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Looking for a restaurant that you can wear casual clothes, not fancy, moderate to expensive, locally owned (no chains please!!!), and has great food. A great steak, or seafood, italian, etc. Awesome desserts would REALLY top the night off (quadruple chocolate explosion anyone?). Almost any location in the greater Charlotte area or into SC.
Also, give me suggestions on what is the specialty...
Looking for a restaurant that you can wear casual clothes, not fancy, moderate to expensive, locally owned (no chains please!!!), and has great food. A great steak, or seafood, italian, etc. Awesome desserts would REALLY top the night off (quadruple chocolate explosion anyone?). Almost any location in the greater Charlotte area or into SC.
Also, give me suggestions on what is the specialty...
131 Main. I think they have 2 locations in the Charlotte area, 1 in the Lake Norman area and 1 in Ballantyne (Blakeney shopping center). The Lake Norman location is the original location, and it's not a big chain restaurant. It's mainly American food here (steaks, seafood, etc), and the restaurants are very nice, but pretty casual. The first time I went to the restaurant, I called about their dress code, and they said "as long as you're wearing clothes, you're fine"
For a good Italian meal from a locally owned place, I'd try Portofino's (they have 3 or 4 locations arond town... I usually go to the Aysrley Town Center location on S. Tryon, right off of 485) or Il Nido (in a small shopping center at the NE instersection of Providence and Fairview Rd). Both are nice restaurants, but casual as well.
Mama Ricotta's is pretty good for Italian.
McIntosh is a pretty good steak house for local owned.
We had a good meal at Providence Cafe which is local.
Encore Bistro and Sugar Magnolia, both in the Blakeney shopping center on Rea Rd, are very good. Encore has a mix of everything (steak, chicken, seafood, pasta, salads... try the Encore salad, etc), and Sugar Magnolia calls itself "low country cuisine" (menu is heavy on seafood, but has some steak and chicken). You'll see various levels of attire in both of these places, but Sugar Magnolia is a bit less casual (might want to wear khakis, or at least jeans with shoes and a polo shirt with collar).
City Range is great for steaks, chicken, and ribs (on Johnston Rd in Ballantyne). I think they started out in SC, and this is their third of fourth restaurant. So it's a very small chain at this point You can get away with jeans in this place.
For Mexican, I'd try Cantina 1511. They have a couple of locations in Charlotte, and I believe they're locally owned. I've only been to the Stonecrest location (Rea Rd at Ballantyne Commons Pkwy). Very good food, and nice atmosphere too.
Another good American place is Village Tavern. I forget the exact address, but it's somewhere behind the Southpark mall on Morrison Rd. /we;ve had steaks, chicken, and seafood there, and everything has always been very good. Great service too, and jeans would be fine here. Think of it as a slightly upscale bar with very good food
Mac's Speed Shop on South Boulevard has some of THE BEST barbecue I've ever had. GREAT atmosphere, too. I recommend sitting outside when the weather's nice. Lots of bikers frequent that place, and it's great hearing the revving of their bike engines.
Mac's Speed Shop on South Boulevard has some of THE BEST barbecue I've ever had. GREAT atmosphere, too. I recommend sitting outside when the weather's nice. Lots of bikers frequent that place, and it's great hearing the revving of their bike engines.
Here's their website:
Mac's Speed Shop (broken link)
Their beef brisket is THE best I have ever had - yum!!!
Mio Posto in the Tower Place shopping center is good Italian food, I definitely agree with 131 Main & Village Tavern. More expensive Italian, I'd say OK to jeans if you're sitting outside is Toscana in Southpark.
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