Baret's Banter: Why McKnight Road Needs More Restaurants

It's been several weeks since my move to Charlotte. While I consider myself a good cook, I do enjoy my days off from throwing together meals. I live south of the city and while I have ventured into Uptown (there is no "downtown" in Charlotte), I've found no shortage of places to eat even in the little town of Fort Mill. True, there are abundant chains in the suburban areas (most of the culinary and entertainment delights are in Uptown), but there are plenty of places I had never heard of before coming down south for my first visit to the Queen City on June 6.

I realize I'm going to get pretty tired of the local places once I get back to the McKnight Road corridor over the winter holiday. Although I've been craving Primanti Brothers (which doesn't even exist in Ross) and a Joe's Special from Monte Cello's, I know my pickings will be slim.

The problem with McKnight Road is the fact there could be so many great restaurants dotting the landscape, yet so much of the land goes toward more of the same thing. We have Ross Towne Center, where two discount grocery stores are opening next to each other. Northway Mall has a ton of vacancies (and, as I've said before, should be demolished to make way for restaurants). Ross Park Mall went nine years without any sit-down eatery. Prime real estate has been bought by large drug stores. Yes, we have them down south too, but at least we have some variety. Who really needs a jumbo-size Rite Aid or CVS every other block, especially when there's another location within a few miles?

To make matters worse, we've actually lost restaurants along McKnight Road. The Allegheny Valley Bank at the corner of McKnight and Browns was once Del-Ney's. The adult store near Nelson Run Road had been Fibbe's. A Pizza Hut was located next to this property for years, then became a nightclub before it was demolished. Long John Silver's once occupied the Aspen Dental property across from Ross Towne Center, which used to be home to The Italian Oven.

Most of what we find along McKnight is a national chain, and we don't even have a ton of those. There is no Burger King or Moe's, for example, and the sit-down lineup is missing big names such as On the Border, Smokey Bones, Ruby Tuesday, and Perkins. There is no stand-alone Chick-Fil-A; only a mall location exists. There isn't even a donut shop or an ice cream stand along McKnight anymore!

Everyone I know back home is disgusted with the lack of variety. Not everyone feels like driving to Cranberry or Robinson every time they want something other than Chili's, Bob Evans, Denny's, Applebee's, or TGI Friday's.

Your best bets along McKnight are Olive Garden, Fox and Hound, and Outback Steakhouse. Ross Park has California Pizza Kitchen and Cheesecake Factory. Panera is as good as you're going to get for fast food.

Here's the question: what could go in along McKnight and where could it go?

Starting at the southbound end, there's still some room to develop. The Ross Junction shopping plaza needs some new life, or perhaps bulldozed in favor of a new development. With three hotels in the area, restaurants should be a must.

Shopping plazas along the line may be able to accommodate a restaurant or two. However, the one with the most vacancies, Northway, should simply be razed in favor of restaurants. I covered this a while back but after my last visit to Northway--the day before the mall's 50th anniversary--I feel obliged to repeat the comment. McCandless Crossing could accommodate several new restaurants. There's a long-abandoned Red River Barbecue at Pine Creek Plaza which could easily be converted into something new. Should we ever get a new movie theater, the old Showcase property would do well as a restaurant and entertainment complex, especially given the lack of nightlife in Ross. I'm sure I could name a few other good locations if I thought long enough, but these spring to mind immediately.

As for possibilities, here is a brief but diverse list, mostly of restaurants which don't exist yet in Pittsburgh and would do well to debut in an area near the region's most upscale mall and convenient access to downtown.

1. Bojangle's (fried chicken restaurant found mostly in the south)

2. Culver's (hamburger restaurant found mostly in the midwest)

3. Smoothie King (pretty much everywhere in Charlotte)

4. Moe's (needs a location south of Cranberry)

5. On the Border (see above)

6. Famous Dave's (needs to come back with a better franchiser)

7. Burger King (still can't understand why they never replaced this in the 90s)

8. Primanti Brothers (North Hills is the only location without a convenient one)

9. Salsarita's (similar to Moe's but more laid back)

10. Tudor's Biscuit World (everywhere in WV; McKnight needs more for breakfast)

11. Tim Horton's (see above)

12. Graeter's Ice Cream (puts all competitors to shame)

13. Max & Erma's (if Hampton Township has one, why can't Ross?)

14. Cook Out (outdoor hamburger stand, also everywhere in Charlotte)

15. Smith & Wollensky (upscale steakhouse)

I could name another ten or fifteen easily, but I think the point is taken. However, I'd also like to see more independent restaurants and bars along the road. Something still needs to take the place of the legendary Johnny Garneau's. There is also no quality German restaurant or rowdy Irish pub. I feel both should be added, yet I get this sneaky feeling they'll decide to plop down two more banks instead.

If you are interested in franchising any sort of restaurant, especially some of the ones listed above, please do the right thing and pump some life into the most boring corridor of restaurants on the north side of the Mason-Dixon line!