What to Eat in Charlotte in a Weekend

Friday

America doesn’t regard the British monarchy very fondly.

There are historical reasons – two wars fought with the Crown in the earliest days of our nation – as well as deeper ones. The very idea of being “born into royalty” is held with contempt by the capitalistic American, who believes in the concept of upward mobility, and earning what you get, rather than being the truest type of nepo baby. And while the naval invasions of the War of 1812 may have eventually been fought off, we are currently being bombarded by a far more menacing British threat: Prince Harry in the tabloids.

Despite these differences, however, Charlotte proudly calls itself The Queen City. It was named after Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III, in 1768, six years before we declared independence from her husband. While there are countless remnants of our pre-divorce British sympathies (Virginia named after Queen Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen; the Carolinas named for Carolus, the Latin name of Charles I; and Georgia is named after King George II), only Charlotte continues to embrace its namesake. 

Why is that?

Could part of the reason for flaunting its ties to royalty be its distinct lack of sports royalty, with anemic teams in the Charlotte Hornets, Carolina Panthers, and Charlotte FC? 

Maybe it’s due to Charlotte’s relatively late boom as a major American city, always the bridesmaid but never the bride of Southeastern cities until quite recently.

Whatever the reasons may be, I found myself quite drawn to Charlotte, North Carolina. I’ve always heard it compared to my hometown of Atlanta, but “without the traffic.” That sounded like something I needed to see to believe. 

With a long MLK weekend ahead of us, my girlfriend and I hit the road to visit Zach and Jamie, some of my friends from college who recently bought a house in Reid Park in the western part of the city.

After work, we hopped on I-85 and drove due north to Charlotte to become temporary Charlotteans. A four-hour drive later, we arrived at Zach and Jamie’s, exhausted but fired up for the next few days.

A royal weekend awaited us.

Saturday

We woke up too early for brunch, so we made our first coffee shop run of the weekend at a spot called Mocco Bistro.

Mocco Bistro

Mocco Bistro is a family-owned Greek bakery, so we knew we couldn’t just get coffee. 

In addition to a fresh Americano and a frothy latte, we got Kourabiedes, or Greek Wedding Cookies, and of course, a piece of Baklava. The Greek Wedding Cookie had a unique chalky texture with a subtle almond flavor and a hearty coat of powdered sugar. You should definitely serve these at your wedding, but maybe consider a bib to protect you from monsooning sugar. The Baklava was beautifully sweet but not excessively so. It was perfectly flaky but didn’t dissolve until it got into my mouth. 

As we were leaving, we were told they make a mean gyro. It took almost all of my willpower to not pregame our brunch with a fluffy pita stuffed with fresh lamb and tzatziki, but we walked away nonetheless.

It was then time to head to the Dilworth area in South End for brunch at 300 East.

300 East

On the outside, this restaurant doesn’t appear to be a restaurant at all. It looks like a house or an office building in a quiet suburban neighborhood. But that’s simply the charming aesthetic of the Dilworth area, which 300 East has been a part of since 1986. They’ve clearly taken that time to flex their brunch muscles, because we had a wonderful and simple meal.

The Breakfast Tacos, with chorizo, crispy potatoes, eggs, and queso fresco, were delightful as was the Grit Bowl (which you can get with your choice of four additions, such as avocado, Nueske’s bacon, and pickled jalapeño). 

But for a truly unique dish, the Breakfast Pizza is made with a delicious house crust and topped with red sauce, chorizo, cheddar-jack cheese, scallions, queso fresco, and fried eggs. I’ve eaten cold pizza for breakfast many times, but this is the first time I had it fresh and with breakfast toppings, and hopefully not the last.

We each got a cocktail, including an Irish Coffee, a Bloody Mary, and my drink which was just called The Vodka One (they have versions of this with all kinds of other spirits).

We then kickstarted the digestion process with a slow stroll around Dilworth. It’s very walkable, with cool restaurants, apartments, and other community fixtures, all bisected by the Light Rail train system, with the corresponding Rail Trail for people to walk alongside it. This area perfectly embodies the contrast of many developing (or gentrifying) neighborhoods, which preserve historical buildings while building up every inch they can.

Brewery Tour

 If there was a single thing I knew about Charlotte before I arrived, it was its brewery scene. Visitors and locals alike are always between brewery visits, so I knew this had to be a part of our trip.

We took an Uber to LoSo (the Lower South End, which I’ve been told is trying to make the nickname stick so I’ll do my part to help) to explore the breweries the area has to offer.

Sugar Creek Brewing Company

Sugar Creek crafts Belgian-inspired ales like it’s a science…which it technically is! 

Their beer list has quite the variety of types and flavors, so I opted for a flight with four selections: the XV Rye Barrel Aged Quad (tasted like a mix of coffee and whiskey), The Big O (a blood orange West Coast IPA), Unlimited Juice (a hazy IPA, one of my favorites), and the Brosé (basically a peach slushie, but it has “bro” in the name so I felt manlier about ordering it at a brewery). 

The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery & Biergarten

Right next door is The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery & Biergarten (missed opportunity not to be “Ye Olde…”), which had a sprawling interior and an even bigger biergarten (I love the Germanic-English language connection, that a word like “biergarten” just translates in English to “beer garden”). I got a German pilsner because, hey, when in Rome! The biergarten was pleasant, even on a chilly day thanks to the fire pits, and made for a nice setting for our beers.

Brewers at 4001 Yancey

Once again right down the street (this really is the Brewery District) is the Brewers at 4001 Yancey, which actually includes multiple brewers: Victory, Sixpoint, Bold Rock Hard Cider, and Southern Tier. This variety allows for a tremendous lineup of beers and other libations to enjoy.

Nothing works up the appetite like drinking for hours, so we were ready to sample a few apps. We split the Victory Pretzel, with a Prima Pils cheese sauce and Hop Devil mustard, both of which were perfect complements to a piping hot pretzel. We also got the Smoked Wings with an IPA BBQ sauce and a side of fries. Breweries could just rest on the laurels of slinging beer, but it’s places like this that prioritize food as well that make them such popular hangout spots.

Queen Park Social

Dave and Buster’s, eat your heart out!

While Queen Park Social isn’t a brewery, it does have a wide drink selection and an even larger collection of games of all types. You’ve got bowling, shooting baskets, digital fishing, board games, Pac-Man, and so much more. While I was already nursing a tasty buzz, I was on my fourth winning round in some nondescript racing game and sipping a Pineapple Martini, and I knew that my day had peaked.

But that was only until we went to Pinky’s.

Town Brewing Co

Okay, pardon the sudden detour after my dramatic transition, but there was a wait at Pinky’s so we took a quick trip to Town Brewing Co right across the street. Things were a little hazy at this point but the beer was crisp and tasty, and it was a perfect prelude to our meal.

Pinky’s Westside Grill

When a burger joint is featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, you know it’s earned a sterling reputation. Pinky’s more than meets the mark. There is no greater drunk food on the planet than burgers and fries, so the floor was already sky-high, but Pinky’s managed to bring this meal through the roof. 

We started off with Greg’s Pickles (fried pickles) with ranch, which were just unbelievable. The batter was light but sturdy and the ranch was the perfect balancing act. Then I got the Patsy Melt, topped with grilled onions, 1000 island dressing, and both Swiss and American cheese on Texas Toast. What a sandwich!

The rest of our group got variations of the Pterodactyl Burger served Ding Dong style…AKA a 5-oz patty with crunchy peanut butter, cilantro-honey slaw, and sriracha. It sounds weird, and it is, but weird in the tastiest way! We got Sweet Potato Chips and Waffle Fries as our sides, and they were crispy, fresh, and tasty.

As much as we devoured this meal, we saved room for one last stop.

Two Scoops Creamery

If you saw the line and crowd inside Two Scoops Creamery, you’d be shocked to discover that it was a near-freezing January in evening. People came from far and wide for their ice cream fix, the four of us included. 

Several of us got some of the classic flavors: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Batter Up (cake batter), and Coffee, but my girlfriend swung for the fences and got the Cookie Monster: a blue ice cream with Nilla Wafers, Oreos, and Chips Ahoy. It’s everything you could possibly hope for in an ice cream, with sweetness and crunchiness and all types of other factors in the mix. 

This was a special day with great drinks and even better food, so we went to sleep knowing that tomorrow was going to have some tough hurdles to leap in order to compare.

Would it be up to the task?

Sunday

We continued our weekend tradition of starting our day with a coffee shop visit, this time to the Charlotte chain Not Just Coffee.

Not Just Coffee 

Located in the historic Atherton Mill (keeping with the Dilworth area’s theme of modernizing the interior of old buildings), Not Just Coffee, as the name suggests, has more than just coffee drinks. In addition to our Americano and Oat Milk Vanilla Latte, we split a slice of Banana Bread. It was mildly sweet with a healthy dose of walnut, perfectly moist but holding its form as we bit into it.

As much as we wanted to try more of the pastries and other breakfast dishes on display, we had to save room for a mighty brunch in NoDa.

Heist Brewery

Since 2012, Heist has been one of Charlotte’s premier brewpubs, creating a wide variety of small batch beers and showcasing a tremendous food menu. This balance is best exemplified by their Sunday Brunch Buffet, now back in action after a COVID hiatus. 

I went into the brewery brunch buffet with an open mind but moderate expectations…few places can really pull off the brunch without compromising on flavor. How does one manage both quantity and quality?

Heist does just that.

This spread would be impressive even if it weren’t a brewery, but that fact gives it extra credit. We loaded up our plates with everything you can (and can’t) think of: chicken and waffles, lamb chops, biscuits and gravy, shrimp and grits (served by the most enthusiastic ambassador shrimp and grits could hope for…he’d greet every customer with a bellowing and inviting “SHRIMP AND GRITS!” and then send them off with a satisfied “SHRIMP AND GRITS”, knowing he had accomplished his task of goodwill), assorted fruits, a wide variety of flatbreads, different juices, coffee, and much more than even two plates can fit. 

We all tried to take it easy on brunch, but it was a futile act and we left accompanied by heavy breathing and no shortage of groans and grunts.

Fortunately, you don’t need an appetite to drink. 

Oh My Soul 

While we weren’t interested in eating, we were definitely interested in drinking and watching live music, which is exactly what we did for the next hour. The food looked great, but markedly less so after a bottomless brunch.

The Giddy Goat

We drove over from NoDa to the Plaza Midwood area and ended up going to a coffee shop called The Giddy Goat. Hands in the air…we came here so we could park in their lot without feeling bad. We got coffee and a candle, but the menu also has empanadas, which smelled and sounded great, but again…brunch.

Whiskey Warehouse

Whiskey Warehouse is a love letter to the one and only Jack Daniels, with a decently-sized statue of him near the restrooms. As expected, they have impressive drink specials, so we sipped on some beer and other whiskey drinks while watching the Buffalo Bills pull out an uninspired win against the Miami Dolphins.

After some time, we left to get ready to muster up our appetites for dinner at Leah & Louise, the focal point of our entire weekend.

Leah & Louise 

Leah and Louise interprets classics southern dishes in a refined and phenomenal way, thanks to James Beard-nominated Chef Greg Collier and business partner and wife Subrina. The menu changes frequently, based on seasonality and inspiration, but there are a few fixtures on the menu, which we began with, in addition to a bottle of red.

The River Chips, AKA chicken skins, are somehow both crispy and melt-in-your-mouth tender, topped with a flavorful “granch” dressing. I couldn’t get enough of these, like the best part of eating KFC for an entire dish. The On My Way Home dish is mussels with a truly unique sauce, made of lemon, butter, smoked wine, and Worcestershire sauce, and served with their cornmeal brioche. Most of my experience with mussels is served with some variant of white wine, garlic, and other Italian components; this was unlike any you’ll ever eat. The Leah’s Cabbage dish is slow-roasted cabbage with pepper honey, smoked sausage, and a pork neck bisque. It’s always fun to eat a familiar veggie in an unfamiliar way, and the boldness of this cabbage dish certainly kept me on my toes. 

For our entrees, we got a beef dish with dumplings and a duck dish that was a small serving, though admittedly very flavorful with a spicy green sauce and a cornbread concoction that reminded me of stuffing. The entrees were a bit of a step down from the starters, but still unique and flavorful. It can’t be easy to constantly change out your dishes, so I sympathize but I do wonder if it wouldn’t be easier to rotate less frequently so you can be more comfortable with each dish on the menu, with a few specials that truly cycle. 

Regardless, this was a memorable meal at a deservedly beloved restaurant.

Our gracious Charlotte hosts had work the next day, so we called it an early night and got ready for one last stop before we hit the road the next morning.

Monday

Mornings of road trips are bittersweet: you want to avoid sitting in a car for as long as possible, but you also want to hit the road ASAP so you can get it over with. Thus, we rapidly packed our bags and went to get breakfast and coffee on our way out.

Sunflour Baking Company 

As the punny name suggests, Sunflour prioritizes their baked goods, and it shows! Everything I had here rocked my world.

First off, the breakfast sandwiches. Oh man, the breakfast sandwiches! Sunny’s Special is topped with egg, sausage, sundried tomato pesto, and arugula. This is impeccable no matter the bread, but we got ours with the Rosemary Sourdough. Along with this, we got a Bacon, Egg, and Cheese sandwich on their housemade Cheddar Biscuit. The ingredients balance so beautifully, with no ingredient trying to be the star but all excelling in their synergy. 

We also threw in a Cinnamon Roll, which is their brioche dough rolled up with cinnamon brown sugar and iced with a delectable cream cheese frosting. I’d be so bold as to say this is a top 5 cinnamon bun I’ve ever had. I got French Press Coffee, which they let me pull myself (the content grind is real), and which was light with a pleasant flavor profile.

If there’s such thing as perfect road trip fuel, it’s this meal. With full hearts and fuller stomachs (and half a cinnamon bun for snacking), we departed Charlotte. 

God Save the Queen (City)!

 

For more recommendations on where to eat and drink around Charlotte, check out our city page.