Food and Drink

Charlotte restaurant, hookah bar finds new home months after abrupt closure

Months after its sudden closure, Red at 28th is ready to welcome Charlotteans to its new space.

The multicultural restaurant, bar and hookah lounge officially opens Thursday, May 28, at 3509 David Cox Road in the Prosperity Church Road area of North Charlotte.

Customers can expect “elevated food, premium hookah, and the energy you’ve been missing,” the owners wrote in a message posted on Instagram announcing its new home.

A red brick building facade features a prominent storefront sign that reads “RED @ 28th” in a mix of stylized red and white script. The sign is positioned directly above a large, white-trimmed arched entryway. A decorative white architectural overhang crowns the top of the brick structure against a cloudy sky.
Red @ 28th, a restaurant, bar and hookah lounge, has found a new home in North Charlotte. Google Street View image from May 2026
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The kitchen and dining room open at 3 p.m. daily. There’s currently no alcohol service, but a full bar experience is expected at a later date. Hookahs start at $25.

“To everyone who held us down through every delay, every pivot, every ‘almost’ — this one is for you,” the owners wrote. “Red has always been built on community. Thursday is just the beginning.”

The bar and lounge abruptly closed its Dilworth location back in January, citing what management described as a lack of support from some in the local community.

“Our doors have always been open and welcoming to all with zero discrimination to race, sexual orientation, religion or beliefs,” management wrote at the time. “Our efforts were heavy to bridge a segregated gap, but there has [sic] to be an honest effort from the other side.”

A silver and blue glass hookah sits on a textured table against a deep red wall. In the background, a plush yellow armchair and a warm floor lamp create a cozy lounge atmosphere.
At Red at 28th in Charlotte, customers can enjoy premium hookah, a full service bar, books and light bites. CharlotteFive

Before it moved to Dilworth in 2021, the bar was a cozy University City hangout offering sips and noshes, premium hookah and a reading area all under one roof. The menu featured loaded fries, fish tacos, burgers and wing baskets, among other classic bar bites.

Red at 28th also had previous locations in NoDa and Greenville, South Carolina.

CharlotteFive reached out to the bar for more information and was awaiting a response.

A dark wooden A-frame sign stands in a hallway, featuring “RED @ 28TH” written in red and yellow chalk. Below the name, the sign lists the venue’s offerings: Hookah Bar, Books, and Events.
Red at 28th, a bar and hookah lounge, relocated to University City to Dilworth in 2021. CharlotteFive

Red @ 28th

Location: 3509 David Cox Rd, Charlotte, NC 28269

Menu

Cuisine: Bar, grill and hookah lounge

Instagram: @redat28th

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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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