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charlotte’s best patios

May 30, 2017 by Chrissie 6 Comments

Filed Under: all, charlotte, nc, patios Tagged With: al fresco dining, charlotte, Charlotte Restaurants, patios

While Spring is heating up in the Carolinas and with summer right around the corner, you’ll want to head to one of Charlotte’s best patios to soak up the sun and cool off with a cold one.

Happy almost summer! Memorial Day is definitely the official unofficial start of summer; now the pool is open and the school year finish line is in sight! I hope that you had a wonderful long weekend grilling out, chilling out, and basking in Charlotte’s almost summer glow. The weather brought it’s A game this weekend, blue skies, warm temps (but not the sticky hot stifling stuff we get in July), perfect for spending time outside. AJ and I escaped to the mountains for an overnight backpacking trip, where I thwarted his initial 12 mile loop plans by getting intimidated by a (pretty intense if I do say so myself) water crossing about three and a half miles in. We ended up scrapping the loop and doing a nice seven mile in and back, with a beautiful campsite right next to the Pigeon River (in other news, we made some delicious camping food that I want to share with you soon!).

What does our camping trip have to do with Charlotte’s best patios? Well, other than the fact that my husband learned this weekend that I’m outdoorsy in that I like drinking on patios, the pretty weather this weekend basically begged you to get out of the house and enjoy some dining and drinking al fresco on one of Charlotte’s best patios. And the weather and I like to have perfect timing because on Friday, my friends at Charlotte Today invited me on to talk about al fresco dining in Charlotte, so I shared my list of Charlotte’s best patios on air!

Charlotte offers a ton of patio dining and drinking, so this list was really hard to narrow down (it started at ten or eleven spots andthen I had to whiddle away…Foxcroft, I still love your burgers and doughnuts!). But I wanted to narrow the list down to those spots that are more unique and special, and offer something other than just the view of a parking lot (recently, a friend and I have been talking about Charlotte’s abundance of patios with stellar parking lot views, ha). I also steered away from spots that only serve drinks (although there is one brewery that did make the list!) because I wanted to focus on Charlotte’s best patios where you can enjoy a meal (but of course, any of these spots are perfect for a cold beer or cocktail!). The result is a wide range of food options: like hot dogs, Peruvian chicken (and really excellent sauce), burgers, fried and more elegant, farm to fork meals.

 

And a wide range of ambience like laid back rooftops, bustling biergartens, sweeping skyline views, covered hideaways, and picturesque points right next to the water.

Thank you to Charlotte Today for having me to talk about one of my favorite outdoor activities, eating outside! The full segment with my recommendations of Charlotte’s favorite patios is below.

https://www.offtheeatenpathblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Chrissie-Nelson-5.26.17.mp4

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Comments

  1. Mendy says

    July 29, 2017 at 2:32 pm

    HI…My husband and I are driving from Dallas TX to the 2017 PGA Championship golf tourn in Charlotte. So excited…have never been there or the east coast. Need recommendations for hotel location…have not booked one yet…yep..I am late in doing so! LOL Also, we are foodies so any local restaurant recommendations would be awesome! Thanks so much,
    Mendy

    Reply
    • Chrissie says

      August 1, 2017 at 8:11 am

      Hi Mendy!

      Thanks for checking out my blog! If you’re going to the PGA Championship, the closest hotels to Quail Hollow would be in SouthPark or Ballantyne (both are probably a 5-10 minute drive from the golf course, and SouthPark has offered a shuttle in the past from the mall). If you stay in Uptown (Charlotte’s downtown) you’ll probably be at least 20 minutes away. For my local recommendations, check out my “where I’ve eaten” page…it has all of the Charlotte restaurants I’ve eaten at. My Charlotte’s Best Bites series is also great because it’s local recommendations from me and other Charlotte foodies. Are you looking for something specific? I’m happy to give you a list depending on what you’re looking for!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. strawberry bellinis | off the eaten path says:
    March 2, 2018 at 7:29 am

    […] and I consider it to be very important (I’m not actually talking about patio drinking season but you should go read about my favorite patios in Charlotte). I’m talking about that period of time from about April through October that many of us observe […]

    Reply
  2. sweet potato breakfast hash | off the eaten path says:
    March 9, 2018 at 7:48 am

    […] a man of few words); his love of nature and the outdoors and sleeping in a tent and that I’m outdoorsy in that I like to eat and drink on patios; the fact that it sometimes takes us almost two hours of back and forth to agree on a movie to […]

    Reply
  3. our favorite charlotte breweries: a breakdown of 21 charlotte breweries and our top ten favorites | off the eaten path says:
    May 3, 2018 at 7:33 am

    […] They just did a big tap room renovation complete with a rooftop patio with a skyline view and we haven’t been to see it yet which is foolish of us because one of my favorite activities is to drink a beer on a rooftop patio. […]

    Reply
  4. where to stay in asheville, nc: asheville glamping | Off the Eaten Path says:
    March 9, 2019 at 2:05 pm

    […] (Speaking of patios, I love eating and drinking on patios and I think these are the best Charlotte patios.) […]

    Reply

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chrissie off the eaten path blog
Hi! I'm Chrissie: a pizza and sushi loving, craft beer and red wine drinking, restaurant exploring and traveling home cook who's been taking pictures of my food since 2013. To learn more about Off the Eaten Path, click here!

Get in touch: offtheeatenpathclt@gmail.com

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Even if your friends didn’t give you personalized hurricane glasses as a wedding gift 😂, I’ve got a really easy recipe for you to make some hurricanes at home for Mardi Gras tomorrow!

Hurricane Matthew (named after the hurricane we got married during!)
Makes 2 cocktails

4 ounces light or silver rum
4 ounces dark rum
4 ounces passion fruit juice (pineapple juice can be used instead!)
2 ounces orange juice
1-2 ounces lime juice
1 ounce grenadine
1 ounce simple syrup (optional if you like sweeter cocktails)
orange slice and cherry for garnish

Shake all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and strain into a tap glass filled with ice.

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Some personal news: I finished watching Dawson's C Some personal news: I finished watching Dawson's Creek!

It's a journey I started in mid-December and I'm proud to say that I finished the 128th episode last night. That’s 96 hours of late 90's nostalgia which I think is a great life accomplishment (and AJ says it's disgusting but nobody asked you AJ).

It just so happens we spent a week at the beach during my watching peak, so we spent an afternoon wandering around Wilmington to see some filming locations. Perfect timing! For my fellow Dawson's Creek fans, you can save this post for stroll (and a short car and ferry ride) next time you're in Wilmington:

Downtown
The Wilmington Riverwalk
Elijah's Restaurant, 2 Ann Street: Pacey's Icehouse in the finale
Reel Cafe, 100 South Front Street: look across Dock Street and you'll see the top of Joey's wall (there is restaurant patio seating in front of the wall now)
Michael's on the Waterfront, 5 South Water Street: Leery's Fresh Fish
Black Cat Shoppe, 8 Market Street: Capeside CD Shop
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Alderman Hall at UNCW, 601 South College Road: Capeside High School
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Wrightsville Beach
Dockside Restaurant, 1308 Airlie Road: exterior shots of The Icehouse
Oceanic Pier, 703 S Lumina Ave: the pier from the opening credits 

Kure Beach and Southport
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