Ex-Panther Morgan opening 2 restaurants

Insert your own “tackling hunger” quip here: Former Carolina Panthers linebacker Dan Morgan and his wife, Ashleigh, are teaming with Charlotte-based restaurant consultants the BarFly Group to open a new pizzeria and a modern diner near StoneCrest in south Charlotte.

Cheese Mo'z, which they say will be the area's first coal-fired pizzeria, is slated to open in mid-February in the new Village at Robinson Farm development at Rea Road and Williams Pond Lane. Sweet T's, which is set to serve Southern-style comfort food at breakfast, lunch and dinner, with cakes and pies for dessert, will debut next door later that month.

Morgan, 30, took his inspiration from Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza, a chain he enjoyed in South Florida where he played for the University of Miami, said Kristy Weinberg, who owns the BarFly Group with husband Chris.

“Believe it or not for a big old football player, (Morgan) was very involved in the creation side,” she said, noting that he offered plenty of ideas about the restaurant's menu and decor. Cheese Mo'z will serve pizza, pasta, sandwiches, salads and wings in a casual, sit-down setting, and with a full bar and plenty of TVs (showing football, presumably, among other programming).

(charlotteobserver.com)