This month in photos: April 2021, Charlotte, North Carolina
The only predictable thing we know about 2021 thus far is that it’s unpredictable, so we are taking notes for the future historians.
In Charlotte, we spent our time during April 2021 celebrating new pizza restaurants, ballpark dining, Midcentury Modern real estate and more.
Here are five of our favorite scenes from the Queen City this past month from photographer Alex Cason:
(1) We congratulated Dilworth on its new Sal’s Pizza Factory
When it comes to Charlotte-famous pizza, Sal’s is the pepperoni on top. News of its expansion may gladly expand our waistlines, too #noregerts. On Wednesday, April 7, Sal’s opened its second Charlotte location (for delivery and takeout). The new Sal’s is at 2212 Park Road in the former Chi’s Pizza restaurant. It shares a shopping center with Inizio’s Pizza, which serves a Neapolitan-style pie.
- JERSEY-STYLE: Monmouth, New Jersey-style pizza has a thin crust, similar to a New York-style pizza.
- WHAT TO ORDER: On your first visit to Sal’s, try a classic pie or go big with a Chicken Parm pizza, a Stuffed BBQ Bacon pizza or a Buffalo Calamari pizza. It’s even got the best vegan pizza in Charlotte, according to a source in a 2019 CharlotteFive article.
(2) We ran with the theme — and celebrated all the new pizza restaurants.
Clearly, we’re big pizza fans in Charlotte. There’s no shortage of delicious pizzas to sink your teeth into all around the city, but that hasn’t stopped fan favorites such as Benny’s and Inizo from opening more locations and newcomers like Emmy Squared and Rocket Pizza nudging their way into the scene in 2021.
- Charlotte, we’ve really got pizza options — Connecticut style, Detroit style, New Jersey style, St. Louis style, Virginia style and brewery style.
- MARK YOUR CALENDAR: A few opening soon include 800° Woodfired Kitchen (opening Memorial Day weekend), Emmy Squared (opening this summer) and Rocket Pizza (there’s a countdown clock to keep us alert and hungry.)
(3) We toured a Midcentury Modern home with parking for a plane
Twin sisters Karen Roboz Rossitch and Tonina Roboz Abplanalp’s childhood home in Weddington’s Aero Plantation was built in 1964 by architect Victor Civkin. Fifty years after the home was built, they decided to renovate it. It’s the house of COVID-19 quarantine dreams, if there is such a thing — living here, you’d never want to leave. Take a tour with us, and look for:
Floating stairs, an original bar, a tile mosaic collage, hand-carved doors and a secret room.
The original home tour was featured in The Charlotte Observer on April 12, 1971, with the headline: “Her Utopia Far From Youth.”
(4) We ate our way through Truist Field
Knights 2021 season start on Tuesday, May 4, and we can’t wait for baseball, beer, hot dogs and everything else. We got a sneak peek at our options for this season, and it’s looking like a home run.
It’s more than just the food, though — it’s the fact that spending time outdoors, surrounded by the city that we love and an All-American pastime is such a needed experience after all we have been through during the pandemic. We welcome with open arms Bark in the Park, Thirsty Thursdays and everything else — it’s good to be home.
(5) We began keeping track of Charlotte’s patios
I’ve always loved outdoor dining, even before COVID-19 was on the radar. Now, as people begin to venture out and start to navigate this “squishy” part of the pandemic (we don’t want to be in lockdown anymore, but we also want to be mindful), restaurant patios are just the thing to bring us joy. We will publish these regularly through patio season, one neighborhood at a time — so hit us up at charlottefive@charlottefive.com and let us know which patios you think need to be on the list. Here’s a few to start:
- NoDa: Artisan’s Palate for its live music, The Dog Bar for the dogs, NoDa Company Store for a tropical escape, Roy’s Kitchen and patio for lots of sun — or shade — options and Wooden Robot for its rooftop.
- MoRA/Oakhurst: Chex Grill and Wings for its 35 wing flavors, Common Market Oakwold for its indoor/outdoor patio, Edge City Brewery for its sprawling area that spans past the patio for perfect social distancing and Vaulted Oak Brewing, when it opens, because we’ll get to drink craft beer in a bank drive-thru and that is just oh, so Charlotte.
This story was originally published April 30, 2021 at 6:30 AM.
