Now Open
Fran Scibelli has converted her Dilworth / Park Road restaurant Frans Filling Station to a fun & casual, family-friendly spot in for food, beer and fresh-baked favorites. Fat Cat Burgers & Bakeshop features some of the old Fran’s faves, like tots, with great burgers and sandwich options and a drive thru donut window.
Of course you already know this, but La Belle Helene opened last month under new ownership by the 5th Street Group. We plan to try it soon and will report. While we love the decor, we were only B+ on the food under prior ownership so we’re fingers crossed for these guys.
Sosu, a new ramen restaurant from @naroodlenoodleshop Founder/ Sosukage @chefrocky_ is now soft opened at 3718-B Central Ave. (Eastway Crossing) with limited seating on limited days. It is open for walk in, first come first served on Thurs-Sat 5pm-10pm and Sun 5pm-9pm. NOTE: Take out orders are only placed inside the establishment (ie not on the phone) and to preserve the integrity of the dish they do not offer a take out ramen option. We cannot wait to give it a try.
Vaulted Oak Brewing is just now open in an old BB&T Bank at 3726 Monroe Road.
Babe & Butcher, the insta-famous and crazy popular online concept from power-charcuterie-board-couple Lindsay Anvik and Rob Henrick, opened a brick & mortar shop at Camp North End on June 12. They offer grab-and-go charcuterie boxes or build your own platters.
Three Amigos Mexican Kitchen and Cantina opened its South Charlotte location this month at Colony/Rea Road. They’re still waiting on liquor license and for now are only open for dinner service.
⭐️Sunday-Thursday 4p-9p
⭐️Friday-Saturday 4p-10p
Prime Fish, a Ballantyne Asian Sake Raw Bar at 11212 Providence Rd W Unit B, opened in May.
Park Sushi is now open in place of the Sushi Guru in SouthPark.
The Hangar is now open inside Devil’s Logic Brewing (1426 E 4th St.) serving brewery-focused comfort food. From the team behind Paper Plane Deli and Market.
ROOSTERS UPTOWN is opening back up this week, on the 18th, and will be open Tuesday thru Saturday at 150 College St.
GOLDEN COW CREAMERY is now open in Uptown (location #3) at 601 S. Tryon St.
ABBOTT’S FROZEN CUSTARD is now open at Edison Square located on the Charlotte/Concord/Huntersville border near Highland Creek.
Opening Soon
ACE #3 MYERS PARK LOCATION is slated to open mid-month (6/17) by Middleton Dr. at 829 Providence Road. We predict this place will be packed with neighborhood fans of their menu of Burgers, Shakes and Beer. Follow their insta if you’re not already familiar.
800 DEGREES WOODFIRED KITCHEN will open the first week of July in Phillips Place featuring the art of cooking with wood fire. With locations throughout the globe, 800° Woodfired Kitchen offers salads, bowls, sandwiches, woodfired proteins, vegetable plates and craft pizza. (Their new Bar One backside bar will open last week of June).
BOCADO BAR + DINER to open this summer in Atherton with a Lounge Area, Diner and Airy Patio. It will honor the same seasonally driven and locally sourced food menu as BOCADO in Atlanta, with a culinary & leadership team of experienced QC professionals with history at some popular CLT restaurants.
TROLLEY BARN FERMENTORY & FOOD HALL from the folks who own Legion Brewing, will open this summer in South End on the Rail Trail, with 9,500 square feet of space housing a brewery, a taproom and three food stations each offering their own distinct cuisine. The space features indoor and outdoor seating as well as a second-floor mezzanine and patio with views of the Charlotte skyline.
OLD TOWN KITCHEN & COCKTAILS The restaurant group behind The Goodyear House and 2020’s ghost kitchen concept Scratch House Chicken will open their second brick-and-mortar concept, Old Town Kitchen & Cocktails in Rock Hill early this summer. Located in the historic Lowenstein Building, Old Town Kitchen & Cocktails is in the heart of University Center, which ties together Technology Park, Winthrop University and Old Town (Downtown) Rock Hill, and will be minutes from the new Carolina Panthers NFL HQ facility.
Calle Sol Latin Café Neighborhood Latin Café & Cevicheria is coming soon to Plaza Midwood to showcase cooking from Cuba to Peru. Brought to us by Frank Scibelli who is taking over the old NC Red location from Bruce Moffet.
THE ROYAL TOT, from the owners of Stroke and The Ice Trade, is slated to open in the Belmont neighborhood in late summer. Located at 933 Louise Ave. Suite 350, The Royal Tot will be an experiential cocktail lounge serving tropical-inspired food and drinks from its multifaceted space that will include an interior bar, patio, rooftop
deck, and private event space. Follow us or them for updates.
The Batch House from the Batchmaker, which was basically destroyed by a spring flood and forced to close its original shop near LaCa Projects, is looking at an August opening in FreeMoreWest’s Station West at 901 Berryhill Rd. In the meantime, follow on IG, for batchboxes are sometimes available for delivery thanks to a partnership with @enderlycoffeeco (see below).
Enderly Coffee is doing a fab new promo where each Friday they deliver a select baked good box to homes, where you can also add on bags of coffee, local honey, or other select items. Recent options have included the Batchmaker’s BatchBoxes and fresh Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls from Virtuoso Bread. To your Door Step delivered between 8am and noon.
The Cocktailery, from scoop fave girl and past contributor Tamu Curtis of Liberate Your Palate, will open in July as a cocktail supply and beverage lifestyle shop. Which will be great, so stay tuned as we’ve always known this lady was Going Places.
Marble Slab Creamery (that ice cream place where they chop-mix in your selected toppings on a marble slab) will open a location on Central Ave in PM this summer in the old Nova’s Bakery space. Marble Slab currently has a Stonecrest location in the CLT area.
Burial Beer is offering weekly release pickups every Wednesday out of a “Beer Boutique” as they prepare to open their new Charlotte Taproom at 1214 Thomas Ave. All new Burial releases will be available every Wednesday at 12pm for pre-order through the Charlotte Online Shop. Each Wednesday, the sales will be live until the beer is gone.
Major Announcements & Closings
CLOSED: Uptown Yolk at 7th Street Public Market
CLOSED: Pure Pizza has closed its 7th Street Public Market location. The Plaza Midwood location remains open.
CLOSED: Libretto’s Pizzeria closed its Parktowne Village location on June 8. The Ballantyne restaurant is still open.
CLOSED: Also closed in Parktowne Village = Hibiscus Thai Fusion.
CLOSED: Sukoshi, the fast-casual sushi restaurant in Uptown
CLOSED(?): Rosemont, in the cursed-by-Vinnies location on South Blvd at East/West where both Wu’s Cajun Seafood and Nan & Byron’s struggled, appears to not have been open since April. AxiosCLT reported the situation, and reported they did not receive replies from management. We drive by all the time, so we’ll keep an eye out.
The Pump House in Rock Hill is closing just for Mondays & Tuesdays for summer.
In more upbeat news…
The Penguin Drive In to Open on East Blvd: Martin Sprock, owner a bunch of Charlotte restaurants including as RuRu’s, Kid Cashew and Leroy Fox, plans to open the Penguin, or his version of it, in the East Blvd spot that used to house The Mayobird and The Summit Room. According to the CBJ (full article here) Sprock plans to keep some Penguin favorites, like burgers & fried pickles, and add to it some dishes in a NOLA style and some Asian offerings. The restaurant is slated to open in Sept 2021.
5th Street Group, which owns and operates restaurants in Charlotte (5 Church, Sophia’s Lounge and La Belle Helene) along with Charleston and Nashville, recently announced that all active or retired members of the United States Military will receive a 70% discount on their bill at all restaurants. All day every day. In addition, military family members will also receive 25% off their bills. All guests must present their military ID. 5th Street Group also made local and national headlines (Washington Post) recently for raising their hourly pay to $15 an hour, significantly increasing both # of applications and hires across the group.
Concord’s Gibson Mill is making headway toward opening the Gibson Mill Market, its long-awaited food hall-style dining and shopping experience slated to open Fall 2021. The first Market tenants include:
- High Branch Brewing, the popular brewery at Gibson Mill, moved to the Gibson Mill Market and will open permanently this summer.
- Defined Coffee, beloved local coffee brand and roaster, will celebrate its Gibson Mill Market location as its third in the region.
- Luck Factory Games, a lively hangout for adult fun and games, will open this summer.
- Johnny Rogers BBQ, Concord’s beloved barbecue gem, looks toward a fall opening.
- The Market Bar, led by Cabarrus Brewing’s Steve Steinbacher.
Dilworth Tasting Room in Dilworth has brought back the beloved Rosé night every Thursday where you can enjoy half price select bottles of rosé.
Cowfish: Starting Friday, June 18 and running through July 18, both The Cowfish CLT and eeZ Fusion & Sushi are giving $5 back from each HEARTest Yard Roll sold to Greg and Kara Olsen’s HEARTest Yard Foundation. Greg and Kara Olsen helped Master Sushi Chef, Rifali Almunir design the heart healthy roll in 2019 to raise funds for and awareness of pediatric congenital heart disease. The roll is rice-free and keto friendly…skip the ponzu and it is gluten-free, too. Support the Olsen’s, their son TJ and the HEARTest Yard with your orders this month!
Food & Drink Events for June
Sweet Spot Studio has launched a Summer Break series features pop-up classes at breweries around town. You can expect the same hands on learning style, with the added fun of some of your favorite Charlotte breweries. This month, enjoy:
June 15 : Catawba Brewing Co. – Buttercream Piping
June 22 : Divine Barrel Brewing – Buttercream Piping
June 29 : Catawba Brewing Co. – Cheese & Charcuterie Board
Crave CLT returns at the end of the month with a 4 Day Food | Wine | Mixology Festival
Read more and get your tickets here!
City Brew Tours will begin offering craft brewery tours with the launch of their latest franchise tour location in Charlotte, and City Brew Tours Charlotte will officially start operations in late June. Beer lovers will have a choice of two guided tours. The “Original Charlotte Tour” consists of stops at four breweries with a meal pairing at Noble Smoke. The tour will last up to five hours and will cost $99. The “Sip of Charlotte Tour” will include stops at three breweries and a local snack instead of a meal. The cost for the scaled-down, 3.5-hour tour is $70.
Firebirds will support Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) annual Lemonade Days all month by donating:
- $2 from each Tito’s Lemonade Drop purchased will be donated to ALSF
- $1 from every Big Daddy Lemon Cake purchased will be donated to ALSF
- A donation of $1.25 will be made for every lemonade purchased
Wingzza Mambo Sauce founder Larry Swayne is reintroducing his popular, must-try condiment to the Charlotte market at a special pop-up tasting event in front of DUPP&SWAT at Camp North End on Friday, July 2 from 6 to 9 p.m. Food orders will be available for pre-order only (no walk-up food orders will be accepted) at wingzza.com by Tuesday, June 29. Bottles of Wingzza Mambo Sauce will be available on-site at a special price for one day only (while supplies last). Pricing starts at $20 per order, with some packages included pops from Popbar Charlotte and custom swag from MacFly Fresh.
