Family in town for the holidays? Here are the best places to take them around Charlotte
Is your family coming to Charlotte to visit you for Thanksgiving? You’ve preordered your Thanksgiving meal or made your dinner reservations. Your family dinner traditions are at the ready. But what else will you do with your visitors once they get here? Where should you go?
Never fear — we put together a handy guide to the 11 best places to take your holiday visitors in the Charlotte area.
We’ve got ideas for places to eat and things to do to keep everyone happy and entertained, including you.
Bitty & Beau’s Coffee
Location: 1930 Camden Rd. Suite 236, Charlotte, NC 28203
Start your post-holiday day with all the caffeine to cancel out the tryptophan. Bitty & Beau’s was named the best coffee shop in the Charlotte area by CharlotteFive readers earlier this year. The Wilmington-based shop is known nationwide for its inclusion and employment of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Its South End location in Charlotte also makes it the ideal spot to show off the city’s Rail Trail.
Brunch with the family
Location: Multiple
Charlotte is a city known for it’s great restaurants, and that includes the most important meal of the day. Whether you’re looking to load up on pancakes or create a morning with a side of vibes, we can help you find the right spot. Here are a few of our favorites:
Forty8Hundred Caribbean Restaurant & Lounge, which serves brunch with a side of afrobeats;
Cafe Monte, a French bistro in SouthPark that OpenTable named as one of the best neighborhood gems in America;
The Hanger, located inside Devil’s Logic Brewing, where you can show off our city’s brewery scene at the same time.
Also, don’t sleep on our roundup of the best places to load up on pancakes. Save the nap for after breakfast!
Camp North End
Location: 300 Camp Rd, Charlotte, NC 28206
Camp North End is a great spot for food, shopping and people-watching. History buffs can admire the adaptive reuse of the buildings where Model Ts and missiles were once made, and others can pick up a plant at Grow, book at That’s Novel Books, or a doughnut from Beyond Amazing Donuts. Don’t miss having a meal at Leah & Louise, which is on CharlotteFive’s list of the 10 best restaurants to take out-of-town guests. It’s owned by James Beard-finalist chef Greg Collier and his wife, Subrina. Esquire named the Memphis-inspired spot one of the best new restaurants in America in 2020. Camp North End’s Mistletoe Market begins Dec. 3.
Charlotte Christmas Village
Location: Truist Field, 324 S. Mint Street, Charlotte, NC 28202
Get in the holiday spirit with the Charlotte Christmas Market’s Christmas Village and Light the Knights from Nov. 25-Dec. 23. You can browse the market for gifts while eating a bratwurst or schnitzel, and warm up with Gluhwein or a hot cider. Check the schedule of events before you go.
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Location: 5555 Concord Pkwy. South, Concord
Speedway Christmas kicks off Nov. 18, and always makes our annual list of top spots to enjoy holiday lights. You can pack everyone into mom’s minivan and enjoy a 4-mile course of displays with 4 million lights synchronized to Christmas-themed music.
Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens
Location: 6500 S. New Hope Road, Belmont, NC 28012
Holidays at the Garden is an event where people can walk through the garden and admire the holiday lights and blossoming cherry trees. The event, which begins Nov. 25, will also feature food trucks, marshmallow stations and warm beverages.
Go vegan for a day
Location: Multiple
Full of turkey and dressing, and looking for something different? Take the family to one of the city’s best vegan restaurants. Check out our latest guide, which rounds up 16 of the best vegan restaurants in Charlotte and tells you what to order at each. Whether you choose a falafal stack from Plant Joy, a burger from Romeo’s Burgers or some sweet heat buffalo drums from Veltree, the whole family will be happy and full.
Merino Mill
Location: 500 South Main Street, Mooresville, North Carolina 28115
Head north to Mooresville, where you and your guests can try what CharlotteFive readers deemed the best burger in the Charlotte area at Barcelona Burger & Beer garden. If beef isn’t your thing, you can pop over to Alino Pizzeria, named by Delish as “The Pizzeria Everyone is Obsessed With In Your State.”
While you’re there, you can explore Merino Mill, where you can grab a cup of coffee and browse art, or shop for antiques and home goods.
Optimist Hall
Location: 1115 N. Brevard St., Charlotte, NC 28206
Optimist Hall is a solid option to keep relatives and friends with diverse tastes and dietary concerns happy. There’s Indian street food at Botiwalla, fried chicken sandwiches at Boxcar Betty’s, empanadas at Felix Empanadas, cocktails at Billy Sunday — and we could go on. You can spread out to explore the options and grab what you want, then meet back outside at a patio spot to enjoy the fresh air while you eat.
Waterfront dining
Location: Multiple
Don’t have a home on Lake Norman? Not to fret, you can still show off the area’s best water views by dining on a waterfront restaurant. Check out our guide to the best restaurants with a water view along Lake Wylie, the Catawba River, Lake Norman and more. If it’s cold out, some of the eateries will have their patio heaters on if you want to sit outside.
Winterfest at Carowinds
Location: 14523 Carowinds Blvd, Fort Mill, SC 29708
On select nights starting Nov. 23, Carowinds’ Winterfest can immerse your guests with holiday carolers and decorated displays while they wait to ride the Fury or snack on treats.
