I'll be honest and say that I'm generally not a huge fan of the South - it's hot, humid, and it lacks the diverse population that I crave. But the one thing I do enjoy about the South is the food and hospitality. It's comforting, hearty and there's something about the food that can't be recreated in the North.
I was in Charlotte for only 36 hours but I couldn't leave town without trying at least one restaurant. Normally I would try to go for a BBQ place but I couldn't find any within walking distance of my hotel, so I settled for the next best thing - shrimp and grits. AJ and I found our way to this place since it was literally across the street from her hotel and they explained that they donate 100% of the sales to feed the poor which is a lovely concept. The menu was a greatest hits of everything Southern - fried green tomatoes, gumbo, po boy sandwiches, fried chicken, catfish, okra, the list could go on and on. Since we were going to a rehearsal dinner afterwards we tried not to go too ape shit on the menu. We split a pimento cheese ($8), sautéed mushrooms ($4) and both got our own order of shrimp and grits ($22).
If you've never had pimento cheese before, then you are missing out. Don't be fooled - it's not fancy cheese...I'm frankly not even sure it's really cheese but it's a tangy, slightly spicy spreadable delight. The waitstaff was super nice and brought AJ some veggies since she has a gluten allergy to go with the cheese. It's definitely not the healthiest thing to eat but honestly, not much is in the South..which is why we got the sautéed mushrooms to balance things out but they were soaking in oil (in a good way) so I'm not sure how healthy it really was. As for the entrees, they were delicious. The grits were creamy but still with a bit of texture to it and it had an extra special ham flavoring to it, which is always appreciated. I usually like really cheesy grits but since this had a lot of shrimp on it, I was good that it was a bit more simple. The shrimp was cooked well (not to dry and with the right amount of bite to it) and went really well with the grits. I was definitely a happy person after this meal. It actually started to rain while we were sitting outside so they were nice enough to seamlessly move everything inside for us with no issues at all. The waitress was so sweet and friendly that it reminded me of the good things that the South has to offer. Also a shout out to their wine buyer as they had an awesome Châteauneuf-du-Pape by the glass - that's pretty hard to find outside of France. While I'm not sure I'll ever find myself back in Charlotte, I enjoyed the one meal I had there and would totally come back for the fried chicken, okra and even pot pie. Total bill: $50/pp with tax, tip and wine
Photo Credit: Yelp
No comments:
Post a Comment