Food + Drink
Nolia Blossoms
Pamela Marcotte and Avi Kendi, owners of the recently opened Nolia (as in magnolia), are brave souls indeed. They chose to open a restaurant in a location where many others enjoyed the staying power of a tumbleweed. Ethan's, Solera, and…
Queen City 'Cue
Bill Spoon's5524 South Blvd., 704-525-8865Bill Spoon, who founded the restaurant in 1963, passed away last year, but his namesake eatery still serves his famed chopped, eastern North Carolina-style barbecue. Hush puppies, cole slaw, baked beans, and banana pudding complete the…
Charmed, I'm Sure
For many a discerning diner, Monticello has long been a go-to choice for a solid pre-Blumenthal meal, a quiet business lunch, or a romantic date night. We've visited on and off over the years, too, but must confess to having…
Local Links
DIY SausageSausage is made from ground meat, which can be purchased from a butcher or, for the extra-ambitious, made at home with a meat grinder. Once you have the ground pork, the next step is seasoning it. From the extravagant…
East of the Everyday
The Large Kabob Platter includes grilled Cornish hen, chicken, lamb, beef tenderloin, ground sirloin, and grilled vegetables.Experience a new world of tastes and colors as you journey east—to east Charlotte, that is. Kabob House opened more than a decade ago…
Seeing Stars
An example of Cosmos’ more exotic fare is the grilled octopus with roasted cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, and grilled baby artichoke.Cosmos Café has endured. It's hard to believe, but Cosmos Café is one of downtown's longest-tenured restaurants. Hard to believe…
Coming Up Short
So-called fusion cuisine takes many forms. It first crept into the American vernacular in the early 1980s with the popularity of restaurants like Spago, Wolfgang Puck's homage to Asian, French, Italian, and American cooking. Now it seems that fusion cooking…
Everything Nice
Bright orange with white trim, Sweet Spice: Royal Caribbean Delight is highly visible from the street. With flowering bougainvilleas growing up against the concrete exterior, the restaurant has a tropical feel—not in the way of tropical theme restaurants, but in…
Worth a Second Look
Carne asada tacos in handmade corn tortillas El Pulgarcito are good, but Salvadoran specialties like pupuses are your best bet.In Charlotte, Little El Salvador occupies half a city block. Gathered around a single parking lot are Salvadoran stores, bakeries, and…
