3 Star Reviews

Lin’s Buffet

W WT Harris Blvd
In The Furniture Plaza By RT77
Charlotte, NC 28269
All Photos Of Lins Buffet

So I finally got invited out for a meal and treated. My food budget has been on the rocks lately, so ill take the free meal and free content for our site.

This weekend past I had a chance to check out what I was told was a “new chinese place by the mall”. Lin’s Buffet is a chinese buffet that reently opened just on the East side of 77 right by the new Northlake Mall. The builders have done a good job of developing this plaza. This plaza is mostly furniture stores but does have a few nice buildings with new restaurants.

Lin’s is a nice large and roomy building with pretty much standard fare you’d expect in a buffet. On this first visit it was the weekend rate of $10.99, which means more meats and high end foods to sample. Im not so sure the difference in presented meats and platters added up to the extra $4 we paid, but it was overall pretty good quality choices.

The buffet had a number of the standard Chinese chicken dishes, with perhaps a better number of choices than you would expect, Tso chicken, sesame, orange, sweet and sour, black pepper and more all on the buffet at the same time. For higher end choices, rare roast beef, crab legs and more will make you happy with the $11 you spent.

While there wasnt even close to the huge array at Chen’s Bistro in the Promenade, it also wasn’t the $15 or $17 that Chen’s charges to offset the “buffet campers” pounding down crab legs like it was the “cure for ugly”.

The buffet was average size and had more entrees and meat than you may be used to getting, with a seperate area for salad and some deserts, though not many.

The one very nice benefit is the fact that the sushi is made while you wait and included. The staff, for the most part, doesnt speak english. I wont be presumptious and assume they all to speak Chinese, but definately not english in 2 of 3 cases of the staff. This fact is actually a bit annoying and affects the service and conversation you may be used to in your dining stop. I felt the staff was trying but disinterested since you cant reallly say hello and thank you.

The inside decor is a bit lacking. The restaurant really looks like it just opened or perhaps the decoration truck never arrived. Alot of blank walls, empty spaces and flat airport carpetting gives it a bit of a cafeteria feel. I think this to be a good choice for “power eating” of some decent platters, but it is not all that relaxing or comfortable a setting.

Some decent food, nice choices and all around general good quality of the buffet, though it is awful plain inside and not overly exciting or special. If you are near here and can find this hidden location then perhaps a one time visit to this borderline chinese stop. If you want sushi in your affordable buffet then perhaps a good choice. If you want a bit higher quality or more intimate setting I insist you goto Golden Taipei just up the road.

Tony’s Pizza

WT Harris Blvd
1530 Overland Park Lane Suite 1/104
Charlotte, NC 28262
All Tony’s Photos Here

Well it was about time to expand upon the very limited exposure to Pizza in Charlotte I have had. The goal of any pizza mission and the aspects of a good pizza “joint” are as follows. Keep in mind the goal is to find a great affordable weekly place that you can reward yourself and the kids with. A Pizza “joint” of choice will become familiar like a glove to you as you are a part of a neighborhood and a good pizza place is a important part as well.

1. Should be affordable with good coupons to be found regularly.
2. Should make great Pizza the way you like it.
3. Should have friendly Italian or New York accented staff or owners.
4. Should have the smell and feel of flour on the floor, red vinyl booths, red pepper shakes and the bell behind the door when you walk in. If you have a pizza joint you love then you understand this feeling that is exclusive to pizza places.
5. Should be good enough in variety of foods to provide alternatives equal to the pizza they make (ie: calzones, meatball subs)

Well off to Tony’s for the first time and to this newly opened Tony’s location on WT Harris. This is another anchor storefront in this new apartment neighborhood just past Harris Teeter and near RT 85.

Addressing this in a systematic way using the above bullets Tony’s hits and misses on some key points. All in all you will se we were pleased with the stop and thankful for their friendly staff.

Firstly, looking at the pricing it is a bit high though comparable to other real hand tossed pizza in the area. With mediums at about $13 for a cheese that’s a bit more than one would like to drop everyweek as it comes to 17+ with toppings. Keep in mind that a medium here (like DaVincis) is much larger than a normal medium and can be viewed as almost a large. I hate to grip about a few bucks but the place is 2-3$ higher than ideal though not out of the ordinary for a restaurant of this type.

We next think about the overall taste and how well this pizza sat with our crew at home. The Pizza is very comparable to DaVincis in Davis Lake,which is popular with alot of people. You can see a nice close up of the Pizza we had right here which was with mushroom, ham and sausage. The pizza was a slight shade thicker than DaVincis which i enjoyed. If you see an old post of ours we complain about this “pursuit of thin” that many restaurants are on. “Thin” isn’t the answer to “good” and a nice “bready” crust is sometimes a much better pie. I liked the pizza slightly thicker than DaVincis though it lacked spice for my taste and agreed on by all that had it. A little garlic in the sauce and black pepper would have gone a long way to making this a great pizza. Keep in mind that we had somewhat bland ingredients, but the sausage was a bit bland as well. After eating a second slice we had wished we got pepperoni on the pie as it was a bit plain tasting. All in all its was good, perfect thick and folding but perhaps needed a bit more flavor and we will get onions and pepperoni next time to remedy this.

Third aspect above is the ownership. The owner or manager who spoke to us while we waited was friendly and cool, we thank him for being so. He is originally from Sicily, is prepared to address you order in English, Italian and Spanish and was about my age friendly and about what you would hope for.

A pizza “joint” is chatty and social like a barbershop, and if you don’t like the people its hard to make it the “place”. So props to a cool staff and taking the time to talk with us.

Aspect #4 which is the way a pizza place is in your mind was a real hit for me. The black and red Vinyl booths, rows of red pepper and framed sayings and whatnots all over the walls was right on target. After work or a game this place excelled in the way it felt to take a load off. Better than DaVincis, which we use as a measuring stick it seems, I liked the layout and casual “80’s Pizza Hut” feel of this location. If you are on lunch this is a nice place to get a seat and a slice.

The final aspect which is the variety of the menu was another strong mark for Tony’s. Tony’s has alot of the New York favorites that you just can’t get too many places. Enjoy ground beef topping, green olive topping, subs, salads, calzones and most impressively white pizza and thick style pies. White pizza is such a great changeup that a real place you call your “own” really needs to make it well. The addition of thick crust pies like up north also makes for some great crusts you can dip and eat too. The menu has a great variety, better than DaVincis, and should provide endless lunch and dinner change-ups if you live nearby.

Well that covers a good time out with my girl grabbing our first Tony’s from WT Harris. We like the layout alot and the comfortable feel of this location. The pizza looked great, was a bit plain less than extraordinary, but pretty good. I know everyone has opinions on Pizza, but if this had a few shakes of garlic and onion pwder and perhaps black pepper in the sauce it woulda hit home perfectly.

The variety of the menu was impressive and had every old favorite you could want. This nice looking menu was also a huge plus. This morning I was enjoying the cold slices from our good sized medium pie and really wished I had gotten onions on it.

I think its safe to say I will make time to try another one from this friendly place with decent pie and a nice huge menu of choices. If the Stromboli turns out to be great it could qualify as the “joint” for me.

Moe’s Southwest Grill

Grande Promenade Center, WT Harris Blvd
Charlotte, NC 28262
704 971-3380
Pictures From Moes Southwest Grill

Another of the old reviews getting carried over to Charlottecritic 2.0
Been to Moe’s a half dozen times this past year and it
is still just as cool as I thought back then.

About 2 days back got a chance to stop in and
try the brand new location of
Moe’s Southwest Grill, which actually has a mostly
Mexican food menu. The new
location is in the Grande Promenade II (2) which is on Harris pretty close to
UNCC. This location is in conjunction and affiliated with the Shane’s Rib Shack
franchise.

The fact that they built so close to Qdoba
in the Promenade shows either confidence in their product or a
different target audience. I think they have a different target audience and
a better parking situation which should lead to them beating out Qdoba for most
of the college crowd once they get found.

The food is amazingly similar to what Qdoba serves with a bit more authenticity
and a little less retro-yuppie design in mind. Needless to say the hot sauce
actually making me sweat was nice to find in a semi-fast food situation like
this.

To walk in you will see student serving students and music playing in what
can only be described as a ‘cool place’. The two people working were both very
cool in offering suggestions and assure me that the ranch suace on your burrito
is a very smart choice. I had a pretty massive steak burrito that is equal in
size and weight to what Qdoba serves, which is a compliment. The burrito doesnt
though have 75% rice and beans like Qdoba served. The burrito at Moe’s was more
meat, cheese and vegetables, or to say traditional. Im not bashing Qdoba
on this fact, the rice and beans has a excellent distinct tang to it that cool
also, but not my personal preference.

Important thought #2? men like sauce, dipping and spice….Moe’s staff offered
up ranch sauce, but I opted for the hot sauce which will have you teetering
on a sweat, which is a perfect level of heat.Also Moe’s has a specific sauce
‘bar’ which has your standards green, brown, and 3 levels of red. The Green
salsa is not hot at all and very sweet and tasty.

My Ms. had the Quesadillas which she wasnt thrill about having to assemble
with no extra plate, and the somewhat light amount of grilled chicken that came
with it. But as you see in the image of the Moe’s
Food she had, if you have a side of hot sauce and been drinking all day,
you will be pleased with this sloppy spread.

While comparing this qith Qdoba and the similarities, we need to say you get
a much larger menu here and it should definately withstand return visits much
better over the college school year. Pretty much all the standard basket edible
mexican dishes like tacos, nachos, burritos and more all served for about $6
to $8.

If you are out with your new boss, your uppity co workers or your girlfriends
parents then maybe stopping at Qdoba’s somewhat "clean cut good food on
the go" appeal is best. But if you are a student looking for a new place
in the area for late night or preparty food with your boys that is pretty cool
and should become a popular spot then try Moes first.

Moe’s Southwest Grill is straight forward tasty basket mexican with lots of
sauces, clean environment and very friendly staff that is sure to win over the
college crowd with a very cool atmosphere and setting.

My recommendation to them would be extending hours to 2am + and capitalize
on the fact that after party hot spots with this kind of menu and cool setting
is sure to become a local UNCC student dietary staple.

I will be back for another go at the tacos.

Zaxby’s Chicken

6340 W Sugar Creek Rd
Charlotte, NC 28269
704-494-4360
Images From Zaxby’s Chicken

Here is another throwback review that got lost in the shuffle. Zaxby’s was one of my first good southern-only franchise experiences. A real surprise from such a small menu of choices.

Zaxby’s Chicken and wings is an excellent flavorful franchise for anyone who hasn’t
yet tried.

So am I running out of food money? What’s with all the fast food?

Please play along and Ill start doing some higher end places soon enough, but
since the working man’s dollar is spent on under $20 meals 8 of 10 times, best
we give it the time it deserves.

Noticed this Zaxby’s going in on WT Harris right across from the bloom plaza.
I was excited about yet another nice looking and well built franchise in our
area of Davis Lake. The building is brick with the standard inside design of
booths and lots of eye fodder on the walls to help you gaze around reading and
avoid conversation while chewing down on winds and things.

Zaxby’s does chicken, Zaxby’s does wings, Zaxby’s does sandwiches (with chicken)
and they definitely do a nice flavorful change. If Chick-fill-a is the standard
chicken only franchise, then for me Zaxby’s strikes me as the cousin with a
southern accent.

On every visit I find myself with the same order as Zaxby’s only has about
6 real choices on the whole menu. This lack of selection may become a problem
but isn’t so far, and I have gone 5 times in the last month to this flavor
stop.

Every visit, "wings and things" for me, "Zaxby’s Club"
for the Ms. Critic. The Wings N Things platter is 4 chicken fingers, 4 wings,
fries and a slice of Texas toast. The platter is about $6.50 I believe and fills
the normal person up pretty well. You can upsize this for like $1.79 more which
is couple extra of each and extra toast which will put down any appetite, but
comes in at $8+ which is getting up there for fast food. These platters are
served with nice ranch, vegetables for dipping and Zax Sauce (ranch and ketchup
mixed?).

If you go they will confuse you with a pile of heat choices for your wings,
"tongue torch", "nuclear" and other I forget but all have
a ton of flavor and are very good.

I made the mistake of choosing the hottest on my last visit, which is not for
the shy. I spent 2 decades in the Buffalo, NY area and this was one of the hottest
things I had ever tasted. Zaxby’s is a place that serves up a lot of tasty flavor
so don’t go for the hottest as you will never taste with your mouth again.

The Ms. always indulges the Zaxby’s club which is on Texas toast, chicken bacon
and ranch and she swears is "awesome", so it gets full marks for a
fast food sandwich. She loved Chick-fill-a when we did that review, but we don’t
go there anymore after Zaxby’s.

All in all, Zaxby’s is a nice change in fast food pallets. When you want more
flavors than a burger can give you, at the same low price, you need to give
it a shot.

The Texas toast, tasty wings and very friendly service have been a nice find
in our neighborhood.

We would also like to thank the cooks on both visits since we had a bit of
a mix up on our last two visits, and both times they made it right.
On the first visit and mix up, the to go order was packaged for there by the
girl working her first night. The cook and likely the manager made it right
with a laugh, nice conversation and smile. On the second mix up I ordered wrong
and they fixed it free without batting an eye.

On the fast food scale we shall never really hand out perfect ratings based
on it being "fast food" but this is a very nice find and worth a trip
by all those who just drive past everyday.

Salsaritas on W Harris Blvd.

3.5 Stars

Salsaritas In Our Photo Gallery

Well round and round I go on the yuppie burrito experience. There is no secret to the people here in our Charlotte that our Mexican culture and restaurant choices are the best around.

We have been enjoying the one up side to the fast growth of this sector of our region,m and that is the phenomenal food and restaurants.

I have met and spoke with many “new” Americans at restaurants like Charanda, aqui en Salsaritas, En Fiesta Maya y otras.

Lets say Ive met alot of the reasons why our Mexican food is so good here. Im not going to pretend you ned any Spanish speakers to run a place like Salsaritas which is likely owned by a guy named “Bob”, as it is one of the many Mexi-texa-mexa restaurants I have been to and serves nothing more than the expected common mexican dishes.

If you want the real authentic homestyle plates, get over to Zapatas which is one of the best meals you will find in North Charlotte.

The Salsaritas on Harris is on the small strip of plaza like shops built beneath and around a new neighborhood of apartments. I still cant believe these are rentals as they look like condos, and Im sad to know that it will be nothing but rental space, which is never what a neighborhood wants to hear in such volume.

This new development is very nice, kind of a “poor man’s Birkdale Village”, and this Salsarita’s is a great walk in dining stop for the residents.

Salsartitas is a very sunny window front place with light wood and plants and makes for a great afternoon sit down meal. I think the feeling of uplifting will be there for the professionals that use it for a lunch stop. I like the wood floors and country-mex decorations for an unwinding type quick bite with friends.

I am happy to say that Salsaritas has a Pork Burrito which I dont believe Qdoba or Moe’s offers. Many dont know but in central and south America Pork is a very common meat choice for burrito and arepas, and more common perhaps than ground beef in many households.

I quickly took the beef burrito, and Ms. Critic the Quesadillas which is her common choice at all these similar stops.

The food doenst come with free chips like Moes does, you pay for them and get the drink in a combo fashion, which while not a big deal, isnt as cool as free.

The burrito was almost indisguishible from Moe’s with the likely advantage of more meat. I would say you get a bit more meat and less decoration than moes gave which is nice but such a small difference.

The back breaker is the sauce choices. You can fill it and dip with mild, medium, hot or green salsa which is standard fare. You dont here get the extra 3-4 choices that Moes offers. If you havnt had Moes namesake sauces, like their dark brown medium moes sauce, then you havnt dipped your chip in heaven. Moe’s gets the nod based on great custom salsas and being a bit cooler for the kids.

While Salsaritas is nice and the food is VERY similar to Moes, the fact that Moe’s is just “plain cool”, keeps them as my favorite place to spend a dollar of these 3 competitors.

My wife insists and I agree, that Qdoba still has something about their flavor that makes them a great choice as well. At Qdoba the burrito is 50% rice that has a tangy vinegar flavor to it and is very distinct. Qdoba serves the biggest and very tasty burritos, but with less meat.

The fat is, its a toss up with these three “TRIPLETS” of mex-burrito stops. Moes is the coolest, Qdoba is the biggest, and salsaritas is the twin to Moes that is better suited to a lunchtime for your office buddies.

Also to add, the staff was very cool here as well, friendly, spoke spnish with us as we like to be able to do over our meal, and we hope to greet them again when we return to this good not great place for burritos.

Qdoba Mexican Grill WT Harris University

3.5 Stars 
By: Charlotte Critic
230 E WT Harris Blvd
Charlotte 28262
(704) 547-7460

Well first off I am against this sort of trendy hybrid food in all its forms. I walked in skeptical and only did try this location bacause a UNCC student was on the patio eating an giant buritto that looked worth the tasting.

This location is an open air setting on the corner in this upscale and clean plaza designed with a Miami feel in mind. If you are looking for something to do with a lady this is one step above fast food but shorts still seem right.

Overall a nice clean and not much more to say atmosphere in a great plaza location. The menu seemed limited with only a handful of choices, though they do each have quite a few combinations of salsa and fillings (cheese rice black beans etc).

As Mexican is my favorite, and having eaten it in Tucson, AZ ive seen that authentic is generally better….this is an nice exception.

Everything was very fresh, and the flavor with different and very good on both of my visits. The portions are immense and even the students must have trouble finishing on most visits. With prices areound 14-18$ for 2 people (with drinks) its a step above fast food there too, but worth it on occasion.

All in all, this is a great twist to normal mexican platters, its fresh and very tasty, though the menu is a bit small and the price a bit high when compared to old-school mexican location over on central.

I know Qdoba here is paying for the expensive location, but since my mouth doesnt know much about ambience….nor does my wallet, id say this is a very nice surprise and better than expected, but not quite ready to be an editors choice.

Limited menu, a bit pricey for a burrito, but very good food and great location to spend an afternoon.

3 Stars 

By: Charlotte Critic
8629 Concord Mills Blvd
Concord 28027
(704) 979-3366
Menu Features: hot salsa,tacos,burritos,guacamole,nachos,totillas
Pictures from Charanda

Got a chance this week to try yet another great Charlotte Mexican Restaurant.

Charlotte seems to be a hot bed of Mexican food which is fantastic news as long as the quality remains on par with my last few outings. Charanda Mexican Grill & Cantina is located right by the excellent Concord Mills mall.

Charanda is actually past the mall which for now may be a liability for them. Charanda has the task of competing with dozens of top end franchises that all fall in the same cutomer demographic in this area.

can see the main competition for them reviewed and a ‘Critic’s Choice’ here at On The Border Mexican grill which is just up the street from Charanda.

The Ms. and I visited Charanda on a weekday at 3pm, as we have learned many lessons about dinging in this area during the peak hours, most restaurants near the mall worth visiting will bring a 45 min + wait with the meal.

As you can see we were greated by a somewhat empty location and really helped us to sit and chat with the staff a bit. All of our staff was of course bi-lingual, and there is something very settling about getting a great mexican meal from the real deal native Mexican-Americans, it tends to bring a bit more flavor with it and pride in the establishment.

As you have seen the setting is very comfy, medium dim lit, and probally a better date stop than On The Border. They are a bit better spaced out in there, and have a higher percentage of booths to tables, since everyone loves to get a booth this is great.

I am only going to warn patrons once, the salsa is a bit hotter than standard free table salsas.
Most franchise style setting tend to serve mild/medium on the table (so they dont get sued?), Charanda definately served it up authentic and as most gringos would consider medium to hot.

The chips and shells used in the meal were free and clearly made fresh much like they do at on the border to our praises. Our service was friendly and fast but hard to consider that at 3pm on a weekday.

When the meals came the same standard held true, and the food was a shade hotter than standard gringo/mexican restaurants tend to serve. I enjoy hot food if the flavor is just as powerful as the heat, and I was very happy with the freshness of the Jalepenos / lime juice and cheeses in the burrito verdes i had, the flavor was excellent.

Throughout my entire meal i was teetering 1 inch from a “food sweat” from the heat, but I never even thought about stopping as it was excellent fresh and flavorful.

The Wife had Chimichangas, and too was blown away by the heat and spice. Her tolerence is a bit lower than most people for hot food but still it was exceptionally spicy for her taste when she asked for a mild suggestions to the waitress.

The wife too had a very hard time stopping though as the food is extremely flavorful with fresh tasting ingreients and salsas. If you wish you can read another recent review of Charanda here at the Charlotte Observer. All in all the flavor, strength and authenticity was once step ahead of the nearby On The Border Mexican Grill. The setting was also a bit more my style than On The Border, though that is a matter of taste as they are both very nice.

Charanda should take the time to invest in a bit more stylish dishware to present the meal with, and the overall food presentation was just a shade off the excellent presentation and food down the road.

I really would have to spend a bit more time enjoying the fine food at Charanda to make the close call on the best mexican dining in the Concord Mills Shopping area, but if you are out with the boys and looking for a bit of heat and real high quality ingredient flavor I say choosing Charanda over On the Border would never be a mistake.

The Concord area is definately blessed with great mexican restraurants.

Chick-fil-A Davis Lake

3 Stars 

Charlotte Critic
8433 Davis Lake Parkway
Charlotte 28269
704-596-2229
Menu Features: chicken, chicken sandwiches,waffle fries

Restaurant Review For Chick-fil-A Davis Lake
So Chick-fil-a just opened in the Shoppes at Davis Lake on Dec 8th I believe it was. being a northernern and extreme southerner, I can honestly say I went through 30+ years of life never having tried this franchise much less this location. I am going t address any readers as if they havnt tried it either, though the entire state of North Carolina likely has. My first impression was that this franchise has a slightly higher standard, much like Boston Market does. While it is fast food they do keep it clean and well decorated at all times. I am certain the Davis Lake Homeowners had something to say about that at some point as well. The location is nicely laid out and has a huge play area for the kids easily watched through the windows by the parents, so thats a nice touch they all seem to have. Here you will find your normal numbered meals, around 5-7$ each, they only do chicken so as you imagine they do it fairly well. The few nice touches here are you get waffle fries which pack a bit more weight on them, and that they have hot sauce as a ready to go condiment which is nice for college kids to get their late night drive through on with. If you havnt eaten there before you probally wil find the all chicken “all the time” menu to be pretty slim on choices, I guess as thousands of mothers realize everyday, “there is only so many ways to serve chicken” before it gets old. If you dont want to try to find a Wendy;s to grab their tasty chicken sandwich, or you are sure just chicken is what you want, this is a nice southern franchise that keeps a very clean friendly location in the Shoppes at Davis Lake.

Cheddars Casual Cafe

3 Stars 

Charlotte Critic
620 University Center Blvd
Charlotte 28262
Menu Features: burgers,chicken,appetizers,deserts,family dining

Restaurant Review For Cheddars Casual Cafe
Cheddars Casual Cafe Finally stopped off of WT Harris Blvd to visit this location of Cheddars Casual Cafe. You may have never seen this location but it is right next to Chilis and across from the Walmart Plaza on Harris, somewhat hidden. I passed it many times cause I must say it has an awful ugly physical location. The building next to it used to be a restaurant but is closed down and unsightly making Cheddars Cafe suffer in appearence as well. Once we pulled up the place is very nicely designed and seemed somewhat fancier the closer we got. When you walk in you have to be impressed by the decor or this place. The is a Chilis-level restaurant but the design of the insode with oriental windmill fans on the ceiling and beautiful high ceiling was very impressive, this is the strong point of this location hands down. I was immediately thrilled with the decor and the equally profesioanl and talkative staff. To continue my rant about the layout, the booths are very large and seating areas all very comfortable and spacious, a nice change from more cramped Chilis, or louder more comotion filled Red Robin. The menu here is a very nice variety, with more than a few higher end seafood/steaks/ribs platters, and the normal compliment of burgers and wraps and such. The prices are very easy on the wallet with full meals (minus drinks) from about 6.50 to 11.00. The waiter insisted we try the spinach and cheese dip which is served with colorful tortillas and was excellent. I expect I will be getting a triple by-pass next week to get the mountains of cheese it involved removed from me. This dip was butter - mozzarella - and spinach with chips to dip, served with a side of surprisingly hot salsa. This is a good choice if you like appetizers and is only . This will not replace the amazing southwest eggrolls at Chilis as the appetizer of choice for me though. My ‘ms’ had ribs with boneless chicken platter with a side of red beans/rice and coleslaw. The final opinion on those items went as follows.
Ribs - winner
Boneless chicken - bland
Beans - bland
Coleslaw - poor In all shes was under-whelmed by the food and thought it to be ok but not really worth a return trip. I stayed safe and cheap with a standar winner’s choice of Philly-cheesesteak. While its hard to mess that up, I was happy with it overall. The philly was greasy, cheesy, had great tasting mushrooms all over it but lacked a decent bun. I repeat 100 times on this site how important it is for a restaurant to spring for a better piece of bread to present their food with. This was a good sandwich served on a pretty meager supermarket bun.
In all the food is Ok but we both agree Chili’s and Red Robin are better, with Red Robin being the current best food of this level and type in the University area. If you are looking for a nice cheap dat eplace this is a solid choice though, as they have the best decor of the three I mention, and they have some fancy items on the menu to let her feel like shes getting a nice meal as well. Great prices, great atmosphere, nice staff, mediocre food that was a bit bland and plain. I do feel it worth mentioning, that although we didnt do desert, the ones I saw on the menu and being served around us looked to be extremely impressive! making this again a good place for a college student to get out on a date or with the boys.  

Restaurant Review For Red Robin Restaurant

3.5 Stars 

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers
Charlotte Critic
Red Robin - Harris Blvd
8304 Kenbrooke Drive
Charlotte, NC 28262
(704) 971-2060

See the photos of Red Robin here >
Finally got around to trying this chain location that just opened on Harris Blvd in the University section of Charlotte. If you are looking for a good University area restaurant for student or a date this is a solid choice. Red Robin has an excellent interior atmosphere with tons to look at from the pictures all over the wall (standard stuff for this genre) to the TV built into the floor at the entrance showing cartoon network. Complete with a full bar and a huge open to see grill area this place has atmosphere to keep the college student or family outing happy and preoccupied with the things to see. This location is much larger inside than outside. Once you step in you are in a good mood and ready to see the menu as the restaurant is very fun and inviting, the hostess was friendly as was our waiter (i think he was new to waitering, but he was very good). This is competition for Chilis and Friday all the way. If you are new to the franchise, expect a larger open version of Chilis, or a more exciting version of Fridays. To me it seemed that Chuck E Cheese and Chilis had a baby and its name was Red Robin. I am a fan of Chilis, and think its a good franchise but I expect this place to get my business just as much in the future. The menu had a huge selection of you “fancy-burgers”, meaning a tall burge that looks unnaturally stacked high with whatever you choose. I had a burger with Guacamole and it was similar to what Chilis serves which is tall, good, and fresh but not the best burger in town. Ms. Critic had a Chicken Parm plate that was exceptiomal. It was a huge portion and the sauce tasted like the tomato got picked 4 mintues earlier. A very fresh and highly recommended choice. I should change the review to a 4 from 3.5 now that I recall how impressed we were with the sauce and the chicken parm. Like their competition they have alot of drinks that belong in the Bahamas, and look perfect had it been a “girls night out”. The bar was open with about 18 seats and fine for an after work get together. The staff is visible through the open to view grill and everyone seemed in a great mood (we witness a staff birthday happening while they cooked, and its always nice to see the managers appreciating staff. The restaurant could likely and should likely be a 4 star review, but it may take more visits for that to happen, the menu looked standard which is the only issue, I will need to find a great appetizer on their menu to call this a 4/5. Great fun place for a family Friday out, big burgers and good steak fries, no complaints. And the Chicken Parm is excellent and fresh.