Charlotte, NC Travel Guide

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On the way to Dallas, we had an opportunity to either fly direct on a Thursday afternoon, or fly to Charlotte, NC Wednesday evening, and make the connection to Dallas Thursday morning. We chose the latter, because we’d get into Dallas earlier, and wanted the opportunity to explore Charlotte! Although we only stayed 1 night, we still were able to explore a lot of the City Center, or the heart of downtown Charlotte.

Where to Stay

The Ritz Carlton and the Marriott City Center were my top choices. We stayed at the Marriott City Center in a King Room on the Club Level. Unfortunately the Club Lounge was closed due to COVID, but we still had a spacious and updated room with a view of downtown.

I also liked the bar’s aesthetic with the Edison light bulbs and wooden bar. The convenience of putting the drinks on the room or getting the drinks to go is also key.

I highly recommend staying in the City Center (especially in either of these properties) because of how close you are to the airport, the light rail, and the nightlife. Charlotte Douglas International is only about 15 minutes away without traffic. The light cuts through the center of the Charlotte City Center from East to West. The closest light rail stop is only 2 blocks away or a 5 minute walk from the Marriott City Center, and only half a block away from the Ritz Carlton. There are plenty of bars and a few clubs in the city center, too. It was easy to hop from bar to bar, or use the light rail, and walk back to the hotel at the end of the night.

Where to Eat

When I think of Charlotte, I think of a Foodie Mecca. I picture BBQ, Korean BBQ, Southern Comfort, Traditional American, New American, Asian fusion, and gastro pubs. Here are my top 5 absolute musts for brunch and dinner when you visit Charlotte.

1. Midwood Smokehouse

If I were to identify 1 type of food to try in Charlotte, it would be North Carolina BBQ. Midwood Smokehouse is the most famous BBQ here, so Sean and I had to try it. We split a combo platter, which comes with your choice of 4 proteins, two sides, hushpuppies, house pickles, and 4 types of BBQ sauces. The platter comes in two different sizes: the well-fed, which feeds 2-3 people for $30, and the pig out, which feeds 3-4 people for $39, according to our server.

We chose the well-fed, but Sean wasn’t sure if that would be enough food, so the server recommended we order Burnt Tips in addition. They were the best burnt tips we’ve ever had! They aren’t on the menu though, so ask your server for them and you won’t be disappointed! For the meat choices, we picked Carolina chopped pork, beef brisket (my favorite), pork ribs, and jalapeño cheddar sausage. The sauces were South Carolina Mustard (Sean’s favorite), Eastern NC Vinegar, Midwood Original, and Spicy Habanero (my favorite).

For the two sides, we ordered bacon-wrapped jalapeños and collard greens. There’s nothing worse than a soggy bacon-wrapped jalapeño; these crispy, but still juicy ones did not disappoint! I was hoping the collard greens would be spicy, and they were! Hush puppies are my weakness and the hush puppies that came with the order were also delicious and unforgettable. I am still in shock at how much food we got for $30 and how incredible it all was. We also tried some local beers. They had several on tap! Although I was stuffed, I saw a Campfire Blondie on the dessert menu and could not pass it up. The Campfire Blondie is a blondie with chocolate chips, topped with a graham cracker crumble, melted marshmallow, fudge, and caramel with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

We original walked to the Charlotte Transportation Center, which is only 5 minutes away from the Marriott City Center, but realized we didn’t want to wait 20 minutes for the next bus, so we took an Uber (more on public transportation below). They have indoor, patio, and rooftop seating. If it’s cool outside, I would choose the rooftop. After dinner, head across the street to Soul Gastrolounge, the first stop on your night out (more on night life below). If you’re looking for true North Carolina BBQ with some local brews, add Midwood Smokehouse to your list.

2. Haberdish

Haberdish is an iconic Charlotte restaurant for brunch and dinner. This is the type of place I think of when I want locally-sourced and organic southern comfort food served in an aesthetic establishment. We’re talking fried chicken, chicken and waffles, hush puppies, smoked deviled eggs, shrimp and grit cakes, mac and cheese, biscuits with gravy, chicken biscuit sandwich, quiche, cauliflower steak, Nashville hot chicken and shrimp, cheddar grits, kale salad, homemade cinnamon rolls, and sweet potato dumplings. They have a whole page on their website dedicated to where they source their ingredients and decor from. If your mouth isn’t watering now, I don’t know how we can be friends. Haberdish is the place my brunch dreams are made of. The light rail will get you to Haberdish in about 20 minutes form the City Center.

3. The Cellar at Duckworth

The Cellar at Duckworth is my gastropub pick for Charlotte. When you walk in off the street, you check in with the hostess and are brought downstairs into the cellar of this speakeasy! Again, the menu is locally sourced and seasonally-driven by farms in the area. For small shareable plates, my highlights are truffle mac and cheese, charred corn and buttered leek risotto, candied jalapeño bacon, house made waffle cone flight (with ponzu poke tuna, macadamia nut, coconut shrimp, chicken sriracha honey, and bacon), ground duck flatbread, and burrata cheese salad. For large plates, they offer steak and fresh seafood. For dessert, I would order the campfire almond s’more, no question. Located a couple blocks from the Marriott City Center, we only had to walk about 5 minutes to get there. We ended up going here for cocktails and a snack after dinner, so I’ll detail that in the Night Life section below. Next time I’m in Charlotte, I will definitely come back for dinner. If you like this place, look into Rooster’s – Uptown for a similar vibe for dinner.

4. Seoul Food Meat Company

Another popular BBQ spot in Charlotte is Seoul Food Meat Company, serving up Korean BBQ! The crispy pork belly, 12 hour beef ribs, smoked beef brisket, fat brisket bulgogi taco, fire chicken, spicy BBQ wings, green tea cornbread, pimento corn cheese, sweet potato birds nest, and egg rolls are my picks. They also have a wide variety of local beers and green tea ice cream with deep fried biscuits for dessert, which sounds incredible. The light rail will take you straight here from the City Center.

5. RH Rooftop Restaurant Charlotte

I had to. Restoration Hardware has 10 locations in the US (and 1 in Canada) and every single one of them is gorgeously designed, Instagrammable, unique, light and airy, and worth the visit. Would you expect anything less for the world’s leading luxury furniture gallery? Come here for the ambiance, stay for the food. The photo opportunities are endless. If you’re in the mood for traditional American, such as a burger, ribeye, lobster roil, salmon, chicken, or salad, RH is the place to go. Manifest yourself having brunch on the rooftop with your girlfriends, then having a boozy tour of the gallery below to find your dream couch.

Where to Drink

The Charlotte City Center definitely has a lot of bars to choose from, but so do the outskirts, such as Plaza Midwood. Here are my top 5.

1. The Cellar at Duckworth’s

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I mentioned this speakeasy for its gastropub fare, but The Cellar at Duckworth has a cocktail menu to-die-for. I tried their New York Gin Sour and it became my favorite drink. I had never had a sour before, and despite watching our bartender crack an egg white into the shaker, I ordered two, and I will order more. Sean had the barrel-aged Mezcal black Manhattan and loved it as well. We also found Blanton’s for the 2nd time this summer, so per our new tradition, we had to get a neat pour.

We split hand-cut truffle fries and the evening was perfect. If speakeasies are your vibe, Charlotte has plenty to choose from. The Cotton Room is another speakeasy in the City Center worth the visit. You have to try the Campfire Old Fashioned with the toasted marshmallow on top if you go.

2. Soul Gastrolounge

After 10pm every evening, you can listen to the DJ while you enjoy tapas, sushi, and cocktails. Popular dishes include the Asian glazed pork belly tacos, sashimi tuna tacos, lamb lollipops, Korean BBQ wings, fried Brussels sprouts, flatbread (with truffle whipped goat cheese, pistachio pesto, honey braised garlic, and fresh arugula), soul roll, red dragon roll, shrimp ceviche, and ahi tuna tacos. I wouldn’t come here for dinner, but after 10pm you could find me here for the DJ, cocktails, and some late night snacks. Located in Plaza Midwood, Soul Gastrolounge is a 5-minute walk across the street from Midwood Smokehouse and open until midnight. You’ll need to Uber out here (or ride the bus) from the City Center, so I would recommend stopping at Midwood Smokehouse first for a late dinner, then coming to Soul Gastrolounge after 10pm, and close the night out with the Workman’s Friend below.

3. The Workman’s Friend

Add this charming Irish pub to your list if you’re already in the Plaza Midwood area. This pub serves both brunch and dinner, including shepherd’s pie, fish and chips, lamb frites, a full Irish breakfast, and bangers and grits. I was a little disappointed to see corned beef and cabbage/corned beef hash and Guinness stew missing from the menu, but was surprised to see a full Irish breakfast plate, complete with two eggs, rashers, sausage, black and white pudding, mushrooms, baked beans, tomato, and toast. Open until 2am, stop here last for a draft pint of Guinness, Smithwick’s Red Ale, and Irish coffee before taking your Uber back to the City Center. Looking for more in Plaza Midwood and love Whiskey? The Whiskey Warehouse might be for you.

4. Cowbell Burger & Whiskey Bar

Sean is an avid whiskey drinker, so I had to toss this in here. Around the block/a 2-minute walk from the Marriott City Center is the Cowbell Burger & Whiskey Bar. They offer salads and 17 types of burgers or 6 types of chicken sandwiches with parmesan fries. As the name implies, they have over 100 types of whiskeys offered in 3 different “classes:” business, first, and private. Flights of 3 whiskeys of your choice are offered for each class. They even have poutine on the full menu. For the late night menu, they serve the parmesan fries, pretzel bites, and sweet potato tots. If I were there early enough, I’d get a burger or poutine (probably poutine, let’s be real) with a cocktail, mule, or beer, depending on my mood (and prior drinks). They also serve spiked milk shakes. I’m not sure why those are so high in demand, but then again, I’m lactose-sensitive and consequently biased.

5. Olde Mecklenburg Brewery

The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery, or OMB, is Charlotte’s oldest and largest craft brewery and beer garden. They serve Bavarian-style pretzels, traditional sausage, schnitzel, sandwiches, pizzas, and flatbread. Every Friday and Saturday starting at 6pm they have live music! It’s about a half hour light rail ride from the City Center and they close at 10pm, so plan your evening accordingly! If you plan a trip to Charlotte in September, stop by during the 2 weekends that they hold Mecktoberfest and get the famous 1L Das Boot. If you still want more biergarten vibes, stop by VBGB Beer Hall and Garden.

How to Get Around

Walk

The City Center of Charlotte is very walkable, which is why I recommend staying here.

Rent a Scooter

For those times when you want to be adventurous, or let’s face it, your feet hurt and you have blisters, rental scooters are your next best option. The City Center does have a good amount, but if you’re going somewhere a little further away, on major roads, or no scooters happen to be in your area at the time, the light rail or Uber/Lyft/taxies are your next best option.

Light Rail

The light rail is incredibly convenient for destinations along the line from the City Center as it runs east-west. Take the light rail if you can, as it’s fast, cheap, and the next best sustainable option second to walking/scootering/biking. Tickets can be bought for one-way, 10 rides, or weekly unlimited. Until recently, the light rail actually used to be a trolley.

Uber/Lyft/Taxi

There are plenty of Ubers and Lyfts operating, even late at night. It was about $15 to get from the City Center to Plaza Midtown and I would recommend using Uber for getting to and from bars that aren’t in the City Center and aren’t accessible by the light rail. If you have an early or late flight out and your Uber is over $30, take a taxi to the airport. Our fare was $30 cash from the Marriott City Center to Charlotte Douglas at 5:00 am on a Thursday. We were going to take an Uber until we saw the cost the night before our flight. We didn’t request the taxi through the hotel until closer to midnight, so we were extremely fortunate that the hotel staff were personally connected with several cab drivers. The hotel luckily got ahold of one of the potential drivers, so we were able to book after hours. The lesson here? Make sure to work with your hotel concierge or front desk to book a taxi as early as possible the day before, but no later than 11 pm the night before an early morning flight!

Bus

I normally don’t flinch at the thought of riding a subway, train, or bus. In fact, I prefer riding public transportation over driving. I used to ride the city bus in Austin almost every day while I was in college to and from work and downtown. I also feel comfortable riding the bus in NYC to go from East to West. I love riding the Metro system in DC, the T in Boston, the L in Chicago, the subway in NYC, the tube in London, the subway in Toulouse and Paris, the buses and subway in Rome, etc. I rode Greyhound and Megabus to get from Dallas to Austin in college. You get the picture. I did not like the Charlotte Transportation Center and their buses. I was approached by too many people asking for money, trying to sell me something, or making inappropriate comments, and the wait times for the buses were long (20+ minutes).

Car Rental

I would advise against renting a car, especially if staying in the City Center. Parking will be hard to find in the City Center, and with so many other options listed above, including walking, it’s really not worth the cost.

What to Do

My top 10 recommendations for things to do while in Charlotte.

1. Billy Graham Library: Museum of one of the most iconic ministers, who even influenced Queen Elizabeth.
2. Brewery and speakeasy crawls
3. NASCAR Hall of Fame: a museum and entertainment facility
4. Whitewater raft at the US National Whitewater Center: the largest man-made whitewater river in the world (it’s an Olympic training site!)
5. Little Sugar Creek Greenway/Crowders Mountain State Park: paradise for outdoor enthusiasts
6. Levine Center for the Arts: 3 museums that showcase art, history, culture, and 1 performance venue
7. Metalmorphosis sculpture: photoshoot here
8. Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden
9. Boating, Fishing, Watersports on Lake Norman: the largest man-made lake in the Carolinas
10. Freedom Park: the Central Park of North Carolina

When to Visit

The best time to visit Charlotte is during the shoulder season in the spring (March-May) or the fall (September-November). The summer is the high season with tourism, prices, and temperatures are their peaks, and winter is the off-season. In the shoulder season, Charlotte will be less crowded, hotels/airfare will be cheaper, and the weather will be cooler than in the hot and humid summer. In the winter, almost all the tourists are gone and hotel rates nosedive, while temperature lows remain between 50 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit for the most part. In March and October, many attractions and restaurants will reduce their hours, so plan to go in April, May, or September for the best time to visit.

Key Events

March-May (spring shoulder season)

• St. Patrick’s Day Parade (March)
• Charlotte Craft Beer Week (March-April)
• Tuck Fest (April)
• Charlotte Wine and Food Weekend (April)
• Kings Drive Art Walk (May)
• 600 Festival (May)

June-August (high season)

• Taste of Charlotte (June)
• Queen’s Feast Charlotte Restaurant Week (July)
• Charlotte Pride (August)

September-November (fall shoulder season)

• Festival in the Park (September)
• Yiasou Greek Festival (September)
• The Great Pumpkin Fest (September-October)
• Great Grapes! Wine, Arts & Food Festival (October)

Let me know what Charlotte activities and restaurants are your favorite below!