1. Good Date Venue - To start off, for those looking for a relatively inexpensive date venue, I would certainly throw Press Wine Bar into the mix. This trendy/urban wine bar has already made a pretty big splash for Uptowners looking for a place to grab a light dinner and reasonably-priced wines. The menu is eclectic and ranges from small plates (good one for the table is the grilled chicken flatbread with tomatoes, feta, black olives, red onion and spinach finished with a tzatziki sauce - for those not into raw onions, may want to stay away from this pick or you may spend the rest of your night picking off onions buried under a mound of fresh spinach. One that I was not crazy about was the trio of spreads - hummus, babaghanoush & artichoke olive tapenade - if you are looking for this type of appetizer, M5 seems to have figured this one out a little better.), sandwiches to a pretty extensive sushi menu that many believe to be the freshest sushi in town. Now for the reason I believe this to be a great date place in times of prudent spending...the wine. From French, Italian, German, Californian, Spanish and Argentinean, the best part about this place are the prices! The concept of the bar is genius - scour the restaurant's wall of wines to find one that suits you best, bring it back to your table and have your server uncork it...all at pretty much retail prices. How can you beat that and if it takes a little wine to unleash first date inhibitions, you might as well find a place these days where you can do it without breaking the bank. The feel is modern and the crowd is fun - for those that are looking for an alternative to the typical hunting grounds, not a bad place to pick up a cougar (40+) or cougar cub (30+) if you didn't come there with a date already.
2. Hole in the Wall Bar with Great Food - A place that sometimes gets lost in the shuffle of new restaurants coming on board but still competes for best bar food is Alexander Michael's or Al Mike's as the locals know it. Located in 4th Ward, this pub has been a popular hideaway for those looking to sneak away for a sit down lunch outside the gates of the banks during the week. The menu is full of great choices but the ones I would recommend are the wings (I get them hot but there are several types to choose from - fried and very tasty), the grilled buffalo chicken sandwich that is the best buffalo chicken sandwich in town, the spicy she-crab soup that you can substitute for the fries or venture down the path of BigEating and get both, or the What-it-is (a pasta dish that many come from miles around to fork). As a warning, this bar is no frills (not a great place for watching sports) and you won't find a bartender making any fru-fru drinks for the ladies but the atmosphere is quaint and it is a great place to kick back with a few bloody mary's on Saturday morning and dig into some really good food. By the way, it is closed on Sundays which sucks but live with it and they do allow smoking which is sometimes pretty overbearing if everyone in the bar decides to light up at the same time... nonetheless, go to Al Mikes...you won't be disappointed.
3. Good Place to Over Eat - Our regular Monday night hangout to watch football and eat ridiculous amounts of food is Mac's Speedshop BBQ. One way to measure if a restaurant is worthy enough to be included in the "Recessionary List" is how much food you can get for $15...
how about starting off with 6 Po Po Wings (these are a close second to only Moosehead wings in Charlotte - make sure to get them "extra grilled" because these wings are smoked and then grilled and if they don't grill them long enough, the skin is rubbery and the sauce does not caramelize the way it should), then move on to the a Big Pig (there are three sizes to the pork sandwiches, Lil' Pg, Big Pig and the Mac Daddy and all you need is the Big Pig - trust me) that comes with one side which I would recommend either the Mac and Cheese or the French Fries (some rave about the green bean casserole but I found it to be under-spiced and bland). All this food comes to less than $15 and believe me you will have wished you stop short of eating everything...Other items on the menu that are worth the feeling of being painfully full include the St. Louis Spareribs and the Kansas City beef rib. If you have a sweet tooth and have actually turned a dining experience into a binge eating episode, the Motha's Apple Pie is huge! I would probably shy away from the Texas beef brisket until it is overhauled a bit (I know it can be fixed because I had it when they first opened and it was awesome). There are two ways to prepare beef brisket - there is the "low and slow" bbq way that may be the best gift Texas has ever shared with the rest of the South and there is the Jewish Mother way (believe me, I know) which is to cook it at 350 degrees (because everything should be cooked at 350) for a few short hours, slice the brick into strips of jerky and watch as your kids have painful issues shitting for days....unfortunately Mac's seems to be getting impatient with their cooking techniques on the brisket if you know what I mean. Away from the brisket, there are more than enough reasons to give Mac's a whirl including the longest list of beers I have seen in Charlotte, 3 new plasma TVs that make watching football there so much better (hint hint Fox & Hound) and some great people watching.
5. Old School Burgers - Sometimes you just want a good greasy burger that does not cost you a weeks worth of wages simply because you put the word "gourmet" in front of it. Your wish is my #5 - Penguin on Commonwealth Ave. This little 50's-looking diner restaurant was featured on Diner's, Drive-in's and Dive's on the Food Network and for good reason...the fried pickles are a must to start the table off with and are served with ranch, the burgers are the real deal and, depending on how hungry you are, there are three sizes to choose from - the small block, the big block and the full blown hemi. The full blown hemi is 3 third pound patties squeezed between a plain white bun with a choice of "Southern Style" with chili, slaw, mustard, onions and cheese or "All-the-Way" with lettuce, tomato, onions and pickle and squeeze bottle ketchup on the table. Please feel free to send me any pics showing your attempt to put down a hemi and I will gladly post it to the blog. I don't think there is an item on the menu that is over $7 so don't be timid about ordering more than you can actually eat in one sitting. I have to say for selfish reasons I was apprehensive about talking about Penguin on this blog since the line to get in for lunch is already getting close to the "no way I'm waiting this fcking long for a burger" limit but I'm a sharing guy so enjoy.
6. Good Value Italian - A list of restaurants would not be complete without including an Italian one. My choice for best value Italian goes to Mama Ricotta's. Frank Scibelli, "Restaurateur of the Year" in Charlotte for 2008, grew his original restaurant concept from a tiny, unassuming 10 table restaurant where Maharani Restaurant presides today to its current location down the street a bit on Kings Dr. Some of the menu items are Mama's original recipes while others have been created or tweaked by the current head chef, but one thing still rings true, if you are looking for a pile of pasta at a reasonable price, this place fits the bill. Most of the selections come as either an individual portion or family style...given the premise of this blog, you can bet which way I would recommend. These family style portions can easily feed two if you are looking to do some major consumption or can comfortably feed three for those not intending on unlatching the belt at the end of the meal. For a table of 4, I would say to get two family style portions and share. My picks would be the Penne alla Vodka (I add chicken but it is still very good as is), Penne Broccoli and Chicken that is tossed in a light lemon cream sauce, the Pollo Carciofi (boneless chicken served with artichoke hearts in a white wine sauce with capers and polenta and) and the Pollo Romano (a close cousin to the chicken parmesan but without the fresh mozzarella). Most of the family style menu options are for the chicken dishes only but if you are in the mood to splurge, feel free to be a little more adventurous. Some other nice perks when dining at Mama's - the dinner rolls with the red pepper oil are awesome as long as they have not been sitting in the warming drawer too long. It would not be below me to stuff my pockets with these things for the drive home - they are that good. The desserts are almost comedic they are so big which makes them perfect for the table to share...my favorites are the Bread Pudding and the Nutella Pie. This wouldn't be my blog if I didn't throw out some drawbacks to the restaurant (nothing that should dissuade you from visiting, however). One thing that makes the restaurant feel a little "chainy" would be the cliche pictures of pasta on the wall (I realize these were in the original location and I will feel awful if these have some sort of sentimental value to Frank, but I feel like I could be eating at a Fazoli's with these things hanging over me). Another piece of constructive criticism is the recent lack of consistency with a few of the pasta dishes. Saucing of the pastas have been all over the board from the perfect amount to almost soupy. For me this is not a huge deal since it gives me an excuse to take some of the rolls out of my pocket and use them to finish up the extra sauce but some may not be into a game of bobbing for pasta in a bowl of tomato sauce. With that said, this restaurant should definitely make it into your rotation and these days is a good alternative to the expensive restaurants when family comes into town.
7. Breakfast on a Shoe String Budget - If you are looking for a good place to do some early eating on Sunday morning without having to get all dressed up, Eddie's Place on Sharon Amity is where you can find The BigEater. In addition to your normal breakfast fare of omelette's, pancakes, french toast and breakfast sandwiches, Eddie's Place also offers a selection of specials on Sunday that at first glance seem to go beyond the restaurant's repertoire but are actually well executed if you are willing to give them a shot. The look of the place is definitely nothing to write home about but don't take your eye off what really matters...at least for this blog and that is food and price. When the place is jamming (which you can count on Sunday mornings) there is not much room to wait other than outside so make sure to put your name in at the hostess stand and grab you a cup of coffee to keep warm (coffee is a little diluted but it's free so stop bithin'). The crowd is eclectic from college kids just rolling out of bed to Church-goers dressed in their Sunday's best and everything in between but the one thing in common is that everyone leaves here with a few dollars to spare and a fullness that typically lasts til dinner. When you come here you have to get the hashbrowns as one of your sides...I typically ask for them extra crispy based on a recommendation from a buddy.
So there are my choices for cost conscious eats that won't put a major dent in your savings...or what is left of it. Other notables include The Roasting Company, Dish, Intermezzo, Moosehead Grill and Hawthorne's Pizza.
And by the way, please remember that Elizabeth Ave. IS still open for business so support these restaurants that have yet to be supported by local city officials who think tearing up a street for a year will have little effect on bottom lines, especially in these markets (Carpe Diem, Customshop and NOFO).
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