[1] “I believe they’ll find Charlotte people to be very warm, upbeat, hospitable, Southern and enjoyably overall. We welcome our friends from Louisville, whom we love, with the exception of when Louisville plays Carolina or Duke in basketball!!!” So started my conversation with good friend, Mike Donovan, foodie and radio god. Mike has lived in Charlotte for years, even used own a couple of restaurants.
I asked him for some suggestions of what to do and where to do it for Louisville Fans while attending the BELK BOWL. “There are lots of cool places in and around uptown Charlotte. We do call it “Uptown” and you’ll notice no one says “downtown” here as it was a proclamation made many, many years ago in an effort to always be positive and build it ‘up’.” Mike continued his pitch, “What I love about Charlotte are all the ‘pockets’ of activity and cool places in neighborhoods that are not Uptown but are close enough to Uptown to go by cab or bus.” .
{NOTE: You’ll want to bookmark this – so you can refer to it while there}
So, lets’ start with UPTOWN Charlotte, in and around Panthers Stadium. This area contains a placed called The EpiCentre, which is much like our 4th Street Live area here in Louisville.
Here are some of the highlights of Uptown (but not just Epicentre):
All the big chain restaurants are here, places like Sullivan’s Steak House, Capital Grill, McCormick and Schmick’s.
Best Hang Out Watering Hole:
Whiskey River [3] – Come on, it features tiny baby corn dogs, Dale Jr. Chicken Tenders and Dirty Mo’s Cheese Sticks. Some other places to try:
- Cosmos
- Black Finn Saloon
- Bar Charlotte
- Dixie’s Tavern
- Hooligan’s
- Connolly’s on Fifth
Best Italian in Uptown:
- Luce [4]- $17-26 per entrée, a couple of recommendations: Chitarra, $17, fresh spaghetti, fresh tomatoes, garlic & basil. Also try Mare, $25, linguini, lobster, scallops, shrimp, calamari, clams, mussels & cherry tomato
Another Must Sample:
- Mert’s Heart and Soul Restaurant - Southern Soul Food. The food is really good, but the “nanner pudding” (banana pudding) is amazing!!!
Gotta Dance Location:
- Music Factory – music venue with restaurants
Touristy Sites in Uptown:
- The NASCAR Hall of Fame - exactly what you'd expect, it's in Uptown Charlotte
- Discovery Place Museum - Mummy exhibit going on Uptown
- Lavine Museum of Art for the New South
- Mint Museum of Art - near Uptown
Charlotte, not Uptown, but not far:
North Davidson Area - Down Davidson Street. We call the neighborhood “NoDa” (No-Dah) Artsy neighborhood. It’s a very cool place with art galleries and some working artists. Restaurants and bars in NoDa include:
- Boudreaux’s Louisiana Kitchen – name says it all
- Cabo Fish Taco - great fish tacos and a lot of tequila drinking going on at the bar
- The Dog Bar - drinking and bar food and you can bring your dog.
- The Evening Muse - Live music, beer/wine only
- The Neighborhood Theater - Live Music and alcohol
- Solstice Tavern - bar, owned by a friend of mine
- Smelly Cat Coffee House – you can get T-shirts and other goodies with Smelly Cat logo on them
- Salvador Deli-deli with live bands outside
- The Mellow Mushroom- Amazing Pizza
Center Charlotte - Plaza Midwood
Very close to uptown is a historic district that’s just a short cab ride from Uptown. Awesome local places to hang out away from Uptown but you can see Uptown clearly from Plaza Midwood. You can walk from one of these places to the next, IF you are able to walk after visiting a couple.
- Thomas Street Tavern - well known bar, decent food
- The Penguin Drive In – THE best junk food in town, it was featured on Diners, Drive-In’s and Dives for Fried Pickles. Also Try the Grilled Banana and Peanut Butter Sandwich - (WATCH THE DINERS, DRIVE-INS & DIVES FEATURE ON THE PENGUIN) [5]\
- The Dish - unique restaurant, try the shrimp and grits-excellent
- Whiskey Warehouse – a bar with great prime rib sliders
You’ll also find some live music in this area.
Down South Boulevard-Still considered the Uptown Area
- Nikko Japanese Restaurant and Sushi - awesome sushi place
- Vinnie’s Oyster Bar - drinking, raw and steamed oysters
- Sullivan’s Steak House
- Fuel Pizza
- Mac’s Speed Shop and BBQ - 2511 South Boulevard: OMG! They call it a “bikers bar” and you’ll see a lot of bikes out there but trust me, these are bankers who would like to be real bikers and they’re riding high end motorcycles. Bar B Q at it’s absolute best. Nationally acclaimed, featured on several TV cooking shows. One BBQ critic said Mac’s had the best Bar B Q beef brisket ever. Downside, it’s always crowded. It will likely have a line. Upside, The line and crowd moves in and out quickly. Good bar there too.
Dilworth Community-Park Road
- Fiamma, 2418 Park Road, 704-333-3062 - This is my favorite Italian Restaurant. It’s more pricey than some, but worth it if you want a memorable great meal. It’s not a large place so you’ll need to call to make a reservation. It’s in a strip type shopping center-not much to look at but excellent food.
- Ru San’s Sushi - just two doors down from La Fiemma in the same strip of stores. It has easy parking. It has GREAT sushi. They play techno dance music-very festive atmosphere. When you walk in the sushi chefs all greet you loudly and make a lot of noise, beat pots and pans and yell. It’s one of the most popular sushi spots in Charlotte near Uptown.
South Charlotte-Southpark Area (not that Southpark)
A little further from Uptown but a good place to go if you have your own car or a rental car.
- Southpark Mall- Southpark is the area where a lot of bankers and doctors live. So it has all the big stores, Macy’s, Neiman Marcus, Belk’s, and tons of other stores and shops. This whole area is jammed packed with restaurants featuring all kinds of foods.
- Aruji’s wine room and Italian food located around the mall area is pretty good. There are some Sushi bars are in and around the mall.
- Restaurants at the mall- Maggiano’s Little Italy- Italian chain-good food
- Cheesecake Factory
My thanks to Mike. So now go, Enjoy Charlotte and GO CARDS!
Photos by EpiCentre, OwnCharlotte, Mert's