Nightlife at the new Amelie’s in south Charlotte
It was 6:26 p.m. on a Thursday. Happy hour mentality should have been in full force. So why was I the only one sipping wine at the new Amelie’s in south Charlotte? There is a table dangling from the ceiling with a spilled wine goblet for goodness sake.
Nonetheless, meet my Bodega Gratia Malbec from Mendoza, Argentina. $9 for a glass. $32 for a bottle. “Ripe red fruit with hints of strawberry, blueberry and dark cherry. Very elegant with a vanilla lengthy finish.” According to the menu. I wouldn’t disagree. (Also, I dripped.)
Ten minutes later, I wasn’t the only one looking at the wine menu. Another man ordered the Malbec (a bottle) at my suggestion for his group of lady friends (well done, sir) and a couple of women ordered white wine. The menu, for your viewing pleasure:
Beer people, don’t fret. You weren’t forgotten.
Sweet tea orders at the bar also seemed quite popular.
“People flow in,” the assistant manager, Briana Wagner, told me as she bustled around behind the bar.
She has been with the company for two years and explained why this spot serves wine and beer, while the original NoDa Amelie’s does not: The NoDa location is open 24 hours and serving alcohol would be practically impossible to manage.
Alcohol is served at the Amelie’s locations in Rock Hill, Atlanta and now south Charlotte, which closes at 9 p.m. Sun-Thur and 11 p.m. Fri-Sat.
But Wagner doesn’t see that as problematic. She observed that on the weekdays in this area of town, there is not an abundance of lively activity.
Still, she said customers continue coming in to welcome them to the neighborhood during store hours (opening time is 7 a.m.). “We’re very busy,” she said. “We always have someone in here.”
As for the really busy hours? The 11 a.m.-2 p.m. lunch period crowds the place, Wagner said. Then it picks up again in the last hour of the evening, around 8. She said the nighttime crowd is all about the pastries.
I mean. Can you blame them?
Whatever you come for — the wine, the beer, the soups, the tartines, the coffees, the macarons — take it all in.
And before you go, don’t forget to add your love lock to the patio gate.
Photos by Katie Toussaint.
This story was originally published July 10, 2015 at 12:03 AM with the headline "Nightlife at the new Amelie’s in south Charlotte."