For example, she knows a lot of them are lonely. They’re tired of online dating and the bar scenes, but they don’t have much time to try to go out and meet people.

Enter speed dating.

On Thursday, Kelléigh will be holding the first monthly speed-dating night at her Good Times Lakeview Restaurant. For $10, participants will be given an opportunity to talk to 8 potential dates for 6 minutes at a time during the hourlong event in a private room at the Ballston Lake establishment.

Good Times owner Desireé Kelléigh has been introducing people for years, so she decided to hold a speed-dating night at her Ballston Lake restaurant.

Part of the reason she has introducing people is involvement in the community. Her restaurant attracts a lot of people from the area, and she gets to know a lot of them.

“I’ve been in this community for 45 years,” said Kelléigh, who added she doesn’t just act as a matchmaker. “I’ve helped people make business connections and network.”

She said the restaurant’s ambiance makes it a good location for meeting new people. Good Times attracts families and locals, so it’s a low-pressure, friendly environment.

“I get these awesome guys in here because they want a good meal but don’t feel like cooking,” Kelléigh said. “And women come here because it’s a nonthreatening place.”

Kelléigh said people can preregister for the speed dating by calling the restaurant, but she added that walk-ins will be welcome. Registration starts at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

“There are no rules other than being polite,” Kelléigh said. “We’re just looking for the right people to come onboard and make it happen.”

There will be free appetizers, $2 Jello shots and pitcher specials. All participants will be given a coupon good for 2 free drinks with the purchase of 2 entrées — which will come in handy if a connection is made.

Even if you don’t find anyone who strikes your fancy at the event, there’s not much to lose.

“Don’t worry about it,” Kelléigh said. “It’s a nonrejection-type atmosphere. It’s only 6 minutes per transaction.”

Kelléigh is so excited about the possibilities that she is even telling her married customers about the event.

“I smile and say, ‘I know you’re not single, but I bet you know someone nice who is,’” she said.

For more information:

• Good Times Lakeview Restaurant, 175 Lake Road, Ballston Lake, 399.9976

Pancho’s had the opportunity to add the space when its next-door neighbor, The Market & Bistro, closed. The expansion adds 90 seats to the 130 Pancho’s already had.

“The town says 220,” said Luis Uzhca, who co-owns the restaurant with his brother-in-law Luis Sinche. “But I’m saying we can seat 200 comfortably.”

Luis Uzhca co-owns Pancho's, a Mexican restaurant that will gain 90 seats with its expansion.

“Now we’ll be able to deal with 3 or 4 buses,” Uzhca said. “They like the convenience. We’re only 300 yards from the (Northway) exit.”

Of course, the expansion is for more than the tour buses. The restaurant was starting to get cramped for the regulars on busy nights.

“It was getting too crowded here,” Uzhca said. “Now with more room it will be more relaxing. You can have a meal and not worry.”

The restaurant opened 7 years ago, taking the spot of a former Waffleworks. About a year after Pancho’s opened, Uzhca started working with the original owners. It wasn’t long before he and his brother-in-law Luis Sinche took over the restaurant. Soon they upgraded the menu and the decor.

“We wanted to make it like you were walking into one of these restaurants in Mexico,” Uzhca said.

As for the menu, the pair added more upscale offerings.

“You can find a simple bite like a taco,” Uzhca said. “But you could also find a nice gourmet dish. And we are using the best ingredients out there.”

It was a tragic event that started the course that lead to Uzhca ending up at Pancho’s. He came to the United States with his family when he was 15 and eventually ended up owning a restaurant on Long Island. But when his brother, a 33-year-old New York taxi driver, was murdered in a $30 robbery, he lost interest in his business.

He tried to work for someone else, but he still was mourning his brother. So he moved back to his native Ecuador with his wife and kids. There he opened a few pizza shops. After that, he returned to New York and opened a couple of pizza places.

“But it was getting too expensive downstate — the rent, raising a family,” he said. “We wanted somewhere more quiet and more peaceful.”

Soon after moving to the Capital Region, the Pancho’s opportunity came up.

“It just happened so quickly,” he said.

So far, so good.

“We love it,” said Uzhca, who recently added to the pair’s business by opening Salsa Latina on Central Avenue in Albany. “I’m very grateful to be here, and I’m grateful to the people who supported us.”

For more information:

• Pancho’s, 1536 Crescent Road, Clifton Park, 383.2930
• Salsa Latina, 315 Central Avenue, Albany, 426.7050

Tessiero, a Johnson & Wales culinary graduate, opened Gauchos Grill & Catering on April 1 at Players Park on Route 146A. For now, he serves burgers, hot dogs and the like out of a truck.

But on May 16, Gauchos will roll out its Brazilian barbecue menu, serving prime cuts of meat prepared over an open flame on a sword. This cooking style, called churrasco, has been popular for centuries in southern Brazil — originating with the gauchos (Brazilian cowboys).

Gauchos Grill & Catering, which serves food out of a truck at Players Park, will introduce the region's first Brazilian BBQ next month.

One of the specialties will be rotisserie pineapple grilled with cinnamon.

While this Brazilian cuisine is new to the region, Tessiero said it’s popular in other parts of the country. He learned about it during a 2007 business trip to Las Vegas.

“I was pretty enthused by the way it was a theatrical dining experience,” said Tessiero, who will also be doing events at This Olde Farm on Route 146.

While Tessiero has started by bringing the cuisine to the region, he hopes to someday soon bring the whole experience to the area. He is under contract to remain at Players Park until it closes for the season in October. After that — if he can find an investor to provide the capital — he hopes to open a restaurant featuring the cuisine along with Brazilian decor and music.

That’s not because he doesn’t want to be at Players Park. In fact, even if he opens a restaurant he hopes to be able to continue at Players Park on a season basis. He just thinks a restaurant would be a great way to provide a Brazilian BBQ experience on a year-round basis.

For now, he’s looking forward to the upcoming season.

“This is a great family sports complex,” Tessiero said. “There’s horseshoes, tennis, 18 holes of minigolf and a 9-hole par 3. And it’s lighted till 10 p.m. in the summer.”

As for the food, Tessiero’s truck can cook 180 pounds of Brazilian BBQ at a time while still being able to provide fried dough and peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches for the kids.

The truck itself is both a mobile kitchen and a billboard commemorating the contributions of members of the armed services, police forces, fire departments and the like. That’s another part of Tessiero’s life: He was a military policeman in the Army National Guard and a firefighter in the Air Force.

“It’s one way to recognize what they do,” he said.

For more information:

• Gauchos Grill & Catering, 1012 Route 146A, Clifton Park, 774.4472
• Players Park, 1012 Route 146A, Clifton Park, 877-0406

The teams of dinosaurs will be walking in the 2010 Take Steps for Crohn’s & Colitis, a fundraiser for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America. Carlson, 8, has been suffering from ulcerative colitis since he was 3. To help put a human face on inflammatory bowel diseases, the foundation’s Northeastern New York chapter named Carlson its local hero.

To support him during the fundraiser, his elementary school has created a group of walkers — 115 registered so far — called “Arongen Team Colitisaurus” that will wear dinosaur T-shirts. His relatives and their friends — another 30-40 people walking as Team Carlson — will also be wearing dinosaur T-shirts. And Carlson, who loves dinosaurs, will be at the front of the line.

Eight-year-old Liam Carlson will be leading the 2010 Take Steps for Crohn's & Colitis. Carlson has been suffering from colitis since he was 3.

The foundation hopes to have at least 600 walkers at the event with a goal of $75,000. Benita Zahn will be the walk’s emcee. Members of the University at Albany basketball team and cheerleaders will be there, along with the school mascot. The Tri-City ValleyCats will sponsor the kids zone, bringing their mascot and their fun van.

“Crohn’s and colitis are very unpredictable and debilitating diseases,” said walk coordinator Marjie Burgasser, who added the diseases affect 1.4 million Americans — 10% of them younger than 17. “The symptoms are painful and unpleasant; that’s why they aren’t talked about as much as other diseases. No one wants to discuss their trips to the bathroom.”

In his short life, Carlson knows all about the unpredictability, the pain and the unpleasantness. At age 3, Carlson — who has already been diagnosed with asthma and severe food allergies when he was about 1 — started experiencing loose and bloody stools.

“At that point he really wasn’t having pain, so we didn’t know,” Aimee Carlson said. “They did a scope (a colonoscopy). That’s when they found he had some inflammation.”

Medication made things seem better — at least for a while. But at 4½, things got worse. By 6, he had to be hospitalized for transfusions. Despite a number of medications and treatments — including receiving his nutrition through an IV — Carlson kept getting sicker. He was then considered steroid dependent.

Finally in May 2008 — at age 6½ — he had to have his colon removed. Four months later he underwent reconstructive surgery.

“He’s definitely put up with a lot. He’s had more tests and scans and shots,” Aimee Carlson said. “Today he’s great, but tomorrow he could be in severe pain. That’s what hard — you never know, and it’s always hanging over you.”

The Carlsons were concerned about whether it would be a good idea to put Liam in the public eye. They talked to him about it. He looked at the proposed video and told things he didn’t want in it.

“He definitely has learned through this process to advocate for himself,” Aimee Carlson said.

In the end, they decided to allow him to be a local hero.

“After we talked,” Aimee Carlson said, “we decided if we could take a bad situation and make some good come from it it would be the right thing to do.”

For more information:

• 2010 Take Steps for Crohn’s & Colitis
• Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America

The former general store turned restaurant is historic, and that’s a big part of the problem. It seems that building codes have changed a bit in the past 150 years. Fire codes and handicapped access requirements are a lot different these days.

That has presented some challenge for restaurant owner John Travis as town inspectors point out the building’s shortcomings. He wants the building to maintain its historic integrity, but the inspectors want sprinkler systems and fireproof walls.

Jonesville Store owner John Travis wants to maintain the building's historic character but says Clifton Park's building inspectors have been hindering his attempts to run a profitable business in the pre-Civil War structure.

Still, he said, there ought to be a way for the building to be safe while maintaining its historical integrity and allowing the business to make a profit. And to make a profit, the restaurant requires more seating.

“In my effort to run a viable business here, I need more space,” Travis said. “We’re 15% below where we need to be to make money. I turn people away on Friday and Saturday nights and during the day on Saturdays and Sundays.”

But he’s had difficulty finding a way to add seating that will pass the town’s requirements. He worries the building inspectors care little about the building’s history and what it means to the community. He fears the changes they have suggested would take away from the building’s character.

“It’s more than money. It’s a cultural thing,” said Travis, who also wishes the town would add sewers in the area, so he could no longer have to deal with an inadequate septic system. “It would lose its whole historic nature. I don’t want to be the one after 170 years to make this into a Dunkin’ Donuts.”

That’s not what the town wants, Supervisor Phil Barrett said.

“Typically with a historic structure there can be some different standards,” he said. “But on many of the things — handicapped access, fire code — we’re just the enforcement arm.”

Barrett said he likes to eat at the restaurant, which is in his neighborhood.

“It obviously fits in great with the Jonesville area,” he added. “The owners have done a great job with it.”

At one point, Travis thought he had his seating problems solved. He went around the town to get a code variance from the state allowing him to enclose the building’s porch and add seating for 20 there. But the process took a year. During that time, he lost his bank financing.

With the credit market now so tight for small businesses, he hasn’t been able to get the $200,000 he needs to undertake the project, which also includes adding a bathroom, expanding the kitchen and enlarging the basement.

“If I had those 20 seats,” he said, “I’d turn the corner tomorrow.”

For more information:

• The Jonesville Store, 989 Main St., Clifton Park, 877.0507
• Clifton Park Town Hall, 1 Town Hall Plaza, Clifton Park, 371.6651

That’s because today is the day the Country Drive-In opens.

For Lena Riberdy, it starts her 22nd season at the establishment.

“I’ve never had another real job,” she said, adding that the other jobs she has had were during the winter while the Halfmoon landmark was closed.

Lena Riberdy has worked at the Country Drive-In for more than half of its 41 years. She is entering her 4th season as co-owner of the Halfmoon eatery.

Loved it so much that 4 years ago she became a co-owner of the business, which is entering its 41st season this year. She had been talking to owner Hugh Mariacia for a few years, and finally he thought the time was right to take on a business partner.

“He had started getting into other things and decided it was time to let me in,” Riberdy said.

Despite the 12-hour days, Riberdy couldn’t think of anything she’d rather do. While she appreciates the winter break after all of the hard work during the season, soon she longs to be flipping burgers and mixing shakes.

“It’s a long 6 months,” she said. “I need a little bit of a break, but after about 3 months I’m itching to get back.”

During the summer, her children will sometimes come to work with her, and often her husband will stop by to have dinner with her. But even when her family isn’t visiting her at work, she still considers herself with her second family while she’s working — that’s how she feels about the drive-in’s employees and customers.

“I lot of our customers, they’ve been coming since I was a kid working here,” she said. “They’ve become like family. They’ll see me out shopping and stop and say hello.”

In fact, in the community she is somewhat of a celebrity. One day she was visiting her daughter’s grade-school class and started talking with another parent about what each other did for a living. Riberdy mentioned she co-owned the Country Drive-In.

“She said, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re like famous,’” Riberdy said. “I got a little embarassed.”

That’s how much the business means to the community. Even before it opened on Monday morning, customers were lining up to place their orders. And last week, customers were calling to mind out what the season’s first flavors of the week would be. (In case you’re wondering, they are mint ice cream, orange sherbet and cappuccino frozen yogurt.)

“We’re really a community place,” Riberdy said.

It’s not the only one. Other seasonal drive-ins and ice cream stands are also opening for the spring, each with its own set of devotees.

Pirates Hide-Out Ice Cream & Grill opened on March 19, and Giffy’s Snack Shack will open this Friday. DeVoe’s Rainbow Delights will open the week after Easter, though the exact date will depend on the weather. PJ’s Bar-B-Q at Exit 13N will open on April 17.

For more information:

• Country Drive-In, 1455 Vischer Ferry Road, Halfmoon, 371.3455
• Devoe’s Rainbow Delights, 1569 Route 9, Halfmoon, 371.4033
• Pirates Hide-Out Ice Cream & Grill, 175 Guideboard Road, Halfmoon, 373.8438
• Giffy’s Snack Shack, 1759 Route 9, Clifton Park
• PJ’s Bar-B-Q, 112 South Broadway, Saratoga Springs, 583.7427

Peddlers Bar & Bistro, which opened this afternoon, is the third from Margaret Baggetta, Joe Taylor and James Baggetta. The trio already owns JT Maxies in Colonie and J.J. Rafferty’s in Latham. Peddlers is located next to the Holiday Inn Express on Clifton Park Village Road.

Clifton Park will also gain a Thai restaurant. Judy Somboon has chosen the Village Plaza Shopping Center (home to Hannaford) as the site for her third Blue Spice location, which is scheduled to open in May. Blue Spice has locations in Colonie and Delmar.

According to Peddlers general manager Melisa Gravelle, the bistro will offer “mixed American cuisine with a twist.” She said the menu will have more variety and offerings than the trio’s other 2 restaurants. It offers everything from bar food to entrees featuring steaks, chicken, fish, scallops and more.

Peddlers will be open 11 a.m.-4 a.m. every day except Sunday, when it will open at noon.

“We will offer a full menu until 3:30,” Gravelle said.

The restaurant will also offer 2 pool tables, 2 dart boards and a number of flat-screen TVs featuring DirecTV’s sports packages.

And just in time for the nice weather, there will be an outdoor bar and dining on the patio. There will be karaoke nights, DJs and live bands — which will play on the patio during the summer.

Blue Spice is coming to Southern Saratoga because Somboon sees demand in the area for a Thai restaurant.

“I think there is a need in Clifton Park,” she said. “A lot of my customers at Central Avenue come from Clifton Park.”

While the area is gaining some restaurants, it recently lost a chain sandwich shop. The Quiznos at 5 Southside Drive (next to Moe’s) has closed.

For more information:

• Peddlers Bar & Bistro, 16 Clifton Park Village Road, Clifton Park, 952.7166
• Blue Spice, 155 Delaware Avenue, Delmar, 813.4889

On Tuesday, the mall announced that Alpin Haus had decided to open its store in Clifton Park — becoming the latest success in DCG Development’s renovation of the facility since purchasing it in 2006.

“We just showed them a number of benefits to Clifton Park,” said Rick Eaglestone, DCG’s marketing director.

The shopping center is on a hot streak. A Chipotle Mexican Grill just opened, and a Buffalo Wild Wings is scheduled to open in late summer or early fall. A freestanding Olive Garden will be built with plans to open next year. Not bad for what was once considering a struggling mall.

“It’s wonderful for the people of Southern Saratoga County,” Eaglestone said.

The more Alpin Haus thought about where to put its store, the more Southern Saratoga made sense.

“It’s right in the sweet spot of where we need to be,” Alpin Haus president Andy Heck said, citing Clifton Park’s location between Albany and Saratoga Springs.

The store — a swimming pool and ski shop — is due to open in May. Heck said his company likes that there isn’t much competition in the Northway corridor between the two cities.

“There’s nothing really in Latham and Clifton Park,” he said.

While Alpin Haus likes the promise of the area’s future growth with the coming of GlobalFoundries, the company is excited about the region’s current demographics.

“There are an awful lot of active people in that area,” Heck said.

Eaglestone said that more and more businesses are coming to appreciate Southern Saratoga’s demographics and potential. That means more of them are considering locating in the area and at Clifton Park Center.

“We’re working on a number of new stores. Some more nationals, but we’re not close enough to talk about them yet,” Eaglestone said. “I think it’s going to pick up even more.”

For more information:

• Alpin Haus, coming to Clifton Park Center in May
• Clifton Park Center, 22 Clifton Country Road, Clifton Park, 371.7010

Lauren Silberstein, a Shenendehowa 9th-grader, took first place Saturday with her performance of “Someone Like You” from the musical Jekyll & Hyde. The contest at Clifton Park Center was judged by Monica Cangero, co-chair of the town’s Community Arts and Culture Commission, and Channel 13′s Dan Bazile and Tim Drawbridge.

Lauren Silberstein sings Someone Like You to win Clifton Park Idol, a part of the town's annual WinterFest celebration.

But until Friday — when she performed 7 times at a school function — Silberstein had never sang solo in public.

“I’ve done over 50 concerts with CDYC,” she said.

“It feels good to win,” Silberstein said. “It could have been anyone.”

Silberstein’s good friend Laura Johnson finished second, and Kayla Frazier was third.

Later at WinterFest, Ravenswood’s cheesy chicken quesadilla soup won the best soup contest at the Shenendehowa Adult Community Center. It beat out entries from Arizona Pizza Company, Giffy’s Bar-B-Q, Main Street Grille, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Shane’s Rib Shack, Vista at Van Patten and Wheatfields Bistro.

The soup is a Sunday staple at the pub.

“People will call ahead to see if we have it,” said Ravenswood chef Michael Cunningham, who created the recipe.

“I was bored and needed something to do,” he said. “That’s how the best recipes come out.”

Town parks and recreation director Myla Kramer said about 250 people voted in the best soup competition, an increase from last year. She said the weather had mixed effects on WinterFest.

“The winter walk this morning had about 35 people, the most ever,” Kramer said. “But the lack of snow wasn’t good for the cross-country skiing.”

For more information:

• Clifton Park Town Hall, 1 Town Hall Plaza, Clifton Park, 371.6651
• Capital District Youth Chorale (CDYC)
• Ravenswood, 1021 Route 146, Clifton Park, 371.8771
• Channel 13 news team

But before it does, the restaurant will be holding a preview party to benefit Hannah’s Hope Fund. From 5-8 p.m. Friday, there will be free samples of menu items, $2 servings of select beers and wine and a cash bar at the new restaurant in the former Applebee’s building near exit 9. All proceeds will be donated to the Hope Fund’s efforts to find treatment and a cure for giant axonal neuropathy, a rare and deadly genetic disorder.

The restaurant group was looking for a Clifton Park-area charity for its opening celebration, when staffers saw the video about Hannah and her family’s battle to fund G.A.N. research.

“It was so sad and so moving,” said Erica Dingeman, DZ’s director of public relations and sales. “It really hit us.”

Dingeman said she expects a crowd at the event and hopes — and recommends — that people will stagger their arrival times.

“I’m expecting a big rush of people at 5,” she said.

Giving is part of Zecchini’s philosophy for running his restaurants. One of his Saratoga locations, Chianti il Ristorante, offers the Twelve Program. On the 12th of each month, customers can choose to have 30% of their check donated to that month’s featured nonprofit. From when it started in April 2008 through December 2009, the program has raised more than $20,000 for charities.

At Pasta Pane, the charity program will be called Raising Dough. Each month a portion of the proceeds from four menu items will go to a designated charity. For the first month, Hannah’s Hope Fund will be that charity. Future month’s charities are still being determined, and applications are being accepted for the program.

“David is incredibly passionate about giving back,” Dingeman said. “We try to help those who need help the most, and we really try to keep it local.”

The company also plans to offer cooking classes, including a kids cooking class possible around Easter time.

DZ calls Pasta Pane a “rustic Italian bistro.”

“It’s very much like what you would expect at a family restaurant in Italy,” Dingeman said. “It’s simple, and it’s delicious.”

Dingeman said the restaurant looks great, with exposed brick and unfinished wood.

“You have to come to visit us to appreciate the atmosphere and how beautiful it is,” Dingeman said. “You would never know it used to be an Applebee’s.”

For more information:

• Pasta Pane, 18 Park Ave., Clifton Park, 583.1142
• DZ Restaurants, 63 Putnam St. (2nd floor), Saratoga Springs, 583.1142
• Chianti il Ristorante, 18 Division St., Saratoga Springs, 580.0025
• Forno Bistro, 541 Broadway, Saratoga Springs, 581.2401
• Hannah’s Hope Fund