‘We want to be SouthPark’s living room’: A new space for food, drink now open
A new, family-friendly restaurant hoping to create a community gathering place is now open in SouthPark.
The Craic — pronounced like “the crack” — is settling in to the 4,644-square-foot space that most recently held The Rusty Bucket. The name is an Irish term meaning “what’s going on, what’s fun,” co-owner Chris Healey told CharlotteFive.
“We want to be SouthPark’s living room,” Healy said. “A place you feel comfortable watching the game, hanging out after a concert, before and after you go uptown or anywhere else, hopefully we’re the place you think of.”
The doors opened April 15, with room for more than 175 people to watch sports on one of The Craic’s 24 TVs late into the night. The kitchen will remain open until 1 a.m., with the restaurant closing at 2 a.m.
There’s also a bonus that’s hard to come by in Charlotte: free parking, thanks to its location at Charlotte’s Ashley Park Lane.
Healy, who has experience at The Gin Mill and The Public House, leads the venture. He’s joined by longtime Rusty Bucket employee Parker Starre, The Craic’s co-owner and general manager, and former WBTV sports reporter and anchor Delano Little.
The atmosphere
Garage door-style windows line the wall in the bar area, ready to open up the space on warm days. An adjacent nook offers space for a two-piece band, entertaining guests with live music both indoors and outside.
Special features include a four-person Irish snug attached to the bar, complete with a pass-through for drink service and exterior doors from a 1800s-era church that can close off the space for privacy. (For now, it will be first-come, first-served, so stop by early if you want to sit there.)
There are also two phone booths in the restaurant: one in the entryway and one right past the host stand in the bar area. The phones aren’t hooked up for service, but the booths do serve a purpose.
Healy is hoping to gently nudge people off their cell phones while they’re at The Craic, instead directing them to take calls inside the booths, if needed.
A couple of rooms in the spacious dining area can be closed off for private parties, and one of them includes a billiard room. The pool table can also be used as a ping-pong table or even another table, if needed.
Each room is decorated with antiques and architectural salvage that’s been collected over the years, adding a little personality to the modern space.
The food at the Craic
At The Craic, you’ll find all the bar food you’d expect, including wings, pretzels from local company Bob’s Bad Ass Pretzels and nachos — plus Irish nachos, made with thick-cut potato slices and shredded short rib.
Salads and pizzas are also on the Irish-influenced menu from executive chef Daniel O’Connell, along with handhelds such as an Irish dip, a Dubliner smash burger and a salmon burger.
And it wouldn’t be an Irish pub without fish and chips on the menu. Other chef’s specialties include short rib pot roast, ribeye steak and prime rib, served only on the weekends at dinner.
Desserts include treats from locally-owned Honey Butter Bakery.
“In all honestly, it’s just simple food done right,” O’Connell told CharlotteFive. “We kinda want this to be your home away from home.”
There’s also a kid’s menu that includes smaller portions of steak, salad, pizza and beer-battered fish, as well as chicken tenders and a chicken sandwich.
Brunch — available from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily — brings chicken and waffle tacos, eggs Benedict and other staples like biscuits and gravy.
Beverages at The Craic
To wash down all your food, you can choose from offerings that include 31 beer taps and eight wine dispensers. Or try one of its 10 signature cocktails with house-made syrups.
Bar manager Sarah Pinto leads the beverage program, with Healy selecting the beer.
“There’s definitely some Irish beers on there, of course,” he said, noting the selections include Guinness, Smithwick’s, Kilkenny and Magners Cider.
“But we’ve got regional, local, international — we have a little bit of everything for everyone. It’s a pretty good variety of every style you could possibly want, whether it’s sours, lagers, blonde ales, Belgian beers, Irish beers, IPAs,” he said.
The cocktail list includes The Crag OF, a smooth take on an Old Fashioned, and the Irish Exit, a drink inspired by the Irish Maid, with elderflower, fresh lemon and muddled cucumber.
“It gets people to drink Irish whiskey in a cocktail versus a shot,” Pinto said.
Spirit-free beverages are also on the menu, including lavender lemonade, a Hugo Fresco spritz and a No-Fashioned.
Above all, the owners want you to know this is a place where you can come dressed up or dressed down — whether that’s for a casual lunch or a date-night dinner — and feel comfortable all the same.
“I think you should come in as you are,” co-owner Parker Starre said. “I think you’ll feel welcome as soon as you walk in the door.”
The Craic
Location: 4810 Ashley Park Ln, Charlotte, NC 28210
Cuisine: American, Irish
Instagram: @thecraic_clt
This story was originally published April 8, 2026 at 5:45 AM.
