Sections
Room: Very narrow, slim rooms. Carpet is dated, tattered at edges. Low ceilings, looks like dated style hotel.
Hotel Lobby/Common Areas: Free parking. Lobby area is nice, very open-feeling. Lobby and common areas just went through multi-million dollar renovation. They’re going for the inside-but-feels-outside style. Running water fountain adds to the “outdoor” feeling. Some rooms overlook [...]
100 N. Tryon St., Charlotte, NC 28202 Mediterranean/Italian Lunch: $$ Entrees for $9 – $13
Aria Tuscan Grill sits in downtown Charlotte, within a stone’s throw of the Epicenter outdoor shopping center. Inside, everything feels very upbeat and new. You’ll enter off Tryon Street and walk a few steps down to the main floor of the restaurant, giving you the feeling of many NY or Chicago restaurants where you feels as if you’re eating at basement level. They’ve done a great job making the restaurant feel open, with large windows at street level, and successfully giving the space a very upscale bistro feel inside.
The best [...]
2424 N Davidson St $$ for a soup/salad lunch/dinner French, Coffee, Cafe
I stumbled across Amélie’s on a recent trip to Charlotte and, according to Urbanspoon, it is one of the most popular, most raved about spots in the Queen City. So, I jumped in the car and made the short drive over to NoDa, which appears to be a resurrected-warehouse-district-turned-loft apartments and hip new eateries.
Arriving at Amélie’s, you’ll find that their forte is their desserts as they have a very simple food menu with an elaborate pastry case. You’ll find that this cafe-meets-dessert store is huge, too–as you navigate the very bright and [...]
2694 Durham Chapel Hill Blvd, Durham, NC Diner style with sandwiches/subs, salads and breakfast $ – Appx $9 for lunch
When you walk into Foster’s, you get the impression that this place is a local institution — and not just because it feels like it has been around for a very long while. They’ve got that old country store feel going on, and not the fake feeling Cracker Barrel style (in a side note, I ate at a Cracker Barrel recently for the first time in like 10 years and had NO IDEA that they were so blatantly racist at one time. That went right over my head as a kid. Just check out their Wikipedia: “In 2004, an investigation by [...]
90 Patton Avenue, Asheville, NC Himalayan (Read: Indian) $$ — Typical entrees $11.95 – $14.95
For a whole town that feels like its full of failed climbers just stuck a little too long at base camp, where better to try than the restaurant that epitomizes the whole city of Asheville? Now, when they say Himalayan, just think Indian. Lots of rice, curry, lentils and great smelling, rich and pungent spices. The colorful restaurant had some very low-key, chill theme music on in an effort to transport you to Nepal and, with the bright colored interior with a tall vaulted ceiling, I would say they get high marks on the atmosphere. They brought out [...]101 W. 4th Street, Winston-Salem, North Carolina Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Vegetarian $ — Lunch is cheap, appx $8.50 for sandwich + fries
The fresh smell of Mediterranean spices smacks you in the face when you walk in and you’re already certain you’ve picked a good spot. At lunch, you’ll order at the counter and then take your number to the table. You’ll get a very local vibe in all respects here, especially from the giant boards naming all the ingredients and listing their local origins. I ordered the ACE OF FELAFEL PITA ($6.50) and it arrived at the table in a pretty quick 10 mins or so after ordering it. Served with 3 felafel [...]
