliers juxtaposed with industrial-look exposed pipes, the futuristic chairs that seem to be metal but are actually vinyl, the deep red walls decorated with contemporary art. All this in a space that was previously a steak house, a Burger King, a drugstore, and I don't know what else.

In Baltimore CountyBeltway sinkhole slows outer loop traffic near TowsonTOWSON -- A sinkhole in the emergency lane of westbound Interstate 695 led highway officials to close one lane, slowing traffic to a crawl along the outer loop yesterday afternoon.The sinkhole, 8 to 10 feet in diameter and 4 to 5 feet deep, was reported about 1: 30 p.m., said State Highway Administration spokeswoman Valerie Burnette Edgar. Repair crews and a geologist were called to the scene, between the north and south exits for Interstate 83, she said.

SO THE FAMILY'S getting bigger, and you're wondering if now's the time to buy a minivan, modern symbol of fertility and suburban well-being.Whoa! Not so fast.First, say these words to yourself: Dodge Caravan.Does this sound sexy to you?It does?Do you picture yourself rolling up to a stoplight in your Dodge Caravan and catching the eye of the attractive member of the opposite sex in the Porsche next to you, who then lets out a low murmur of approval?You do?There is something seriously wrong with you, my friend.

MAALE ADUMIM, Occupied West Bank -- The Burger King in this Jewish settlement remained open for business yesterday, defiant in the face of a controversy that has bedeviled Middle East diplomacy for decades: Where are Israel's borders?On Thursday, the fast-food chain's corporate headquarters ordered the Burger King here to close because the franchise is for Israel and the restaurant is in the disputed former Arab territory that Israel has occupied since the end of the 1967 war.Israeli-American businessman Mishulam Riklis, the owner of the 46 Burger King restaurants in Israel, is taking legal action to make sure the Jewish settlement outlet remains open.

JERUSALEM -- Burger King delivered a whopper of a punch yesterday to Israelis living in a West Bank settlement -- no more burgers for them.A five-week campaign by Arab Americans to shut down a Burger King outlet in the settlement of Ma'ale Adumin paid off when the Miami-based corporation told its Israeli franchisee that it could no longer sell Burger King products at a food court there because the outlet was in occupied territory, not in sovereign Israel...

An early-morning robbery at a Burger King turned into high-level farce yesterday after a man hid in the bathroom of a nearby Holiday Inn, put cash in a toilet, climbed into a suspended ceiling and fell through it into an adjacent office, police said.The robbery was called in by employees of the Burger King in the 2000 block of York Road about 7 a.m., said Baltimore County Police spokeswoman Cpl. Vickie Warehime. Witnesses told police that a man had run to a Holiday Inn nearby and hidden in a bathroom in the lobby.

A future conversation:"What did you do in the war, Daddy?""What war, sweetheart?""The Great French Fry War of 1998. My history book at school says that was the year civilization peaked. People were so happy and secure and prosperous that they actually debated the merits of Burger King vs. McDonald's french fries.""Your history book is right. I'll never forget it. On Friday, Jan. 2, 1998, the Burger King restaurant chain gave out free small orders of their new french fries at 7,600 restaurants in the United States and Canada.

Over the past five summers, ducks have become regulars at the Burger King in the BWI Commerce Park in Linthicum, where a marshy drainage basin known to employees as "the pond" takes up much of the back lot.Employees feed the flock, and customers have become accustomed to the birds waddling on the grass past them in the drive-through line.But the restaurant switched from refuge to rescue mode recently, when the staff noticed that one of the ducks had been hit by a blowgun dart.The dart was lodged in the bird's neck for two weeks until it finally broke in half Tuesday, leaving the head embedded -- and also leaving a large, infected wound.

Five employees of a Burger King in Baltimore County were forced into the restaurant's freezer early yesterday while a gunman attempted to steal money from the company safe.The man, who covered his head and face with a hood and black scarf, was unable to get any money during the incident in the 1600 block of Belmont Ave. in Woodlawn because the safe was locked with a timer, police said.Employees at Burger King declined to comment.Pub Date: 6/14/98

After their Valentine's Day wedding, the bride and groom went to Martin's.That sounds like a typical Carroll County postnuptial tradition, except that it was not the chandeliered Martin's Westminster banquet hall but the fluorescent-tubed Martin's grocery store at Routes 140 and 97.And after Martin's, the newlyweds went across the street to Burger King for a wedding breakfast -- on the house for the couple who met while working at the fast-food franchise two...

Back in 1996, the manager of a downtown Burger King handed out discount coupons for ammunition and guns along with the Whoppers with cheese. A week ago, police told us you could buy cocaine from a Shell gas station in Severna Park. And now, the feds tell us your potato chips could come with a Beretta at the Utz kiosk in Lexington Market. I went to lunch Wednesday at the historic shopping stalls in an area the city is trying to revitalize, but all I got was a scowl from the clerk when I ordered a 9 mm. I watched customer after customer, but none left with weaponry.

Peter John Tasch Sr., a former Burger King district supervisor who later owned and operated an Eldersburg cafe, died of heart failure Nov. 25 at University of Maryland Medical Center. He was 56. Mr. Tasch was born in Philadelphia and was raised there and in Hatboro, Pa. He attended schools in Philadelphia and Neshaminy, Pa. Mr. Tasch worked for many years for Burger King, becoming district supervisor of stores in Atlantic and Cape May counties in New Jersey and Bucks County in Pennsylvania.

Maryland Acquisitions Laureate expands in Latin America Laureate Education has expanded its presence in Latin America by acquiring a school in Mexico and two more in Costa Rica, the Baltimore company announced yesterday. Universidad Tecnologica de Mexico has eight campuses throughout the country and serves 36,000 students. Universidad Latina and Universidad Americana, both in Costa Rica, serve 16,000 and 4,000 students, respectively. Laureate already has campuses in the two countries.

Gas crisis or no, millions of Americans are hitting the road this summer, and many will travel that magical stretch of road known as the New Jersey Turnpike, where they'll stop at its various service areas which are, well, not so magical. These are named after great Americans, for some reason, and include the Vince Lombardi Service Area, the Thomas Edison Service Area, the Grover Cleveland Service Area, the Molly Pitcher Service Area and so on. You wonder what someone like Thomas Edison would think about having a rest stop named after him. This was maybe the greatest inventor in history, the man who gave us the electric lightbulb, the phonograph and 1,000 other inventions.

In the fast-food business, imitation isn't just a form of flattery - it's a proven way to increase sales. The Taco Bell value menu, for instance, gave rise to the Wendy's Super Value Menu, the McDonald's Dollar Menu and the Burger King Value Menu. The Angus beef burger from Back Yard Burgers begat similar burgers at McDonald's, Burger King and Hardee's. In the latest appropriation of a popular product, McDonald's has just introduced a Southern Style Chicken Sandwich - one that looked suspiciously like the signature sandwich of the Chick-fil-A chain.

Nation : Earnings Burger King net increases 39% Burger King Holdings Inc. said yesterday that its fiscal second-quarter profit jumped 29 percent. Burger King said net income for the quarter rose to $49 million, or 36 cents per share, from $38 million, or 28 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 10 percent to $613 million from $559 million in 2007. Mattel profit rises 15% Mattel Inc. reported yesterday a 15 percent gain in fourth-quarter profit. The company said its net income grew to $328.

When Baltimore businessman Edwin Avent purchased Heart & Soul magazine in bankruptcy court three years ago, he seemed to be the only one who had faith in the fitness publication aimed at African-American women. Earl Graves, the publisher of Black Enterprise magazine, was the winning bidder but then decided to pass on the deal, believing there wasn't a large enough audience for the publication to succeed. Investors that Avent approached declined to finance the first issue. And advertisers wanted to see that he could publish before they would commit.

I would like to know if my shares of Wendy's International Inc. will continue to grow in my IRA. - C.M., via the Internet The nation's third-largest hamburger chain - behind McDonald's and Burger King - isn't just trying to sell more food. It could be trying to sell itself. Introduction of a breakfast menu in 650 of its more than 6,600 Wendy's restaurants, additional Frosty Float flavors, new sandwiches, the "Do What Tastes Right" ad campaign and job cuts are all moves to try to turn itself around.

In Turkey, there's home delivery and in Mexico, valet parking. In China, Whoppers come with spicy "mala" sauce and in South Korea, with sweet and sour "bulgogi" topping. Burger King is finally getting serious about building a worldwide empire. After decades of ownership changes and management shake-ups, the Miami-based restaurant chain is stabilizing as a stand-alone company with its stock traded on Wall Street. Now, its executive team feels steady enough to focus on lagging growth overseas, aiming to narrow the gap with McDonald's Corp.

Food *** (3 stars) Service *** (3 stars) Atmosphere *** (3 stars) The restaurant that's currently the buzz in Annapolis is Osteria 177, a new place on Main Street that bills itself as "the evolution of Italian-Mediterranean cuisine." It has all the right ingredients, starting with the high-style dining room. Check out the huge crystal chandeliers juxtaposed with industrial-look exposed pipes, the futuristic chairs that seem to be metal but are actually vinyl, the deep red walls decorated with contemporary art. All this in a space that was previously a steak house, a Burger King, a drugstore, and I don't know what else.