Restaurateur goes Low Carb Crazy.

• Author: Gautschi, Eric
• Position: Good Ol' Days

Andrew Goldstein is known around Charlotte as the "Jewish Santa" for his commitment to helping the poor and hungry. But the restaurateur is looking less rotund these days. Thanks to a low-carb diet, the belly that once shook like jelly is no more, and he has never been jollier.

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While he's slimming his physique, he's been fattening his wallet with the help of other people's low-carb diets. Business is booming at his restaurant, Good Ol' Days, and his new grocery store, Low Carb Crazy. His first franchised store opens this month in Miami, and he plans to roll out 30 this year in 10 states.

He's also planning a promotion, similar to projects he has done at Good Ol' Days, that will bring food to Charlotte's needy. The concept: trade in your high-carb foods for discounts on low-carb alternatives. The donated food goes to nonprofit organizations that work with the homeless.

Raised in a restaurant family, Goldstein, 33, has spent his working life in food services. He grew up in Union, N.J., and moved with his parents to Charlotte just before his junior year in high school. His parents opened one of the first bagel shops in the Carolinas in 1986, and he went to...