Carolina Panthers DE Jared Allen on his favorite restaurants, trees and how Charlotte is like Kansas City

Carolina Panthers defensive end Jared Allen joined the team as a midseason pickup in a sweetheart deal of a trade with the Chicago Bears.

Allen, an NFL vet playing in his 12th season, is a five-time Pro-Bowler and NFL sack leader. He moved his wife and two daughters to Charlotte less than 12 weeks ago.

I talked with Allen about his initial take on the QC at a recent event honoring servicemen and women from nearby Fort Bragg.

What’s your initial impression of Charlotte?

I love it! The weather is phenomenal. What’s great is there are so many trees. The one thing is there are too many leaves. I’m used to leaves falling and it being done, not falling and falling and still falling.

Everybody has been so friendly since I got here. My wife and the kids got the Chicago house all packed up and we came the week of the fourth game. I have two daughters, a 1-year-old and a 4-year-old.

Where are you living?

We rented a house in Cotswold. It’s great. I grew up on a ranch in northern California and live in Scottsdale, Ariz., in the offseason. I’m very much an outdoors kind of guy. I am really surprised by the tree canopy here and the rolling terrain – It’s surprised me how hilly it is and man – all the TREES!!

So getting back to No-Cal for the Super Bowl would be a homecoming?

My mom works not too far from the stadium (Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., where Super Bowl 50 will be played). They live only 20 minutes from the stadium.

What restaurants have you discovered that you enjoy?

The food is phenomenal here. I really like Baku and Dogwood Southern Table. When we were at Dogwood, one of the neighboring tables ordered an entire pig – It was pretty cool. I love the bacon jam that they serve.

How does the Queen City compare to your other NFL stops of Kansas City, Minneapolis and Chicago?

It seems very comparable to Kansas City for me. Charlotte feels like a big town, it doesn’t feel like I’m in a city. Downtown Chicago or Minneapolis is like a big metropolitan city. Charlotte feels like it’s just a big town and has a similar feel, for me, like Kansas City.

What do you cook when you’re watching a game at home?

Unfortunately I’ve been at home for like the last 11 Super Bowls. We always have a Super Bowl Party at the house. Lots of grilling and smoking going on.

My menu is always smoking ribs, half-chickens. I have a built-in smoker – I used to use red oak but I really like big chunks of charcoal and then I add mesquite chips. My wife is half Italian; antipasto platters are huge with her and our friends. We have a special cocktail set-up – We like to have Moscow Mules and pitchers of margaritas and beers on tap.

Hopefully we’ll have a little closer seat for the game this year.

Photos: Jeff Siner/Charlotte Observer; AP Photo

This story was originally published November 18, 2015 at 9:26 PM with the headline "Carolina Panthers DE Jared Allen on his favorite restaurants, trees and how Charlotte is like Kansas City."