Good New Restaurants

[SgtCampsalot]

1 hour ago, Crown said:

 

I've had slow service 100% of the time I've visited Amelies. 100%. Without fail. I'm skeptical this location will be able to overcome that. I've just sort of accepted it now - if you want to go there, great! Just don't be in a rush, or expect friendly service. 

This. It just is what it is.

[tozmervo]

7 hours ago, Crown said:

 

I've had slow service 100% of the time I've visited Amelies. 100%. Without fail. I'm skeptical this location will be able to overcome that. I've just sort of accepted it now - if you want to go there, great! Just don't be in a rush, or expect friendly service. 

It's part of the French schtick

[Crown]

Has anyone tried the new Vietnamese place CO at Park Road Shopping Center? 

I've been drooling over the menu all week, but they aren't open for lunch yet - just dinner service. 

http://www.eatatco.com/charlotte/#menu

https://www.charlotteagenda.com/28306/co-is-now-open-at-park-road-shopping-center-preview-the-menu-14-photos/

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, Crown said:

Has anyone tried the new Vietnamese place CO at Park Road Shopping Center? 

I've been drooling over the menu all week, but they aren't open for lunch yet - just dinner service. 

http://www.eatatco.com/charlotte/#menu

https://www.charlotteagenda.com/28306/co-is-now-open-at-park-road-shopping-center-preview-the-menu-14-photos/

I have friends who swear by the one in Savannah. It was packed and had a wait when I was there in October, otherwise I would have tried it. Can't wait to hear how it is.

[Miesian Corners]

^ Went yesterday and it was good. Not great, but good. I will say this, they did an amazing job with the interior.

Edited December 3, 2015 by Miesian Corners

[boochops]

Anyone have an update on Comida in the old Penguin building in Midwood? 

[CLTProductions]

5 minutes ago, boochops said:

Anyone have an update on Comida in the old Penguin building in Midwood? 

Great question, it has gone incredibly silent

[grodney]

I swear I just read about it this morning....now where was that...in the twitters...or in the Agenda?  Let me look around.

 

Edit:  ha ha, yep Agenda.  https://www.charlotteagenda.com/28910/briefing-for-friday-december-4/

"

Comida is very close to opening in Plaza Midwood [Instagram]. Last night, littlespoon hosted the final menu preview for its new sister restaurant that will be taking over the old Penguin space on Thomas Street. You can drool over the menu here.

"

Edited December 4, 2015 by grodney

[boochops]

How did I miss that? Thanks for the heads up! Menu looks great. I'm a little worried about the glass block on the front of the building, but I'll let it slide for good pozole. 

[CLTProductions]

1 minute ago, boochops said:

How did I miss that? Thanks for the heads up! Menu looks great. I'm a little worried about the glass block on the front of the building, but I'll let it slide for good pozole. 

How did I miss that  thats great news

Edited December 4, 2015 by Jayvee

[go_vertical]

I'm just still wondering if anyone has heard anything abut the fate of the sign. Now that is a serious piece of Charlotte history that should be on display somewhere.

[Guest]

8 hours ago, go_vertical said:

I'm just still wondering if anyone has heard anything abut the fate of the sign. Now that is a serious piece of Charlotte history that should be on display somewhere.

Supposed to stay. Wait, is it gone?

[tozmervo]

Kindred did not live up to all of the incredible hype. 

It over-shot it.

That was one of the best meals I've ever had, let alone in Charlotte.

[ScottCLT]

I went to Co today for lunch. The miso ramen I ordered didn't quite stand up to Futo Buta, but still very good. The interior was absolutely beautiful, though. I tried my coworkers curry laksa with chicken and shrimp and it was a better choice. The menu is much more diverse than Futo Buta's...I really wanted to try nearly everything on it. All of the noodle dishes sound wonderful, as well as the bahn mi, sushi, and appetizers. But trust me, you don't need an appetizer if you are ordering a noodle bowl. I finished mine and was stuffed. My coworker attempted but failed to finish the laksa. Huge portions here. I just want to go back and try something different every time.

[ah59396]

I went to Duckworths Uptown with some friends the past Saturday.  It is the second time in my last three visits (with two different groups of people) that the group has decided that it made more sense to leave and try to eat elsewhere than to wait any longer to order food and drinks.  I am a huge fan of the Park Rd Duckworths location and will continue to eat and drink there, but I've been completely underwhelmed by the Uptown location.  I'm not a picky guy by any stretch when it comes to food or even waiting, if I ask for a burger without tomatoes and it still comes with it, I'll still eat the burger.  But my experiences with Duckworth's uptown have been very lackluster.  Very slow service.  Uninterested bartenders.  Homeless people basically bathing themselves in the bathroom regularly.  I really want to like Duckworth's but I think I've given it enough chances.  If you're okay with waiting an hour to put in your food order or 30 minutes to get your first beer, Duckworths is your place.  I hope they can figure it out at some point.  But bleh.

[ScottCLT]

After passing by CHOPT the other day on my way to Co, I had it in my that I just had to try this place, and today was the day. It was frickin' delicious. I love supporting local restaurants over chains, so I wish I could say that I liked Crisp better. But I can't. It's not that the ingredients were fresher or that the selection was better - it's the fact that, well, they chop their salad and toss them in dressing. Every inch of that salad was coated in a thin layer of dressing and all the ingredients were evenly distributed so that every bite was full of flavor. I always hate getting down to the bottom of a salad only to realize that all the dressing is gone. And the portion is incredible - even though it was a $10 salad, I feel that it was well worth it. This place is going to be a regular for me even though it is a little more out of my way than I usually go for lunch. Hopefully they expand to more locations.

If Crisp would simply do the chopped and tossed thing, I think they could contend.

[SouthEndCLT811]

28 minutes ago, ScottCLT said:

After passing by CHOPT the other day on my way to Co, I had it in my that I just had to try this place, and today was the day. It was frickin' delicious. I love supporting local restaurants over chains, so I wish I could say that I liked Crisp better. But I can't. It's not that the ingredients were fresher or that the selection was better - it's the fact that, well, they chop their salad and toss them in dressing. Every inch of that salad was coated in a thin layer of dressing and all the ingredients were evenly distributed so that every bite was full of flavor. I always hate getting down to the bottom of a salad only to realize that all the dressing is gone. And the portion is incredible - even though it was a $10 salad, I feel that it was well worth it. This place is going to be a regular for me even though it is a little more out of my way than I usually go for lunch. Hopefully they expand to more locations.

If Crisp would simply do the chopped and tossed thing, I think they could contend.

I'm in the same boat.  I was a big fan of Crisp but Chopt has won me over for every reason you listed.  Still need to try Co as well.

[ScottCLT]

I haven't tried the Duckworth's uptown, nor The Cellar. I really want to eat at the Cellar. Someday, when I have someone that can look over my wonderful, spastic, maniacal, stress-inducing, and very loved nonetheless 2-year old son, I hope to do it. Have you tried it? Or just the regular Duckworth's?

[nonillogical]

10 hours ago, ScottCLT said:

I haven't tried the Duckworth's uptown, nor The Cellar. I really want to eat at the Cellar. Someday, when I have someone that can look over my wonderful, spastic, maniacal, stress-inducing, and very loved nonetheless 2-year old son, I hope to do it. Have you tried it? Or just the regular Duckworth's?

The Cellar is amazing and even though its connected to Duckworths, it very much feels like a separate experience. I've been 3 times and its been consistently great. That said, I haven't had the negative experiences at Duckworths either that ah59396 mentioned, but I've only been at non-peak times.

[The Force Sleeps]

Cellar is its own experience and very different from Duckworth's (in a good way). It's got an old-time speakeasy feel with great drinks and solid food. I'm hoping it flies under the radar for a while.

Not loud, not pretentious, just a great place to relax, have a drink and enjoy a good conversation.

I'm also planning to head to Co tonight. I'll report back with my thoughts.

[The Force Sleeps]

Report back from Co:

It was just OK. I had high hopes for Co and really wanted to like it. The menu looked amazing and the interior had a great vibe, but the overall experience was just meh.

I got their jalapeño margarita (2 actually) - I'd recommend them. Also tried the chicken wonton's for a starter. They were good but very small.

Our waiter recommended the curry laksa as their specialty dish but it came out about 45 minutes after I ordered it and was bland and lukewarm. My wife ordered one of the sushi dishes and said it was good, but nothing special.

I'm not writing Co off completely, and maybe it was opening month hiccups, but this wouldn't be very high on my "must go" list.

 

[ScottCLT]

On 12/20/2015 at 3:40 PM, The Force Sleeps said:

Our waiter recommended the curry laksa as their specialty dish but it came out about 45 minutes after I ordered it and was bland and lukewarm.

That's surprising for me to hear. It may be that they are more inconsistent during busy times (I'm guessing it was busy if it took 45 minutes to get your food?). When I ate there with a coworker, the curry laksa arrived, along with my ramen, in probably 10 minutes. I tried it, and it was far from bland - quite spicy actually, hot (temperature-wise), and delicious. If you give it another shot, go at lunch. It was moderately busy, but things still moved along in a timely fashion and I sure thought the food was good!

[HopHead]

Not trying to gang up on ah59396 but I haven't had the negative experience at the uptown Duckworth's either. I've been there 5 or 6 times (plus a visit to the Cellar which was awesome). There was one time I had to grab a waitress to take our orders after sitting for a few minutes. She came over pretty quickly and took care of our group right away. This was on a pretty busy night too... I will say there are some places I've been to in the past... cough, Taco Mac, cough, where I've been several times and always had a lousy experience inspite of friends of mine that had good ones. Perhaps it's bad restaurant mojo. 

[The Force Sleeps]

13 hours ago, ScottCLT said:

That's surprising for me to hear. It may be that they are more inconsistent during busy times (I'm guessing it was busy if it took 45 minutes to get your food?). When I ate there with a coworker, the curry laksa arrived, along with my ramen, in probably 10 minutes. I tried it, and it was far from bland - quite spicy actually, hot (temperature-wise), and delicious. If you give it another shot, go at lunch. It was moderately busy, but things still moved along in a timely fashion and I sure thought the food was good!

That could be the case. It was very busy and I know its only been about 3 weeks since they opened. I also have a pretty high tolerance for spicy food so that may explain why I thought it was more bland.

I'm sure I'll be back though. There was a lot on the menu I'd like to try and maybe lunchtime is the best time to do it.

[ScottCLT]

I too have a high spicy tolerance. Like insanely spicy. It wasn't too much (I'd still need to add some of their tasty house Singapore chili sauce to it, but it was spicy enough for me to know that someone that doesn't like spicy foods as much as me would find it probably too spicy. I say give it another shot at lunch. Might have just been an off night.