Tournament-by-photo, Part II

And now for the Poultry and Pork brackets, in the 2012 Observer Tournament of Food.
Poultry:
The No. 1 (Fran's Filling Station):

vs.
The turkey provolone pita (Bedder Bedder & Moore):

and
The fried chicken sandwich (The King's Bakery):

vs.
The chicken Philly (East Blvd. Bar & Grill):

And Pork:
Torta al Banilera (Tacos El Nevado) (it's shown torn in two):

vs.
Grilled brat (Waldhorn):

and
The Cuban (Havana Carolina Cafe):

vs.
The No. 6 grilled pork banh mi (Le's):

Half the tournament bracket in photos

The beef and something-other-than-meat-centric brackets are in, in photographs:
BEEF:
The Stinger (Taste of Buffalo) and this is half the sandwich:

vs.
The "Awesome" Roast Beef (131 Main):

and
The Reuben (Growlers Pourhouse):

vs.
Beef on 'weck (Lebowski's)

SOMETHING OTHER:
The Loretta Lynn (Something Classic):

vs.
The Hot Mama (Common Market):

and

The herbed egg salad (Sunflour):

vs.
The Rocket Wrap (Kabob Grill) (couldn't really shoot half):

So much Olive Garden love...

The Grand Forks review by Marilyn Hagerty (that's her, courtesy of her paper)

that went viral is here.
Our own Tommy Tomlinson on that review: Here.
A bit of the viral-osity and some thoughtful analysis is here.
Charlotte writer Joe Posnanski, who went with Tommy, on that experience: Here.
A commenter on Joe's blog, on HIS experience: "I'm generally adverse to chain restaurants, but the Olive Garden fried lasagna is one of the greatest things I've ever put in my mouth."

And a confession: My younger daughter, when she turned 18, was taken by her friends for a birthday dinner at the Olive Garden because "Mom would never let me go." We stopped in for that dinner. The salad was marvelous.

Also on the Interwebs: Gene Simmons (yes, the Kiss one) is "parlaying his love for music into a new restaurant and entertainment venture" called Rock & Brews. The L.A. International Airport-vicinity place - just the first in a plan that includes future sites in Denver, Atlanta, Maui, Tokyo and Los Cabos - will have "an authentically themed backstage environment." Insert joke here.

Update: Who makes Charlotte's best sandwich?

Voting's closed. Thanks!
Last chance reminder: NO anonymous comments will be counted. So if you want your vote to count, and you made it as Anonymous, please recast it in the next 30 minutes!

Each year, The Observer does a tournament, timed with NCAA basketball's March Madness, that focuses on one area dish. This year, we’re trying something new.

Here's how to comment, if you never have: Scroll to bottom of this particular post and click on the "119 COMMENTS" phrase. (Number may be different.) Then click on "Jump to Comment Form." Type your comment into the empty box, then click on Name/URL and enter your name or a screen name (like a pen name). Then hit "Publish your comment."

The category is sandwiches. But because so many restaurants offer so many sandwiches, and because I suspect readers know about some great ones I will never find, we’ll have readers “vote in” eight specific sandwiches from specific restaurants -- by commenting on this blog post by 5 p.m. March 7. For example, a reader might vote for the Darby’s Roast Beef Deluxe at the Common Market. You must name both the specific sandwich and the restaurant to have your vote counted. (PLEASE read the rest of the rules below before commenting!)

The eight specific sandwiches that get the most votes will be in the tournament. I’ll also choose the four most intriguing sandwiches suggested by voters – meaning that if there’s a sandwich that sounds terrific from the voter’s prose, but no one else seems to know about it, it can still make the tournament.

I’ll name an additional four of my own choices to round out our starting bracket of 16.

Other rules: No burgers. (That was last year.) No barbecue. (That’s in the future). No chains with locations outside the Carolinas.

And no anonymous comments will be counted. You have to have a screen name – which, as a reminder, doesn’t have to be your given name; this just allows us to count one vote per commenter.

After that, it’ll work as usual: I’ll create the pairings and publish the bracket March 9. Then readers will vote on pairings, and both those results and taste tests will be used to determine which sandwich advances.

We’ll announce the winner March 30.

Let the games begin. (Also: Folks who have Liked my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter @helenschwab got a head start on this. You can stay in the loop by Liking www.facebook.com/hsondining.

Rooster's uptown opens

The second Rooster's, at 1 Bank of America Center's Urban Garden, is now open for dinner, and will add lunch hours after a few weeks. That's at the corner of 5th and College streets uptown. Check the menu at roosterskitchen.com; 704-370-7667.

Harvest Moon in National Geographic

Harvest Moon Grille makes the latest edition of National Geographic Traveler in a short piece about farmers turned chefs, noting that Natalie Veres and Cassie Parsons of Grateful Growers Farm (oddly not mentioned by name) began with a food truck before landing at the uptown Dunhill Hotel with a restaurant. Read more here.

Coming up: Harry's

Harry’s Grille & Tavern is scheduled to open March 12 at the Town of Ayrsley, with a lineup of small plates, burgers, entrees and more from chef Keith Roybal, formerly with steakhouses in New Jersey. "Named after the friendliest person I know and just like him, this Harry will never let you down,” Tyler Birchfield, operating manager for the group that owns Harry’s and area general manager of the Ayrsley Hilton branded hotels, said in a press release. Harry's will be in the Arcade building; 2127 Ayrsley Town Blvd.; 704-499-9494.