Mellow Mushroom - Uptown Charlotte

 Philosopher's Pie at Mellow Mushroom - olive oil & garlic base, grilled steak, artichokes, olives, Portobello mushrooms, feta, provolone and mozzarella.

I recently had the opportunity to try the newest Charlotte location of the Mellow Mushroom - uptown near the new Knights baseball stadium and Romare Bearden Park. The space is airy and modern with a long bar on one side as well as booths and tables. There is also patio seating. My family really enjoyed our experienced and we sampled quite a few different items. My favorite thing by far was the Maui Wowie pizza (below) - definitely some strong flavors going on with it, which I love - especially the banana peppers and jerk chicken! The bruschetta and wings were excellent, as always, and our little one enjoyed the kids mac & cheese as well. To top things off we tried several of the freshly baked cookies - delicious. Mellow Mushroom is a wonderful addition to the uptown dining scene. They have a full bar and are open LATE too - until 11 PM Sunday - Wednesday, until midnight Thursday and until 3 AM Friday and Saturday. Definitely a great place to keep in mind for a late night snack! 

Maui Wowie Pizza - now my personal favorite! Pesto base with ham, pineapple, jerk chicken, banana peppers, smoked bacon and mozzarella - yum!!
 

Bruschetta - I could not resist ordering this even though I have had it before! Love the basamic glaze.

BBQ wings - very good!

 

Ceasar salad.

Kids mac & cheese with broccoli - the little guy loved it.

Can you tell who is behind the water wall?!
 

Patio, facing Knights stadium.

Peanut butter cup cookie.

After lunch we spent time at the new Romare Bearden Park adjacent to the new baseball stadium. It has some neat features including this waterfall that kids can play under and a fabulous view of the skyline!
 

 Disclosure: The meal described in this review was complimentary.

Simmons Soul Food Restaurant

Baked chicken with stuffing, mac & cheese and greens.

Following a recommendation we recently tried out Simmons Soul Food Restaurant. When we arrived the place was empty and we found a seat at one of the simple tables. The decor is not much to look at, although some interesting pieces of memorabilia line the walls which contain some famous and not so famous patrons' signatures! The food was definitely not as impressive as we had hoped. The best thing we tried was the baked chicken and the collard greens and mac & cheese were good. The ribs were horrible with mostly fat and the fried fish was just decent. We did enjoy the cornbread, though. Overall I think Charlotte can do better. I am still on the lookout for my favorite Soul Food dining destination!

Cornbread.



Ribs with green beans and fried okra.




Fried fish with mac & cheese and greens.

Sauceman's

One of my recent discoveries in Charlotte is Sauceman's BBQ. When I was growing up in Charlotte the small building at the corner of S. Tryon and West Boulevard was a scary looking Chinese takeout spot - not anyplace I ever thought to stop, although I did frequent the Bojangles across the street! Now with the light rail just a long block away and the burgeoning businesses on Camden Ave. nearby, the owners of Sauceman's have turned this once bleak spot into a highlight of the neighborhood and they serve some tasty BBQ to boot.

I've dined at Sauceman's twice and tried the chopped BBQ, the coarse chopped BBQ, the brisket and the ribs. My favorite is the brisket and the chopped BBQ as well as the mac & cheese, the fried green tomatoes and the hush puppies. The BBQ has a nice smoky flavor and several sauces are available to finish it off. The hush puppies are BIG and tasty. For dessert I indulged in the sugar biscuits - basically fried dough with sugar on top - yum! Next time I want to try the shrimp and grits, which I observed someone else eating last visit. I also saw someone attempting Sauceman's own food challenge: the Clark Griswold - let's just say one person should not be able to eat this giant portion of 2.5 lbs. of chopped pork, hush puppies, bread, slaw and another side dish! If you can eat it in under 30 minutes, it's free - otherwise it's $25. Maybe next time I'll try this with a couple of friends!

Coarse chopped pork with slaw and fried green tomatoes.

Ribs with fried corn.

Sugar biscuits.

Dilworth Neighborhood Grille

With free entree coupon in hand we decided to check out Dilworth Neighborhood Grille. After all, we live in Dilworth and it's always fun to try a new place. The space is attractive and has a lot of seating, with a large bar area and lots of TVs for superior sports watching. Service was also pleasant and prompt. Unfortunately the food we tried (other than the house salad, which was fresh and good) was nothing special. The slaw on the BBQ platter was not very flavorful and the BBQ itself didn't have any kind of smoky appeal. The mac & cheese was OK but not great. As for the shrimp and grits, to me it was way too cheesy/greasy- some may like all the cheese but definitely too rich for my taste and not enough distinct grits flavor separate from the sauce/cheese. This would be a fun place to watch a game and definitely good for the drinking set. Of course I only tried a few items from the menu, but from what I tasted the food is not the draw here.

BBQ plate - a bit skimpy on the meat.



Shrimp & grits - a bit too cheesy for me!



House salad - fresh and tasty.

DISH

Salad, green beans, tomato soup and mac & cheese served with a deviled egg and a biscuit - a great veggie plate.

Dish is a funky spot in Plaza Midwood that turns out great food including wonderful vegetables. Recently my mom and I had lunch here and truly enjoyed going meatless with the wide selection on the veggie menu. I particularly enjoyed the tomato soup and the green beans and the deviled egg and biscuit really added an extra touch. Dish also has plenty of options for carnivores including burgers (veggie available), sandwiches such as fish, grilled eggplant and grilled pimento cheese, entrees like meatloaf, shrimp & grits and chicken & dumplings, a variety of salads and "South of the Border" items like nachos, burritos and quesadillas. Desserts are also offered including a wonderful sounding vanilla bourbon sweet potato pie - yum! I look forward to returning to Dish again soon. In addition to lunch and dinner service, breakfast is also served on Saturday from 10-3. Dish is closed on Sunday.

Fresh fruit, squash, collards, cauliflower casserole with a deviled egg and a biscuit - yum!

Queen City Q

Onion rings with Boone's 57 sauce (front) and The Q Platter with double pork, beef brisket and St. Louis ribs.

Queen City Q is a fairly recent addition to the Charlotte BBQ scene. Located close to the 7th St. light rail stop, it's a perfect place to ride & dine. A few weeks ago Calvin and I walked uptown from our house, participated in a twilight 5K race and had a great dinner here before taking the train back home. If you don't live close enough to walk or take the train, parking is validated in the adjacent deck. In addition to a huge indoor dining room and full bar, there is a nice patio where we sat.

We decided to share an order of the onion rings appetizer and The Q Platter - you could choose up to 4 meats but since we love BBQ pulled pork we doubled up on that and had the brisket and the ribs as well. All of the meats were smoky, succulent and tasty, particularly the St. Louis ribs. It was also a portion big enough for a third person!

Queen City Q has a wide variety of sides including all of the usual suspects plus a few innovative additions like corn & edamame salad. Our chosen sides, mac & cheese and BBQ slaw, were good choices but I'd like to return to try the greens and sweet potato fries. Salads and tacos, two types of chili and Brunswick stew are also offered. I also like that they include Texas toast with the entrees - yum! I look forward to dining here again and trying more menu items!

Eastern NC BBQ slaw and mac & cheese.

Midwood Smokehouse - Charlotte

Carolina Pork Plate with fries and slaw. All plates come with hush puppies and pickled onions.

Midwood Smokehouse is a welcome addition to the Charlotte BBQ scene. Located in the ever burgeoning Plaza-Midwood neighborhood, Midwood delivers on the 'Q while at the same time adding modern flair with dishes like smoked vegetable bruschetta, smoked turkey and sausage and a Cuban sandwich. The pork BBQ was smoky and delicious and I love that they have 4 sauce options to choose from. The mac & cheese was a standout side and the hush puppies were tasty too. I look forward to going back to try the ribs, the pimento cheese fries and the desserts.

Smokehouse Bruschetta made with goat cheese.



Midwood offers decktop, patio and indoor seating and has a full bar.



Special of the day: Fried smoked wings - you can get the smoked wings anytime and on the side, bacon wrapped jalepenos, available as an appetizer or side.




Sauces: Mustard, NC Vinegar, Midwood Signature and Spicy. I liked combining the vinegar sauce with the spicy sauce - yum!



Smoked half chicken Midwood Style with BBQ baked beans and mac & cheese.

Five Napkin Burger

Original Five Napkin with onion rings.

I was recently invited to come check out Five Napkin Burger, which opened a location last year at the corner of 10th St. and Piedmont Ave. With four New York City locations and locations in Miami and Boston, Atlanta is the first true Southern city outpost. Although the specialty of the house is obvious, they also have sushi, which we did not try on this visit. I do like the concept though, since you can bring a carnivore and a pescetarian and both be happy :)

We arrived just as the restaurant opened for brunch and had a nice booth near the window. The space is modern and bright, with a full bar and high ceilings. We started with the pork taquitos, which are cute mini pork tacos in hard shells - tasty and not too filling, a good thing with what we had coming next! I had to try the Original Five Napkin burger, which is a whopping 10 ounce patty of custom ground beef with gruyere cheese, caramelized onions and rosemary mayo. It really hit the spot and is everything a big juicy burger should be. Some of the other burger selections like the Piedmont with pimento cheese, griddled onions and pickled jalepenos as well as the ahi tuna burger, sounded great as well - next time!

My favorite menu item was actually the lobster sliders. Calvin and I have looked long and hard for a good lobster roll in Georgia. It just isn't happening. While the sliders are a bit of a different take on the traditional "roll", they were warm, buttery and delicious. Definitely a repeat order for me. We also tried a side of the mac & cheese, which was creamy although not as heavy as some versions.

Pork Taquitos.



Butter poached lobster sliders with sweet potato fries - yum!



Macaroni & Cheese.



On our way out we took milkshakes to go. They were really tasty as well, making for a nice sweet end to the meal. Five Napkin is a neat addition to Midtown. If you are in the area it is another good place for brunch, lunch or dinner.

Disclosure: The meal reviewed in this post was complimentary.