Here Are The Top 15 New Restaurants In Charlotte: Eater

CHARLOTTE, NC -- New restaurants come and go, which makes it difficult to know which ones are worth a visit. In an effort to sort through the best of the latest offerings, Eater dispatched writer and photographer Rémy Thurston onto the Queen City restaurant scene.

The bulk Thurston’s picks for best new joints are located in Charlotte, however he did extend a hearty nod to a Mooresville-based and southern-inspired ramen noodle restaurant in Lake Norman.

Here is Eater’s list of the top 15 new restaurants in the Charlotte-metro area, and some of Thurston’s thoughts on the eateries:

• Ramen Soul, 694 Brawley School Road, Mooresville -- “Tim and Melanie Groody helped pioneer Charlotte’s farm-to-table movement with their first restaurant, Fork, and now they’re bringing their fresh, local flavors to Asian cuisine with Ramen Soul just up I-77 in Mooresville,” Thurston said.
• Trade and Lore/Salud Cerveceria, 3306 N Davidson St, Charlotte -- “The marriage of beer and coffee continues to blow up with Lindsey Pittman’s new coffee venture, Trade and Lore, which shares a space with newly opened Salud Cerveceria,” Thurston said, advising, “Don’t sleep on the homemade Fud at Salud or the waffle-wiches either.”
• Haberdish, 3106 N Davidson St, Charlotte -- “Famous for its pressure-fried chicken but beloved for its sides — the creamed kale grits are a frequent order — the mill-town restaurant brought its own version of the dimly lit, cozy Edison-bulb style to NoDa this year,” Thurston said.
• CupLux Coffee Drive-Thru, 3115 Freedom Dr., Charlotte -- “For those wanting high-end barista-crafted coffee beverages without getting out of the car, owner Ian Kolb opened CupLux off of Freedom Drive,” Thurston said.
• Loft & Cellar, 305 W. 4th St., Charlotte -- “The ground floor is a bustling restaurant where one can find dishes inspired by the chef’s extensive travels — like Southern pad Thai with beer noodles. The Loft is a speakeasy-style bar with revolving live music performers, and the soon-to-open Cellar has a private wine room and 20 seats for private dining along with a tasting menu,” Thurston said.
• Kinship, The Ritz-Carlton, 201 E. Trade St., Charlotte -- “It serves small plates with global inspirations, like the Peruvian crispy pork belly or the green curry baba ganoush, and offers a bar program godfathered by Bob Peters, who famously runs the modern lounge the Punch Room on the 15th floor. It’s the perfect place for guests to forget they’re waiting for someone,” Thurston said.
• Resident Culture Brewing, 2101 Central Ave., Charlotte -- “The menu is full of wild ferments, hoppy IPAs, and barrel-aged beauties, which can all be enjoyed on a large patio with rotating food trucks stopping in. Its beers are a neighborhood welcome in a glass,” Thurston said.
• Luca Modern Italian Kitchen, 1523 Elizabeth Ave., Charlotte. Thurston said, “Their modern takes on Italian dishes, like the diver scallops with squid ink gnocchi, are exactly what a hip nonna would make after a long day.”
• Dilworth Tasting Room, 300 East Tremont St., Charlotte -- Thurston said, “The Dilworth Tasting Room offers a bright, open space with plenty of seating for locals to sit with a glass of wine that they may not have heard of before. The selection, available both by the glass and in retail bottles, is on the smaller side to give customers a chance to try a more targeted variety.”
• ROOTS Cafe, 2135 Southend Dr., Charlotte -- “Previously known for his Roots food truck, chef Craig Barbour took his extensive catering business and added a brick-and-mortar cafe to the mix,” Thurston said.
• South Bound, 2433 South Blvd., Charlotte. -- “Tacos and margaritas may never go out of style, especially when So-Cal beach vibes radiate through this new spot off of South Boulevard,” Thurston said.
• The Suffolk Punch/ Hyde Brewing, 2911 Griffith St., Suite A, Charlotte -- Said Thurston, “Coffee bar, taphouse, culinary cafe, fermentation lab — it may sound like four different establishments, but Suffolk Punch (the food side) and Hyde Brewing (the drink side) make the most of one roof by serving everything from refreshing cachaça cocktails and IPAs to tuna poke and za’atar-roasted squash.”
• Dot Dot Dot, 4237 Park Road Unit B (Backlot), Charlotte -- “Dot Dot Dot is an upscale Prohibition-style cocktail lounge only open to members, who can purchase a $10 membership on its site,” Thurston said. “Those in the know can find it in the back lot of the Park Road Shopping Center near the loading docks.”
• Oak Steakhouse Charlotte, 4777 Sharon Rd. Suite 125, Charlotte -- “Oak Steakhouse in SouthPark extends yet another branch of that hospitality, offering customers prime certified Angus beef, served in a comfortable yet modern setting with sides to match.”
• The Porter’s House, 7417 Waverly Walk Ave., Charlotte -- Thurston said, “Owners Kim and Jon Dressler (of Dressler’s and Dogwood Southern Table) branded it as “a modern chop house for the new South,” but the breadth of menu — care to order the duck-fat-fried fingerlings with pickled peppers? — suggests that it’s much more than that.”

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