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The Asiana (Asian fusion) Restaurant opened this weekend on Torrence Chapel Road, Cornelius (in the Fresh Market shopping area). Not only was I happy that it opened but the food is truly excellent and the place is nicely decorated and very clean. Obviously the chef is very experienced. Give it a try if you can. We need to keep these wonderful ethnic restaurants open.

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  • 2 months later...

According to Creative Loafing: Monticello, the restaurant next to the Dunhill on Tryon, will be closing September 7, to be immediately replaced by Harvest Moon Grille. This is run by one of the owners of Grateful Growers Farm, who supply local meat to Zada Janes and a few other places around town. Harvest Moon Grille has already had a mobile incarnation at the green markets, but it often wasn't where it was supposed to be so I always missed it.

http://www.ggfarm.com/welcome-to-grateful-growers/harvest-moon-grille/

Anyway, sounds great to me. I heard good things about Monticello and meant to go try the brunch, but it had that air of stuffiness that kept me away.

Also Amelie's Expres is now open!

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Not sure if anyone posted about Georges Brasserie yet, but it's a French restaurant that replaced Oceanaire at Piedmont Town center in Southpark. I never ate at Oceanaire, but I was told that Georges is a complete remodel of that space.

Now I'm not exactly a French food connoisseur or lover even , but I've gone there a few times now and enjoyed several different entrees. My favorite is the bouillabaisse, although not exactly a cheap stew at $25+. Overall the prices are a little high as can be expected with French cuisine but certainly not unreasonable. There are a decent number of items less than $25. The jumbo shrimp was excellent as well and the shrimp is truly jumbo sized. The dessert and wine menus - no surprise - are also quite nice.

The three times I've been there, the service has been pleasant, knowledgeable and fairly prompt. The waiting staff seem to know their wines well and have made some fine recommendations. If you head to the bar for a pre dinner drink or two, ask for Summer. She's fantastic and a pleasure to talk to. Hopefully Georges can make it, and it probably has a good shot given the South Park location. You can expect some of the obligatory Southpark hoidy-toidy-oversized-sunglass-wearing-Louis-Vuittan-bag-carrying-glitterari-wanna-be-types to be there, but thankfully they don't appear to be the dominant crowd.

The last time I went to Georges, one of the owners stopped by and introduced himself, which was a nice touch. After some chit chat, he started raving about Bryan Emporer, the head chef at Kalu (the new restaurant in Courtside), and I told him I already loved Kalu! (my review on that coming soon).

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Has anyone seen the sign up on W. Morehead, it might be on the former Rhino Times building or one adjacent to it, for "The Flavor District"? It says something along the lines of "prepare for a new dining and entertainment experience: The Flavor District". This is a very meager plain vinyl banner, no work looks to have taken place on the building, and I can't find anything online.

Has anyone heard anything? The name makes me envision a wholesale revitalization of that strip of 1-story buildings, but I'm just dreaming.

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I ate at Loco Lime on Central the other day and met the manager of the new restaurant going in where Common House was. It is going to be called "KickStand" (they've got a bunch of old bikes spraead around as decor - seemed a little silly to me). The bar is still in the same spot. A couple of the big differences wil be that they will have something like 36 television screens spread around the place (which to me is not a selling point - I don't go out to watch tv). On the plus side, while it will be basically a burger place, it will include some helthier fare, including a vegetarian burger, that a lot of pub/sports bar style restuarants won't carry, which is great news to me. She said they should be opening in two weeks. I googled just now and saw that Creative Loafing did on article on it (August 30) if anyone wants a little more information. It is going to be onwed by the same people that own Hawthrone's and Loco Lime. One of the issues with the location has been parking due to the popular yoga classes next door, but I heard the yoga place is moving so that might not be a problem anymore.

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This place isn't new (but new to me) - has anyone tried "Brooks" up in the NoDa area? The location is a little weird - I didn't even know there was much back in that little corner. Is it worth checking out?

http://www.urbanspoo...rooks-Charlotte

Definitely worth checking out -- it is as old school a burger place as your will ever find (a somewhat grittier burger version of Price's Chicken Coop). The chili cheese burgers are OK, but the best part of the place is watching the (friendly) customer / employee interaction as you wait for your burger to cook.

They open at 7 for breakfast (never had it) and close up at 2pm. Burgers go on the grill around 10am.

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I've never been to Brooks' and I live in NoDa.; mainly because they're only open when I'm at work, and are not open otherwise.

They're "legendary" though, so I'm told.

Truth is, a lot of their business comes from the truckers from the NS Intermodal Yard (sad to say they probably tore down 5-6 of the first line circa.1900 mill-houses on Mallory St. to build their parking lot for those trucks..although in the 60's I am sure preservation wasn't on anyones mind in N. Charlotte) - I wonder who their clientèle will be once the Intermodal Yards moves to the airport...

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I went to Taco Mac this past weekend for the first time to watch the Panthers game. It you don't know where it's at, it's located at the Piedmont shopping center near Del Frisco's and across from George's. All I can say is that this probably my new favorite sports bar in town. They had a ridiculous amount of beer on tap (I think it's about 150) and had more TVs than you knew what to do with. It was jammed pack when we go there (1st Sunday of the NFL season, go figure). The service could have been better, but the food and bloody mary's help make up for it. I had some of their tacos and a few wings. On the main level (it has two levels) there are several tables with beer taps where it looks like you can pour your own beer. I believe they have some kind of mechanism on the table to charge you for each pour. Definitely worth checking out if you like a big variety of beer or sports.

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I went to Taco Mac this past weekend for the first time to watch the Panthers game. It you don't know where it's at, it's located at the Piedmont shopping center near Del Frisco's and across from George's. All I can say is that this probably my new favorite sports bar in town. They had a ridiculous amount of beer on tap (I think it's about 150) and had more TVs than you knew what to do with. It was jammed pack when we go there (1st Sunday of the NFL season, go figure). The service could have been better, but the food and bloody mary's help make up for it. I had some of their tacos and a few wings. On the main level (it has two levels) there are several tables with beer taps where it looks like you can pour your own beer. I believe they have some kind of mechanism on the table to charge you for each pour. Definitely worth checking out if you like a big variety of beer or sports.

I've been hearing continuously good things about this place. There is definitely a buzz in the air. As far as the taps at the table, I have been told that it measures how much you have poured and charges by the ounce. I have gotta make time to check this spot out.

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Savor has opened their new expansion, It includes a nice bar stocked with a reasonably good mix of liquors and bottled beers. OMB draft beer is on the way. The new section also eatures a "community" table ~10-12 feet in length; long for two groups of 4-5 offering an opportunity to mix if you want but not so close enough to force you to.. a nice idea.

Food is still exceptional. Had their fried pickled okra as an appetizer; mussels for the main course; and shared some chocolate creme brulee and Cherry /Peach Cobbler with vanilla ice cream among the four of us...

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  • 2 weeks later...

Midnight Diner (@ Carson & S Tryon) is now open for business. They have a huge classic-diner menu, with a classic diner wait staff, and are even too cold like a classic diner.

They clearly have some kinks to work out up front and in back, but I'm sure that'll be dealt with with a few more days of experience for the staff.

Having said that, the food is simple, tasty and cheap. In other words, perfect for a 24/7 restaurant in Uptown/South End. I think this place will definitely become a new staple in the area.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I ate there tonight. Lots of wait staff who were very nice. It took forever to get served and the food was horrible. I mean inedible. I give it 6 months max. The only thing going for it was that it was open late. So is my own kitchen.

Midnight Diner (@ Carson & S Tryon) is now open for business. They have a huge classic-diner menu, with a classic diner wait staff, and are even too cold like a classic diner.

They clearly have some kinks to work out up front and in back, but I'm sure that'll be dealt with with a few more days of experience for the staff.

Having said that, the food is simple, tasty and cheap. In other words, perfect for a 24/7 restaurant in Uptown/South End. I think this place will definitely become a new staple in the area.

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Really? I've had a lot of the menu items now at different times of day and haven't had any bad experiences thus far. The first couple of times there the food was a bit slow to come out, but I think the staff have learned their stuff well enough now that it moves at a good pace.

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I just got back from the private soft opening at Mellow Mushroom Myers Park. I am biased towards MM for a number of reasons (no I don't work for them), but I think most everyone will agree this is a great addition to the neighborhood.

The food was just like I'd expect from any other Mellow, and I have to say the beer list is formidable. If I had to guess, it was about 20-30 draft 50 bottled. The design of the space is great, kind of straddling the raw modern aesthetic and the psychedelic, with a fluorescent painted bus (with booths inside), 60's-style posters, and wall-size photos of the crowd at Woodstock. Some Mellow Mushrooms are more over-the-top hippie while some are fairly conservative. Being in Myers Park, I was pretty surprised and impressed with how psychedelic they went!

There's a lot of other great stuff moving into this block in the coming months, but THIS is going to be the center of it all. Official opening is Monday.

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I ate there tonight. Lots of wait staff who were very nice. It took forever to get served and the food was horrible. I mean inedible. I give it 6 months max. The only thing going for it was that it was open late. So is my own kitchen.

I don't know - I think you may have just had a bad experience. I went there last night and it was packed, and my experience was pretty much the exact opposite of what you described. I ordered the country fried steak, green beans, and mashed potatoes. Everything was homemade - the green beans were exceptionally good, the country fried steak was hand-breaded, and the mashed potatoes were the real deal. The food quite tasty and came out very quick, the wait staff was great, and we met one of the owners as well who was a very genuine guy that seemed to really care about the place. I have no complaints at all about my experience there...you should give it another shot.

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There is a sign up at the former Kashmir/Feast/Latorre's location on 5th St for a 24 hour diner. I think the name is Queen City Diner (or something to that effect). I've not been to the new one in South End, but I'm glad one is opening up in Uptown.

that space was actually Fiji Sushi most recently, but yeah, they finally took the hint that we're over-saturated with upscale. i think any 24 hour place in uptown is going to be an instant hint.

there's also a sign up on the next window for "Vapor Lounge". Not sure if that's going to be upstairs or in the basement space, but the name makes me immediately think of a Hookah bar, which would be nice. the brief descriptions however, "Where everyone is a VIP", sounds like just another club.

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I ate there tonight. Lots of wait staff who were very nice. It took forever to get served and the food was horrible. I mean inedible. I give it 6 months max. The only thing going for it was that it was open late. So is my own kitchen.

I'm going to echo other responses and say that I had a different experience than you. Went for Sunday Breakfast yesterday at about 10:30. The place was packed but we lucked out and got a booth right away. The server was obviously very busy yet she was really nice and attentive. The food came out quick and was good. I really have no complaints.

I think I do prefer Mattie's Diner @ NCMF for the more intimate feel as well as the food. It also feels more like a city gem to me, but I will be going to the Midnight diner whenever I'm on that side of town and want a bite.

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