The Mint Hill Times is looking for a Part Time News Reporter to cover Mint Hill. Email resume and writing clips to laura@minthilltimes.com

A new restaurant and bar is opening next week on Brighton Park Drive off of Matthews-Mint Hill Road.  Dunwellz Custom Kitchen and Pour House took the old Rookies location and will open its doors the week of June 11.
“We’re going to offer something that Mint Hill doesn’t have,” said owner Jimmy Toler.  He and his wife, Missy, own Dunwellz and have decades of restaurant experience between them.  They have a five-store plan, and Mint Hill is their first location.

Dunwellz Custom Kitchen and Pour House opens its doors next week. The new staff of 48 cooks, waiters, and bartenders will be ready to offer customized food and American microbrews next week.

So what is it that Dunwellz offers that Mint Hill doesn’t have already?  First: a diverse beer selection.  Microbrews are a growing trend in the United States.  According to the Brewers Association website “The number of craft brewers has gone from eight in 1980 to 537 in 1994 to over 1600 in 2010.”
There are several bars in Charlotte where the adventurous can find these brews, but Dunwellz is bringing them to Mint Hill— and in numbers.  The current drink menu lists 29 bottled microbrews and six on draft.  The draft beers will always be from North Carolina breweries and will rotate seasonally, and curious customers can order a flight to taste all six at a time.
“I hope [the people of Mint Hill] at least try it, because there are some really comparable North Carolina beers to some big names out there and they just don’t know.  And the North Carolina beers are cheaper, and you’re supporting your local economy,” said Toler.
The first line-up of draft beers is Big Boss Bad Penny, Cottonwood Endo, Carolina Strawberry, Highland Gaelic, Old Meck Copper, and Lonerider Shotgun Betty Wheat.  Some highlights of the American bottles are Bells Two Hearted, Dogfish Head 60 Minute, and Sweetwater 420.  More mainstream beers are welcome, too.  Budweiser, Yuengling, and Guinness are among the domestics and imports available in bottles.
But Dunwellz isn’t strictly a beer bar—they will have liquor and wine.  And it isn’t strictly a bar.
Its second unique offering to Mint Hill is its customizable food menu.  Toler spent years developing the Five Guys restaurants in Charlotte.  It’s a fast food-style customizable burger joint.
“We’re taking that kind of customization and putting it in a full-service environment.  The whole menu’s built that way,” said Toler.
Customers can order wings, salads, burgers, sandwiches, and kids’ meals just the way they like it.  The bread, meat, extras, and sides are all customizable, and nothing on the menu will be more than $10 and all of the bread comes from Artos Bakery in Charlotte.
Toler sees Dunwellz as a restaurant with a bar, not a bar that serves food.  As a parent to young children, he wanted to create a family-friendly environment.
“We’re really trying to fit in to the community,” he said.  He did his research at the baseball fields, talking to residents about what they want in a restaurant.
Dunwellz intends to make good use of its patio with large picnic tables and umbrellas, corn hole, and live acoustic music.
Bring your buddies, your kids, or your dog and welcome Dunwellz to the neighborhood next week.