Aside from the place we are going to for lunch on Saturday(it sounds awesome), what are some of the good local restaurants? Some place that showcases local cuisine where the locals eat? (Yes I used the work local three times in a row, but we want to go somewhere that we are going to find in Pennsylvania!). Thanks in advance.
There's good Vietnamese to be had near the corner of Tyvola and South, about a mile away from the hotel, at the Saigon Palace. Here's their Yelp review:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/saigon-palace-charlotteThe Flying Biscuit Cafe serves Southern food and also has good vegetarian options. It's actually an Atlanta based restaurant, a kind of a regional upscale chain that's recently come to Charlotte. They're good but a bit pricey for what they offer. Their site is:
http://www.flyingbiscuit.com/ and the closest one to the hotel would be the Park Road location. Ironically for a business with that name, the biscuits are probably the least impressive thing on the menu.
I'll also second the suggestion for Lupie's Cafe. It's quirky and local, but it'd definitely be a drive from the hotel.
http://www.lupiescafe.com/For barbecue, try Mac's Speed Shop. It's on South Boulevard and you could walk there from the New Bern Station, plus they're open until midnight.
http://www.macspeedshop.com/Pike's Old Fashioned Soda Shop is a local business with good food, not just soda. When movies shoot locally and they need a picturesque soda counter, they usually pick Pike's. I think Shallow Hal might have been the last one to use it. It's a very easy walk from one of the light rail stations (New Bern?). If you go and you get a drink, I recommend the Black Cow. Their red velvet cake is also made the old fashioned way, I believe - with vinegar, cocoa, and buttermilk to give the proper red color, no artificial dyes.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/pikes-old-fashioned-soda-shop-charlotte
