The best meals you’ve eaten all year in Charlotte: Your favorite restaurants from 2023
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The Best of The Charlotte Observer from 2023
It was busy year in Charlotte; from stories that captured the attention of an entire community to ones so eloquently told that it forced us to keep reading to find out what happened and why. These stories were the ones that stuck with us in 2023.
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As we’re wrapping up the year, we’re looking back fondly at the memories made and the special experiences we’ve had in Charlotte — many of them at some of the city’s best restaurants.
We shared our favorite meals of 2023, and we asked to hear what yours were, too — because sharing is caring. (And if you want to look back for even more fun, you can check out your favorite meals from 2022, as well.)
Here are the best meals that CharlotteFive readers shared from this year:
44 Mills Kitchen & Tap
Location: 6189 Bayfield Pkwy, Concord, NC 28027
- A menu item wasn’t included in the reader submission. However, current features include a seared chicken breast with an apple cider glaze, confit garlic mashed potatoes and sauteed asparagus ($24), salmon with roasted broccolini, lemon chive Carolina Gold risotto, sunflour seeds and a lemon chive cream sauce ($32) or shrimp and grits ($28).
Beef and Bottle
Location: 4538 South Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28209
- New York strip, loaded baked potato, creamed spinach — The restaurant’s 14-ounce New York strip comes with a salad and a side dish of your choice ($35).
Cafe Monte
Location: 6700 Fairview Road, Charlotte, NC 28210
- NC Trout — Cafe Monte’s Trout Amandine is served with caper butter, French green beans and fingerling potatoes ($18).
Calle Sol Latin Café & Cevicheria
Location: 1205 Thomas Ave., Charlotte, NC 28205
- Ceviche — Calle Sol offers four varieties of ceviche: classic, aji amarillo, rocoto and tuna nikkei ($17 each).
Customshop
Location: 1601 Elizabeth Ave, Charlotte, NC 28204
- Empanadas — Customshop’s empanadas appetizer is stuffed with braised duck, white sweet potato, aji panca, queso fresco and espelette peppers ($16).
Peppervine
Location: Piedmont Town Center, 4620 Piedmont Row Dr Suite 170B, Charlotte, NC 28210
- Veal ragu — While there’s no veal ragu currently on the menu, there is a Cheshire pork ragu, featuring
ground pork, charred broccolini, handkerchief pasta and lemon zest ($27).
Steak 48 Charlotte
Location: Apex SouthPark, 4425 Sharon Rd, Charlotte, NC 28211
- The Butcher’s Cut steak — “best steak in Charlotte,” the reader submission said.
- Steak — The restaurant’s steak selection ranges from a 12-ounce NY Strip ($59) to a 12-ounce Westholme Australian Wagyu Filet (market price).
- Filet mignon — Steak 48 offers multiple options for filet mignon, including an 8-ounce petite cut ($62), a 12-ounce bone-in option ($76) and 18-ounce bone-in cut ($89).
Zinicola
Location: Ballantyne Village, 14835 Ballantyne Village Way #140, Charlotte, NC 28277
- Scallops — Zinicola’s pan-seared scallops come with roasted cauliflower and pureed cauliflower, plus peperonata and pancetta ($38).
This story was originally published December 28, 2023 at 6:30 AM.
