Ruth's Chris and PF Changs coming to Ballantyne

[CLTfanatic]

I beleive they are coming to the ballantyne village. I was there looking at townhouses and condos this weekend, and the sales agents started telling me what was coming to the village surrounding the condos. She mentioned the independent movie theater which will serve sushi and wine to movie goers, BUT she also mentioned a Ruth's Chris as well as Charlotte's second PF Changs. Just thought I would share this info with you guys. Please post any further info you guys have.

[Raintree21]

P.F. Chang's website only lists openings through June 2005 and does not list any other Charlotte sites.

[Raintree21]

Ruth Chris' website does not list any new openings in Charlotte either.

[CLTfanatic]

Scheduled openings would be oct-nov aproximately

[teshadoh]

Ruth's Chris steaks are like butter I tell ya. BUTTER!

Seriously, a friggin awesome steak.

[JunktionFET]

Back in 1998 (or 1999, I don't remember), I won a dinner for two at Ruth Chris in Cary. The final tab was very expensive, but the food was superb. I don't eat beef so I can't comment on their steak, but the other menu items were really good. You get what you pay for!

[DigitalSky]

Is Charlotte ready for a 2nd PF Changs?

I can already hear the complaining from the north side that the south county gets everything - and I don't blame them. If PF Changs wanted to build a 2nd restaurant, it should be around Northlake. I think that Ballantyne is too close to Phillips Place's PF Changs. Or at least Uptown instead of the suburbs... sheesh

[dubone]

i do eat beef, and i've eaten a steak at ruth's chris twice. That restaurant and Morton's are the best steak's i've ever eaten.

Norff, how did you rack up a big bill at ruth chris if you don't eat beef? they must have given you very funny looks when you ordered .

I also really like pfchangs, but we dont go much anymore because the one at phillip's always has an impossible wait. I guess it makes sense that they would build two, and South Park and Ballantyne are know as the rich parts of town, so that makes sense.

I had high hopes that Soho China Bistro in hearst tower would be as good as pf changs, but i didn't think the food was nearly the same quality.

When we do american chinese, we do mamafu's and regular chinese, we do shun lee palace in cotswald.

[monsoon]

Is Charlotte ready for a 2nd PF Changs?

I can already hear the complaining from the north side that the south county gets everything - and I don't blame them.  If PF Changs wanted to build a 2nd restaurant, it should be around Northlake.  I think that Ballantyne is too close to Phillips Place's PF Changs.  Or at least Uptown instead of the suburbs... sheesh

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thats what we need, more chain store food. I've eaten in both and I really wasn't that impressed.

[dubone]

hahahaha. metro, you are one tough critic. .

out of curiosity, what are your recommendations for steak and quality chinese in charlotte?

I agree about not wanting chains to dominate the local restaurant scene, but i also like the charlotte has the representative higher level chains, as it provides a destination for business travelers and others. Those people would consider charlotte to be less than world class if it didn't have them, and word spreads fast.

[JunktionFET]

Norff, how did you rack up a big bill at ruth chris if you don't eat beef? they must have given you very funny looks when you ordered .

They have seafood, chicken, and other meats besides beef. While the entrees definitely cost more than I care to spend at dinner, the wine we tried is what really jacked the bill up.

[monsoon]

Actually the good steak houses are gone from Charlotte now; replaced by national chains. Two really good places were Cosmo steak house that once stood on independance, and the other was at the Charcoal Room at Staley's Steak House that once existed at Morehead & Wilkenson. I can cook a better steak than you can get at any of the chains in Charlotte. If you want to know how, send me a PM.

Any authentic chinese restaurant is better than PF Chang's highly americanized chinese food. Try the restaurant at the Asian Mall on Sunday Morning when they are running the Dim Sum carts. It is the best Chinese in Charlotte. I can cook better Chinese food that what you can get at PF Changs, but I can't teach you that in a PM.

BTW, the best Japanese food in the Charlotte area is Sekisui in Huntersville. It is the closest thing I have seen to what restaurants are like in Japan anywhere in NC. It is worth a try as well. (I know its not Chinese but I thought I would mention it as a very very good non-chain place)

[atlrvr]

I just thought I'd lament the closing of the Pine Room in downtown. Not really a steakhouse, but it did blow every other restaurant away IMO.

[Miesian Corners]

I think McIntosh's is pretty damn good on South Blvd. I'll go there before I set foot in Morton's or the Palm.

Metro is right about DimSum. Great food. The Japanese place in Huntersville is right on target as well.

I'm a fan of Indian. Namaste at Independence and Sharon Amity is great!

But back on topic. The great thing about a Ruth's Chris and PF Chang in Ballantyne is that if you go down there to eat, you can always stop by duty free shop on the way back across the border to buy cheap liquor.

[QueenCityBobcats]

Any one here actually ben to China?

Americanized Chinese food is better. Even Shun Lee is Americanized.

[dubone]

i've been to china. There, the hamburgers are chinized. . The restaurant also came out with a platter of grasshoppers and roaches, roasted on their backs with toothpicks sticking straight up. yummy.

So, you're right, most restaurants in america are americanized unless you have a large community of first generation immigrants that provide a market for truly authentic. Honestly, chinese are the most adventuresome culture when it comes to food, so 'authentic' chinese could mean almost anything under the sun.

McIntosh's is good and all, but that is where you find out your girlfriend is actually much fatter than you thought.

[Miesian Corners]

I went to Taiwan in 2001. Depends on which side of the straights you're on whether or not to consider it "China". Absolute worst food of my life.

Went to a hotel reccommended restaurant called "Indian". Talk about strange. I figured it was a East Indian joint, but boy was I mistaken. Got out of the taxi to find myself in front of a building with a T-Rex on the roof. Went inside and it was decorated like Jurassic Park; stools were elephant feet. It gets more bizzare. Some, but not all of the wait staff were dressed in Native American Indian garb. One guy had on a full Cherokee feather headdress and was wearing a loin cloth. His assistant looked like an Asian Pocahontas wearing an animal skin dress. It just kept getting more strange. You could order fried fish heads, but no fish. They had chicken feet, but no chicken. Beef tripe (innards), but no beef. Duck tongue, but no duck. The only thing we could find that we thought we could stomach were prawns and rice. Of course, they arrived fully armed with antennae and veins. After leaving Indian, we stopped by the 7-11 (there's one literally on every corner in Taipei) and bought American junk food to satisfy the hunger. I won't even go into the next night when our hosts took us to the snake market for dinner...

[dubone]

lol. i lived in asia for 5 years when i was growing up, and i know exactly what you mean. that kind of authentic chinese would not only go out of business in charlotte, but possibly start a riot . mr chang's is quite all right for me .

[Southend]

shun lee whips ass. as does great wall off carmel road. schezwan style all the way!

indian food in charlotte is not very good. its not fair.

[monsoon]

There is a fairly new Indian place at UNCC that is pretty good.

[Miesian Corners]

A new Indian place called "Copper" is going into that cursed site that's been everything on East Blvd across from Paper Skyscraper. Anyone know anything about it?