Consuming out isn’t a alternative you make casually as of late. Greater than ever, it’s a luxurious you save for particular events. Relying on the place you propose to dine, you’re going to order a desk, ebook a babysitter, schedule a ride-share, and dress to exit. The expertise—meals, service, environment—had higher be definitely worth the price ticket.
These are. Listed here are 50 eating places, in neighborhoods all through town, that reward your funding in Going Someplace to Eat. The listing is in no explicit order. Every institution has been judged after nameless visits from our workers. Some serve small plates on white tablecloths; others promote empanadas from walk-up home windows. However collectively, they show town’s culinary vary and variety. We hope this package deal encourages you to go someplace new, assist the gifted restaurateurs behind the dishes, and savor each chew. —Taylor Bowler
Click on here for a printable guidelines model of this listing.
UPTOWN
The Asbury
235 N. Tryon St.
704-342-1193, theasbury.com
Chef Mike Lengthy’s menu mixes fashionable Southern delicacies and dishes he grew up making along with his grandmother in his native Maryland. His sticky biscuits and deviled eggs are sufficient to convey anybody again for a repeat go to.
La Belle Helene
300 S. Tryon St., Ste. 100
980-209-0941, labellehelenerestaurant.com
When fifth Avenue Group reopened La Belle Helene in 2021, they resuscitated one among Charlotte’s most beautiful eating rooms. High Chef alum Jamie Lynch put his spin on French classics like Ratatouille, Crispy Duck Confit, and Boeuf Bourguignon, and this uptown brasserie continues to be the place to take out-of-towners you wish to impress.
McNinch Home
511 N. Church St.
704-332-6159, mcninchhouserestaurant.com
The restaurant has a long-standing fame due to its five-course tasting menu and award-winning wine pairings. However the vintage silver and high quality china on this restored Victorian-era home make it an expertise to recollect.
Fin & Fino
135 Levine Avenue of the Arts, Ste. 100
704-800-5680, finandfino.com
The uncooked bar serves a wide range of oysters, however as a “social seafood home,” its candy spot is shareable plates like Faroe Island Salmon and Confit Octopus. Begin your meal with one among bartender Brittany Kellum’s drinks—and finish with a slice of cheesecake.
Church & Union.
Church & Union Charlotte
127 N. Tryon St.
704-919-1322, churchandunioncharlotte.com
The workforce at fifth Avenue Group retired the identify 5Church and reopened as Church & Union Charlotte final 12 months. It’s nonetheless one of many metropolis’s sexiest eating places. Chef Jamie Lynch’s menu options small plates like Braised Bacon & Melon and steakhouse classics like Dry Aged New York Strip, and pastry chef Michaela Moehring’s desserts are at all times value a splurge.
Haymaker
225 S. Poplar St.
704-626-6116, haymakerclt.com
Take pleasure in seasonally impressed dishes from chef William Dissen on this vibrant, trendy house subsequent to Romare Bearden Park. With an Instagram-worthy bar and centralized location, it’s a perfect spot for date nights and, for the initiated, value a revisit.
Haymaker.
Sea Degree NC
129 E. Fifth St.
704-412-2616, sealevelnc.com
Feast on classics like Maine Lobster Rolls or East Coast Shrimp & Grits, or strive an surprising dish just like the Catfish Reuben. Azure Cassidy, the “Barmacist,” runs the beverage program, and glad hour—when oysters are $1.50 apiece—attracts the after-work crowd.
Alexander Michael’s
401 W. Ninth St.
704-332-6789, almikestavern.com
It doesn’t take reservations, and it’s nothing fancy. However this beloved Fourth Ward tavern, which opened in 1983, is a Charlotte establishment for a cause. The Blackened Catfish is cooked excellent, the Cajun Pasta is piping sizzling, and locals’ chatter fills the eating room. It’s as near a homey, venerable New England tavern as you’ll discover on this city.
Mariposa
500 S. Tryon St.
704-910-0865, mariposaclt.com
Govt Chef Jonathan Moore serves “world-to-table dishes like Avenue Corn Fritters and Gullah Paella. For dessert, pastry chef Sam Carrasquero-Chappelle makes a Manjari Torte that’s so lovely, you’ll nonetheless be eager about it days later.
Angeline’s
303 S. Church St.
704-445-2540, angelinescharlotte.com
The Pappardelle Bolognese and Margherita Pizza are beautiful, however in case you are available famished, begin with the Whipped Ricotta with sourdough, lavender honey, and pistachio. After dinner, trip the elevator to the nineteenth flooring of the Kimpton Tryon Park Resort for a nightcap at its sister cocktail bar, Service provider & Commerce.
DILWORTH
Dilworth Tasting Room
300 E. Tremont Ave.
704-595-3337, dilworthtr.com
Proprietor and sommelier Jaffer Kovic, who opened the second DTR in SouthPark in 2021, crafted a menu of appetizers and entrées impressed by his Croatian heritage. Dishes like Truffle Gnocchi, Hanger Steak, and Skillet Brussels Sprouts pair particularly effectively with a glass of wine on the patio beside the koi pond.
SOUTH END
Bardo
1508 S. Mint St.
980-585-2433, bardorestaurant.com
No two meals at this industrial, speakeasy-style restaurant are alike. The menu modifications based mostly on what’s contemporary and obtainable, however anticipate a spread of influences, from Spanish to Japanese, alongside signature cocktails.
El Toro Bruto
332 W. Bland St.
704-728-8822, eltorobruto.com
Los Angeles native Hector González-Mora constantly offered out of 500-plus breakfast tacos in lower than an hour at his former pop-up, Chilito. Now you may get your repair at El Toro Bruto, his counter-service sales space, inside Resident Tradition South Finish, which serves all-day tacos, quesadillas, and platters of loaded nachos.
VANA
1440 S. Tryon St., Ste. 100
980-819-5913, vanarestaurant.com
Chef Mike Noll’s menu is assured and daring, with a mixture of tapas and shareable plates with a wood-fired theme. The parts aren’t large, however the flavors are. At press time, VANA LKN was on observe for a late December opening in Cornelius.
Yunta.
Yunta
2201 South Blvd., Ste. 130
980-495-2253, yuntanikkei.com
The workforce behind Viva Rooster merges Peruvian and Japanese cuisines in a glossy, upscale environment. Don’t depart with out attempting the Parmesano Maki, a sushi roll with Japanese fried shrimp, scallops, avocado, lime, and Nikkei butter, topped with shaved Parmesan.
Beef ’N Bottle Steakhouse
4538 South Blvd.
704-523-9977, beefandbottle.net
This classic steak joint, with its darkish wooden partitions lined in black-and-white superstar portraits, appears like a ’60s cigar membership. Begin with a martini or an quaint, then feast on thick and juicy cuts topped with shrimp, scallops, or oysters.
WEST CHARLOTTE
Noble Smoke
2216 Freedom Drive
704-703-5252, noblesmokebarbecue.com
Longtime restaurateur Jim Noble and his crew smoke meats in an 1,800-square-foot smokehouse, utilizing eight wood-fired people who smoke: six fabricated from metal (Texas-style) and two conventional North Carolina masonry barbecue pits. The result’s genuine Carolina-style pork and Texas-style brisket served alongside Southern sides like mac and cheese, collards, and hush puppies.
Cuzzo’s Delicacies
3418 Tuckaseegee Highway
980-298-6811, cuzzoscuisine.com
This no-frills eatery, owned by cousins Andarrio Johnson and Anglee Brown, serves seafood, wings, and supersized mixture plates. If it’s your first time, go for what’s plastered all around the indicators: “World Well-known Lobster Mac-n-Cheese.”
BELMONT*
Heirloom
33 Glenway St.
704-829-8232, heirloomrestaurantnc.com
It’s a relocated model of the unique Heirloom in Mountain Island Lake, one among Charlotte’s most celebrated farm-to-fork eating places, which founder Clark Barlowe offered in 2019. The brand new Heirloom opened in December 2021 in a renovated railroad depot, and it’s a rejoinder to the current flood of influencer-friendly, style-over-substance South Finish and NoDa boîtes. The inside is elegant and understated, and chef Seth Wilson’s seasonal menus use as many elements from small regional farms as attainable.
NODA
Ever Andalo.
Ever Andalo
3116 N. Davidson St.
704-910-6543, everandalo.com
Ever Andalo appears like a neighborhood trattoria and strikes on the tempo of 1. The Focaccia comes with a flight of three olive oils and a tasting information that describes every one—however the pasta, made in-house, steals the present.
Salud Cerveceria
3306 N. Davidson St., Ste. C
980-495-6612, saludcerveceria.com
Prospects come again to this neighborhood hangout for greater than the board video games and craft beer choice. The sandwiches and 12-inch wood-fired pizzas embrace the SpottieOttieDopaliscious (one among a number of OutKast references), and the Crunch Wrap on the day by day breakfast menu is value getting off the bed for.
The Artisan’s Palate
1218 E. thirty sixth St., Ste. A
980-209-9168, theartisanpalate.com
It’s turn out to be recognized for artwork exhibits and drag brunches, however this restaurant-cocktail bar-art gallery hybrid nonetheless excels with its meals. Seize a seat on the patio beneath the string lights and order some Bacon-Wrapped Dates or Grilled Spanish Octopus, and be happy to linger over one other glass of wine.
Haberdish
3106 N. Davidson St.
704-817-1084, haberdish.com
Apothecary cocktails and weekend brunch draw a hip crowd to this milltown kitchen. The Fried Rooster is stellar any time of day, and the Mac & Cheese topped with fried hen skins is a culinary masterpiece.
The Goodyear Home.
The Goodyear Home
3032 N. Davidson St.
704-910-0132, thegoodyearhouse.com
This historic mill home has a number of eating rooms and a botanical room that opens to a patio with string lights and an outside bar. The menu demonstrates Govt Chef Chris Coleman’s expertise for taking easy, easy elements and creating advanced but acquainted dishes like Shrimp & Grits and his signature Goopy Burger.
LAKE NORMAN
Aliño Pizzeria
500 S. Fundamental St., Ste. 401
704-663-0010, alinopizzeria.com
The wood-fired pies at this spacious Mooresville spot are all 16 inches, so it’s finest to share with buddies—the lengthy, family-style tables virtually beg for it. However no disgrace in case you devour one by yourself. In case you imagine in your self, each pizza is a private pizza.
Kindred
131 N. Fundamental St.
980-231-5000, kindreddavidson.com
Davidson sweethearts Joe and Katy Kindred turned this outdated pharmacy right into a famed restaurant that’s gained nationwide recognition from Bon Appétit and the James Beard Basis. The menu contains home made pasta, artistic small plates, and milk bread rolls that impressed an all-day café with places in Davidson and Plaza Midwood.
Hi there, Sailor
20210 Henderson Highway
704-997-5365, hellosailornc.com
The Kindreds’ lakefront spot serves Carolina classics like Blue Crab Claws and seafood platters. Take pleasure in your meal within the midcentury-modern eating room or savor a tiki drink on the patio with sweeping views of Lake Norman.
NORTH END
Leah & Louise.
Leah & Louise
301 Camp Highway
980-309-0690, leahandlouise.com
Husband-and-wife workforce Greg and Subrina Collier modeled this restaurant after juke joints, the place Black folks would go for “booze and blues” within the Jim Crow-era Deep South. Greg, the James Beard-nominated chef and Soul Meals Classes co-founder, serves dishes impressed by the decrease Mississippi River valley soul meals he grew up with in Memphis. Suppose fried turkey wings, smoked catfish stew, and blackened catfish.
OPTIMIST PARK
Botiwalla.
Botiwalla
1115 N. Brevard St., Ste. 203
980-296-3993, botiwalla.com
Among the many 19 meals distributors at Optimist Corridor, chef Meherwan Irani’s menu is probably the most adventurous. The “Avenue” menu has snacks like savory kale fritters and spicy potato dumplings, and the lineup of entrées contains the Rooster Tikka Roll and Lamb Burgers.
PLAZA MIDWOOD
Calle Sol Latin Café & Cevicheria
1205 Thomas Ave.
704-565-8291, callesolcafe.com
Charlotte’s first cevicheria has the heat and decor you’d discover at a neighborhood joint in Miami, and Govt Chef Paul Cruz serves Cuban and Peruvian fare like Ham Croquetas, Vaca Frita, and Shrimp Mojo.
The Good Wurst Co.
3001 Central Ave.
980-613-8226, thegoodwurst.com
This New York deli-style eatery, which opened a second location in South Finish in 2022, makes pastrami, smoked meats, and sausages in-house day by day. Order bratwursts, sandwiches, or Currywurst Frites on the counter, or take dwelling one among their house-made charcuterie boards.
Supperland.
Supperland
1212 The Plaza
704-817-7514, supper.land
Jamie Brown and Jeff Tonidandel, the spouses and enterprise companions who additionally personal Haberdish, Growler’s Pourhouse, and Reigning Doughnuts, reworked a 69-year-old former church in Plaza Midwood right into a restaurant and cocktail bar. Chef Chris Rogienski serves Prime Beef Ribs and Wagyu Pot Roast household fashion, and customized dinner plates are embellished with birds, butterflies, and flowers.
Dish
1220 Thomas Ave.
704-344-0343, eatatdish.com
A plate of Grilled Rooster Livers or Biscuits and Gravy at this cozy neighborhood spot tastes prefer it got here out of your grandmother’s kitchen. Since Amanda Cranford bought the restaurant final summer time, they’ve added late-night bites and supply all-day breakfast on weekdays.
ELIZABETH
The Fig Tree Restaurant
1601 E. Seventh St.
704-332-3322, charlottefigtree.com
The menu right here is stuffed with French influences, which implies you’ll style decadence all through, from Elk Chops and Lobster Tail to a few of the finest desserts on the town. Service is stellar, and the workers’s information of the in depth wine listing means you possibly can ask them to direct you if you wish to strive one thing new.
Customshop
1601 Elizabeth Ave.
704-333-3396, customshopfood.com
With vibrant and contemporary crudos, fan favorites just like the NC Swordfish, and seasonal pastas, Customshop attracts inspiration from the Mediterranean. However Southern elements give the restaurant a style of dwelling.
SOUTHPARK
Little Mama’s Italian
4521 Sharon Highway
980-209-0323, littlemamasitalian.com
Settle in to one of many eating rooms with a plate of Amma’s Ravioli or cozy up on the “Mozz Bar” and watch the cooks at work.
Peppervine
4620 Piedmont Row Drive, Ste. 170B
980-283-2333, peppervine.com
Chef Invoice Greene serves a rotation of creative small plates with surprising pairings, like lamb stomach with kimchi porridge and smoked butternut squash with miso. The menu modifications continuously—there’s a brand new one on daily basis—however you possibly can depend on their signature Yeast Rolls any time.
Barrington’s.
Barrington’s
7822 Fairview Highway
704-364-5755, barringtonsrestaurant.com
Chef and proprietor Bruce Moffett’s first restaurant has a New England-inspired inside with blues that evoke the ocean and pictures of Barrington, Rhode Island, snapped by Moffett’s spouse, Katrina. The menu is high-end but comforting, with touches like fried onions on the scallops and trout served with candy potato chips.
Steak 48
4425 Sharon Highway
980-580-4848, steak48.com
The 11,500-square-foot restaurant has an in-house butcher store, 6,000-bottle wine vault, a uncooked bar, and personal eating suites. The steaks are flawless, and family-style sides just like the Alaskan King Crab & Rock Shrimp Mac & Cheese and Au Gratin Potatoes are value the additional time you’ll spend on the Peloton tomorrow.
Taqueria Mal Pan.
Taqueria Mal Pan
4625 Piedmont Row Drive, Ste. 115D
980-298-6138, eatmalpan.com
Proprietor Andre Lomeli brings a Mexican and West Coast-inspired menu from his former restaurant in San Diego. His tacos, bowls, and enchiladas have the flavors of his native Yucatán Peninsula, and the California Burrito, full of skirt steak, queso fresco, salsa, guacamole, and French fries, is the most effective in Charlotte.
MONTFORD
Good Meals on Montford
1701 Montford Drive
704-525-0881, goodfoodonmontford.com
The near-constant wait at Bruce Moffett’s second restaurant doesn’t deter diners in search of, effectively, good meals. The menu modifications recurrently, however this small-plates bistro unites a wide range of influences and flavors from Korea, Italy, and extra.
COTSWOLD
Volo Ristorante
1039 Windfall Highway
704-919-1020, voloclt.com
The contemporary, handmade pasta comes from Govt Chef Johann Giraldo’s Sicilian household recipes, and almost each merchandise on the menu could be attributed to a member of this predominantly Italian workers. Savor a plate of gnocchi, ravioli, or bucatini with a glass of Chianti, and keep for an After Hours, Volo’s twist on an espresso martini.
Omakase Expertise
2907 Windfall Highway, Ste. 101
704-754-4315, omakaseclt.com
Omakase means “belief the chef,” so convey an adventurous palate to this 16-course meal. Govt Chef Robin Anthony procures greater than 90% of his fish by a market in Tokyo, and the meal begins with lighter fish and will get oilier with every course—much like a sommelier’s development from whites to full-bodied reds throughout a wine dinner. The $300-per-person price ticket would possibly sound extreme, however if you see the elements, knife abilities, and precision that go into plating this meal, all of it is smart.
Stagioni
715 Windfall Highway
704-372-8110, stagioniclt.com
The inside of this cozy Italian eatery has purple accents that mimic the glow of the wood-fired oven within the open kitchen. Dine on house-made pasta, slow-roasted meats, and completely charred pizzas you get to chop with shears.
PINEVILLE
What The Fries
10707 Park Highway, Ste. F
980-207-4814, whatthefriesclt.com
Six years after Jamie Barnes and Greg Williams launched their wildly standard meals truck, the cooks and co-owners opened their first storefront in south Charlotte. Order favorites just like the Shrimp and Steak Hibachi Fries, plus rotating specials just like the Cheeseburger Quesadilla, Clam Chowder Fries, and Purple Yam Milkshake.
Musashi Japanese Restaurant
10110 Johnston Highway
704-543-5181, musashi-nc.com
It’s straightforward to overlook between the Jersey Mike’s and Papa John’s, however this Japanese restaurant in an unremarkable strip mall has a comfy eating room with conventional shoji screens, an eight-seat sushi bar, and two tatami tables. The sushi, ramen, and bento containers are all chic, and also you’ll wish to eat the miso soup on daily basis.
MADISON PARK
El Puro Cuban Restaurant
5033 South Blvd.
980-219-8339, elpurocubanrestaurant.com
Come for reside music each night time and feast on Cuban classics like Queso Frito, Ropa Vieja, and Croquetas. Most entrées are sufficiently big to feed two folks, however you may not wish to share the Masitas de la Loma, a pile of fried pork chunks slathered in mojo sauce that arrives on a smoking tabletop roasting oven.
SOUTH CHARLOTTE
Aqua e Vino
4219 Windfall Highway
704-364-4445, aquaevino.com
It’s one of many smallest eating rooms on the town, so a reservation requires planning. It additionally means chef Gabriele Grigolon serves every dish with textbook precision.
Sanctuary Bistro
6414 Rea Highway, Ste. C2
980-335-0908, sanctuarybistro.com
The inventiveness of this all-vegan, gluten-free, and natural menu is barely a part of the draw. Homeowners Barry and Jennifer Horton attempt to make the expertise of eating at Sanctuary as nice and inclusive—as reflective of the restaurant’s identify—as they will.
FORT MILL
Epic Chophouse
1365 Broadcloth St., Ste. 101
803-548-3742, epicchophouse.com
The primary of those “informal upscale” steakhouses opened in a Mooresville constructing constructed in 1888; the second opened within the extra up to date Kingsley city village in November 2020. Each serve 9 types of steak grilled Pittsburgh-style, at temperatures as much as 1,800 levels Fahrenheit, to char the meat’s exterior however depart the within pink and juicy.
