Around Town

Earl’s Grocery: Get hip at this Elizabeth restaurant

By Jen Rothacker

The girlfriends and I met for lunch at Earl’s Grocery along Elizabeth Avenue, next door to the Visualite. By the time we left, we were feeling mighty hip.

Location, location

Earl’s is located along that strip of Elizabeth Avenue filled with eclectic, urban restaurants. Down the street toward Presby is Viva Chicken (another great lunch spot if you’re willing to try Peruvian food) and toward town is Carpe Diem and Customshop, lovely dinner dining.  The new trolley line is laid in front of it. Trendy vibe.

Inside

Even cooler. Earl’s is mostly grocery, lots of prepared foods and small restaurant. You can’t help but wander around when you walk in. There’s so much interesting food to look at — huge cases of cheese, an entire freezer of exotic sorbets (brown butter almond brittle, burnt sugar, pink grapefruit) and specialty foods from around the country.

I love how the wine section appealed to my general stupidity on wine, as well as my thriftiness.

Lunch

You order at a counter and somebody brings it out to you. My hopes were high, because the two women who run Carpe Diem, one of my favorite Charlotte restaurants, opened Earl’s as a less formal format. Here’s what we got:

I got the Brooklyn BLT, a special that day. Check out this lineup of ingredients: jalapeno bacon, pimento cheese, pickled green tomato, lettuce, wheat bread, sriracha aioli. As good as it sounds, and with a kick. The brussel sprouts slaw was fab.

Friend Leigh ordered the Banh Mi sandwich: Lemongrass pulled pork, daikon and carrot pickles, radish, cilantro, mint, toasted baguette, and Saigon aioli. We were all glad she shared.

Michelle tried the chilled noodles with braising greens, pickled red cabbage, chili lime tofu and peanut dressing. Definitely combine all the ingredients to get the full punch of smokey and tangy tastes.

Dessert

I had to take my Charlotte Five crew back at the office some desserts, especially since they’re made in-house. My fave: The chocolate/peanut butter crunch bar. I wish I didn’t have to share it with my C5 crew.

The Bill

We all spent about $10 on lunch, which is great for a lunch with the ladies. Earl’s is a place to be appreciated. It’s so thoughtful with its cozy decor, terrific food lineup and its sense of community, including events that feature DJs and cocktails. We’ll be back.

I taught my first mixology class today at Earl’s Grocery & it was so much fun! We will be doing one class a month from now on so stay tuned for the dates. #cltfood #cltdrinks #cocktail #cocktails #craftcocktail #craftcocktails #craftbartender #barman #bartender #mixology #ilovemyjob A photo posted by Bob Peters (@bob_peters) on Oct 18, 2014 at 1:55pm PDT

This story was originally published February 6, 2015 at 1:18 AM with the headline "Earl’s Grocery: Get hip at this Elizabeth restaurant."

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