Behind the scenes: Check out the new Resident Culture + El Toro Bruto, opening this week
Resident Culture Brewing Co. will celebrate the grand opening of its new South End taproom at 5 p.m. this Friday with live DJs, giveaways and dollar tacos from El Toro Bruto for the first 50 orders, with a limit of three per person.
Owners Amanda and Phillip McLamb and Chris Tropeano had considered a second location before COVID-19 and fell in love with the 17,000-square-foot building dating back to the 1920s.
“Even though it was in the middle of the world being on hold and we weren’t sure what was going to happen — and we still don’t — it was a leap that we all collectively wanted to take because the space was so special,” Amanda McLamb told CharlotteFive.
The warehouse was Charlotte’s first bus maintenance facility but had been vacant before Resident Culture started its buildout with Liles Construction as the general contractor and Cluck Design Collaborative as the architect.
Now, Resident Culture is set to open its second location, featuring craft beers, new cocktails, tacos from El Toro Bruto and a coffee bar coming this spring.
Resident Culture’s new taproom in an old space
“When we were exploring this space, the bones of it were so beautiful that we wanted to keep and hold onto as much of that as possible and preserve as much of this space and what makes this space so special,” McLamb said. “And we also were inspired to bring as much of the Resident Culture experience to South End and to this place (as we could). A lot of that, of course, comes through the artwork that is unique to Resident Culture.”
The brewery’s distinctive aesthetic comes courtesy of Maryssa Pickett, who has drawn the brewery’s labels and created other art for Resident Culture since before it opened. Now, those labels are creating an immersive experience in each room.
“We worked closely with Cluck Design and with Maryssa on creating experiences as you walk through each of these places, with each of them being inspired by those labels and their individual artwork,” McLamb said.
The main bar was inspired by Lightning Drops, Resident Culture’s flagship IPA. The brewery commissioned artist Jeff Hamrick to bring the label’s skeletal biker to life in the form of a suspended statue, a lightning bolt shooting through its skull.
Under the building’s skylights is another bar inspired by the brewery’s Lager Fest, a festival it held in 2019. There are two private dining rooms upstairs. One draws inspiration from Pickett’s drawings and sketches, the other from the brewery’s Brother Flower IPA.
Even the bathrooms call to mind the brewery’s Dance ‘Til You’re Dead triple IPA, with what McLamb describes as a “disco funky death vibe.” Downstairs, a 6,800-square-foot event space called The Gilded Cellar at Resident Culture South End will host weddings, concerts, art events and more when it opens later this year.
El Toro Bruto
McLamb first met chef Hector González-Mora when he was opening Comida in Plaza Midwood. Later, she and her husband counted themselves among the biggest fans of Chilito Tacos, his pop-up concept. So when González-Mora was looking for a consistent spot for people to pick up their orders, Resident Culture offered up its parking lot.
The crew at Resident Culture saw firsthand how the chef’s hard work earned him a cult following, so it was only natural that they asked González-Mora if he wanted to join them with his own brick-and-mortar concept at the new South End location.
“The three of us kept coming back to this person and this food that we absolutely cherished,” McLamb said. “He said yes — spoiler alert — and we’ve been building this thing since then and truly letting him run with all of his visions and dreams to create something that honors his history and his family. The talents that he has in the kitchen are so unbelievable. It’s really fun to see him fly on his own and be able to create something that he’s been dreaming about for years.”
That new concept, El Toro Bruto, will feature a menu of tacos, quesadillas and nachos. And fans of the breakfast tacos from Chilito will be happy to know that those will soon join the menu, as well as scratch-made pastries.
The brewery will eventually brew beers specifically to enjoy with El Toro Bruto’s menu, but for now it is making sure refreshing beers like Island Time and El Residente are on tap.
“There are definitely some plans in the future to have some exclusive beers over there tailored to the cocktail menu, as well as the food, but they’re both pretty intertwined,” Tropeano said. “I think the cocktails pair pretty well with the food.”
Speaking of cocktails …
Those cocktails include La Esquina, a blood orange margarita with tequila, orange liqueur, blood orange juice, citrus and agave; Smoke on the Water, a blend of mezcal, tequila, citrus, cinnamon hibiscus chili syrup and soda water; Normal Is Dead, made with bourbon, lime, orange marmalade and ginger beer; and Linger Longer, a new take on the espresso martini made with vodka, Kahlúa, Montenegro cordial and cold brew espresso.
Mostra Coffee
Resident Culture South End will also open its coffee bar this spring, exclusively serving San Diego’s Mostra Coffee. Named the 2020 Micro Roaster of the Year by Roast Magazine, Mostra Coffee has collaborated with Resident Culture (and many other breweries) on coffee-infused beers. This will be the Mostra Coffee’s first East Coast location.
“It just seemed like a really interesting opportunity to offer something new to Charlotte and the people nearby,” Tropeano said. “We proposed the question to them and were super pumped and humbled that they would even consider it. We’re using a lot more of their coffee, and one of our signature cocktails will feature their coffee. We’re going to give it the attention it deserves. We have some pretty fun plans for that.”
Resident Culture South End/El Toro Bruto
Location: 332 W. Bland St., Charlotte, NC 28203
Neighborhood: Gold District
Hours: Initially, Resident Culture South End will be open from 4-10 p.m. Monday; 4-11 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; noon to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday; and noon to 10 p.m. on Sunday.
Instagram: @residentculture
This story was originally published January 5, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
