The Charlotte restaurants that made a golf podcaster eat his ‘Diet Atlanta’ words
The spotlight on Charlotte dining is still shining bright this week, with another round of talk on whether we’ve got the goods — and it seemed like a big naysayer has since changed his mind.
Earlier this week, golf podcaster Todd Schuster trashed Charlotte and its food scene, saying it’s the “most vanilla, bland place in the world” and refering to us as “Diet Atlanta.”
“I’ve never had a good meal in Charlotte,” he said. “I don’t think there’s a good non-chain restaurant here.”
Now, after takedowns by CharlotteFive contributors Timothy DePeugh and Tamia Boyd — among many other comments from Charlotteans — he’s eating his words with what he labeled on X as “An updated appraisal of the Charlotte food scene.”
In amongst all the golf-focused chatter Friday morning on their live “No Laying Up” podcast, Schuster — who goes by Tron — and Phil Landes — who goes by Big Randy — recapped their visit so far to Charlotte for the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow.
He admitted being “very very critical” going in, adding that he got hundreds of recommendations.
Where Todd Schuster ate in Charlotte
He had lunch at Lang Van, which he called a “kind of divey Vietnamese place” that was better than anywhere he’s had in Atlanta or San Francisco.
Schuster also ate at L’Ostrica for a 10-course tasting meal with wine pairings with a group of guys from Truist out to change his mind — along with one of the Customshop owners and a few food bloggers.
“That place will have a Michelin star within the next 18 months, I think ... one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time,” he said, noting the owners’ hospitality.
Fighting about food
The live blog discussion also called out the CharlotteFive story in “the paper of record,” noting that DePeugh seemed to capture Schuster’s vibe as he was jabbing right back.
“Congratulations to Tron, and congratulations to the Charlotte Observer, to the people here. That’s good, good stuff,” Landes said.
After all the back and forth, now Schuster might just return for another taste.
“I think there’s a few places here I didn’t get to hit. I didn’t get to Customshop. Like, truly, I’d like to come back up and do it right in a non-major week and be able to kind of eat around the city,” he said.
Good food in Charlotte
Supperland did the trick for the golf podcasters, too.
“Oh, so good. Oh, my God,“ Landes said.
“It was very heavy, but it was exceptional. Great space, converted church, all that,” Schuster said.
“Shout out to Thomas, our waiter,” Landes interjected.
“Thomas, what an experience. What an awesome service,” Schuster agreed.
In the end, Schuster ended up eating his words a bit, too.
“I do think I probably I ascribed everything I thought about Charlotte 2005-2015, and it seems like it’s come a long way in the last 10 years ...”
“But, no, I like Charlotte. Good people here. It almost feels quasi-Midwestern, in a way, like people are extremely friendly.”
This story was originally published May 16, 2025 at 11:45 AM.
