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Another bar/restaurant bites the dust


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I kind of liked City Tavern generally, but this location was bad, I forgot about its existence so many times. I liked it when they were in the location at 5th and Church. Maybe they could go back there now that there is Avenue and more going on in that area, and a pending improvement to the ped scape there.

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  • 4 months later...

Well guys, the franchisees have relinquished the Uno's brand, but it is reopened as Mason's Uptown http://helendining.b...other-name.html the pizza is now flatbread as opposed to deep dish style.

Mason's is now closed. At least it looked like it as I walked by at 4pm the last 2 days.

Is the space/location that bad? Or does it come down to management (and, by association, employees and service)? I'd still love to see something flourish in this spot.

Edited by grodney
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I personally think it's a building with bad street presence and a bad location. Unless you happen to walk down MLK towards College you are unlikely to even notice it.

Three problems in my mind is: MLK between Tryon and College is a very dead block; The College Street side has nondescript darkish windows that don't really do a good job of drawing you in, and they face a blank dead wall of the convention center; and finally, the outdoor seating actually is almost built into the building and thus keeps people from seeing it from even half a block away, and doesn't really allow great people watching.

I think the idea of a micro brewery once mentioned in a thread would do better than a restaurant, but the intersection of MLK and College needs some major renovations in at least three of the four corners for any success in my opinion.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Unfortunately, Ratcliffe on the Green can be added to this list - they have closed. I never actually ate there, though I kept intending to. I guess I waited to late. They were known for using all local ingredients, and the food was supposed to be really good. I would have figured that with the Bechtler Museum now open, the new Duke Power center being occupied, the Knight Theater open, and the new Mint Museum opening soon, that this spot would have been doing significantly better than in previous years. I just hope that the Ratcliffe's Flowers sign remains for whatever may next fill this space.

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Unfortunately, Ratcliffe on the Green can be added to this list - they have closed. I never actually ate there, though I kept intending to. I guess I waited to late. They were known for using all local ingredients, and the food was supposed to be really good. I would have figured that with the Bechtler Museum now open, the new Duke Power center being occupied, the Knight Theater open, and the new Mint Museum opening soon, that this spot would have been doing significantly better than in previous years. I just hope that the Ratcliffe's Flowers sign remains for whatever may next fill this space.

thats really sad. it was one of the few elegant but not in a modern trendy type of way places we had in the area. that space next to it on tryon has been vacant for at least 2 years too. don't know why it seems so hard to keep things open on this plenty-busy side of uptown.

i'm sure the sign will get to stay though.

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I don't know if anybody has mentioned this yet, but the Forum has closed. As far as I know, that was the largest nightclub in Charlotte. Major DJs would play there such as Tiesto and David Guetta. I wonder if Charlotte will still get those events now that its closed.

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I don't know if anybody has mentioned this yet, but the Forum has closed. As far as I know, that was the largest nightclub in Charlotte. Major DJs would play there such as Tiesto and David Guetta. I wonder if Charlotte will still get those events now that its closed.

That's a shame. I never went there when it was The Forum, but I went quite often back when it was still Mythos. Hopefully it will re-open soon as another club and not become a restaurant or something. Once a "nightclub friendly" space is lost in an urban core it is hard to get it back. NCMF is a really cool idea, but that should not be the only place in Center City with dance clubs.

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That's a shame. I never went there when it was The Forum, but I went quite often back when it was still Mythos. Hopefully it will re-open soon as another club and not become a restaurant or something. Once a "nightclub friendly" space is lost in an urban core it is hard to get it back. NCMF is a really cool idea, but that should not be the only place in Center City with dance clubs.

Unfortunately, Suite and Butter are now the go-to dance clubs in Charlotte and the Forum was pretty much forgotten about unless there was a major DJ playing there. As much as I would like to see another dance club there, I am not sure Charlotte can support it with as many other options as there is, especially one as large as the Forum was. Charlotteans by and large prefer more low-key nightlife and for the culture here I think there currently is the right amount of dance clubs.

Edited by bchris02
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Unfortunately, Suite and Butter are now the go-to dance clubs in Charlotte and the Forum was pretty much forgotten about unless there was a major DJ playing there. As much as I would like to see another dance club there, I am not sure Charlotte can support it with as many other options as there is, especially one as large as the Forum was. Charlotteans by and large prefer more low-key nightlife and for the culture here I think there currently is the right amount of dance clubs.

i thought i heard that it will be re-opened under a new name and slightly different style by the same group of people. in Charlotte as long as the perception is that it's new then it will be popular for at least a little while. that space isn't really suited to anything else anyway.

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I believe that is what happened during the Mythos/Forum switch. I could be wrong, but I vaguely remember hearing that the group that owned Mythos simply changed the decor and slapped a new name on the outside and voila The Forum. Also, clubs quickly growing tired is not just a Charlotte phenomenon. In fact that is fairly common except for a very few rare circumstances in a couple of cities. Part of owning a dance club is understanding that most likely in a few years you will have to drop half a mil to re-open your space in order to keep the crowds coming.

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  • 3 weeks later...

This one came out of left field - Sir Edmund Halley's has closed. This is really disappointing, I really enjoyed Sir Ed's quite a bit. It's not clear yet why they closed, but it's a big loss to the Park Rd area.

Hmmm....I work really close to there and we had heard this was coming a while back due to the fact the owner had not paid his taxes. Honestly, I am not the least bothered by this. The owner (or co-owner, not really sure, but the yankee guy) was a jerk with an attitude. We saw him going about 80mph behind the shopping center once. He could often be heard in the kitchen loudly swearing and cussing his employees. And there was a particular waitress who, besides having a zero personality, was typically rude. Just my 2¢.

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I know someone called this awhile ago, but CBJ just tweeted it:

"After months of rumors, it's official: Tom Sasser's Zink restaurant uptown is closing after six years in business. Last day is Saturday"

Edit: AHA I found the post I was thinking of. Will be interesting to see if the space does become a 5/3 retail bank

Edited by Urbanity
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^Yea, I was wondering when that was going to happen with Zink. 5/3 Bank is really expanding its footprint here. One of my wife's friends works for them and she was ecstatic about them moving their North Carolina HQ to uptown. Sorry to see a restaurant essentially get pushed out, but I've never been there before so can't comment on their food.

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I never thought Zink was all that great. Just average bistro food to me. It's a shame that the space could not be used for storefront retail instead of a bank. Gee that's novel. Another bank on Tryon. Catch me before I faint from the shock :rolleyes:

I actually really liked the spot. I loved the food there - I doubted that meatloaf could actually be worth the $20 entree price, but not after I had it at Zink. Totally worth it. I also liked the more laid back bar crowd on the weekends. If I wanted to go somewhere to have some drinks, but nothihng crazy, Zink was always a good choice.

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The one time I tried to go there with two friends, we were seated without menus, and left after 10 minutes of waiters looking at us but not acknowledging us. We did draw on the table a bit first with the provided crayons (I thought it was weird for this fairly fancy-feeling place to have crayons and paper on the table).

Anyway its really the only restaurant I've ever been to that I felt completely unwelcome in, but I've heard nothing but good things from other people. I'm sure our impression would have been different if we'd gone to the bar side. I'd rather see it stay than get another bank branch.

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I've only been to Zink about three times and generally liked it at the bar side much more so than the restaurant side. The food was ok, but the atmosphere, location, and general vibe was something I really liked - particularly for a drink or bite after a show at the Belk. Guess I'll be going to Wooden Vine now instead.

If Zink wants to reopen they could look at the Ratcliffe on the Green space which I think could be a gold mine with with Zink's focus and being near the cultural campus.

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Hmmm....I work really close to there and we had heard this was coming a while back due to the fact the owner had not paid his taxes. Honestly, I am not the least bothered by this. The owner (or co-owner, not really sure, but the yankee guy) was a jerk with an attitude. We saw him going about 80mph behind the shopping center once. He could often be heard in the kitchen loudly swearing and cussing his employees. And there was a particular waitress who, besides having a zero personality, was typically rude. Just my 2¢.

Agreed.

As a bar with a lil different angle I liked Sir Ed's. As a restaurant I thought the food was avg at best and wayyyyy overpriced.

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