Food and Drink

Charlotte-area burger joint plans new location at Concord marketplace. What to know

A Charlotte-area burger joint is bringing “the best smash in town” to a new city.

Bae’s Burgers is expanding with plans to open a new spot at The District Exchange in downtown Concord, according to a news release sent to CharlotteFive.

A man and a woman, Claire Connelly and Fabian Elmes, stand smiling outside their restaurant, Bae’s Burgers, holding a burger and a fried chicken sandwich. The man has visible arm tattoos and is wearing a backward baseball cap, while the woman wears a black polo shirt with the restaurant’s logo.
Bae’s Burgers founders Claire Connelly and Fabian Elmes started the business out of a food truck in 2018, according to the restaurant’s website. Bae’s Burgers

The Mooresville-based restaurant will set up shop as an anchor tenant inside the two-story marketplace, joining Crane Coffee Co. and First-N-Flights taproom and lounge. District Exchange’s first shops — Barley Jean’s Bakery and Life is Sweet Candy Store — opened back in September, CharlotteFive previously reported.

“Opening our second Bae’s Burgers location at the District Exchange feels like a natural next step in our creative journey,” Claire Connelly, co-founder of Bae’s Burgers, said in the release.

This is a bright, conceptual rendering of the interior of a Bae’s Burgers restaurant with a high ceiling, exposed brick, and a white balcony overhead. The space features a long wooden communal table in the foreground and a vibrant orange and yellow service counter with a neon sign that reads “Bae’s Burgers.”
A conceptual rendering of Bae’s Burger’s newest location. The build out is scheduled to begin in 2026. Bae’s Burgers

Connelly and her husband, Fabian Elmes, are behind the classic smashburgers, each made with a “beef blend of chuck, short-rib and brisket,” the restaurant’s website says.

The menu includes four burger options — The Bae, The G.B.B., Bae’s Patty Melt and The Pretender — each topped with American cheese and signature Bae sauce, then served on a potato bun.

There’s also a Fry Chicken Sando, made with a hand-breaded chicken breast filet, pickles and Bae sauce.

“We can’t wait to share our signature approach, quality ingredients, intentional flavors, and the same scratch-made passion with Concord,” Connelly said. “We’re honored and excited, with the support of our guests, to grow our following here.”

A wide-angle photo shows a bustling indoor marketplace, The District Exchange, featuring a two-story layout with white walls, dark wooden tables, and a high ceiling with exposed beams and string lights. People in casual clothes and some in Halloween costumes are visible walking and mingling during an event called a “Candy Crawl.”
The District Exchange in downtown Concord, NC, is a two-story shopping complex featuring a curated lineup of micro-retail shops. Michael Anderson
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The burger joint will join a curated lineup of retailers at The District Exchange, including:

The shopping center is now fully leased, and a grand opening celebration for the finished building is slated for sometime next year, the release said. Customers are invited to shop the retailers that are already up and running.

Bae’s Burgers

Location: 22 Union St N, Concord, NC 28025 (opening 2026)

Location: 246 N Main St, Mooresville, NC 28115

Menu

Cuisine: Burgers + fries

Instagram: @baesburgers

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Tanasia Kenney
Sun Herald
Tanasia is a service journalism reporter at the Charlotte Observer | CharlotteFive, working remotely from Atlanta, Georgia. She covers restaurant openings/closings in Charlotte and statewide explainers for the NC Service Journalism team. She’s been with McClatchy since 2020.
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