Food 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.

Five Guys Concord

7741 Gateway Lane NW
Concord, NC, 28207
704-979-1283
All Five Guys Concord Photos

So I was reading letters to the editor of the Charlotte Observer food and entertainment section Kathleen Purvis. In one question to the editor was a comment about Five Guys franchise in Concord.

The letter proclaimed this place to be fantastic and hearty, and the editor replied with saying she had heard this same rumor and was going to give it a try soon.

Well I am happy to say i beat her to it. I was on my way to writing a piece on Chuck E Cheese being a classic part of childhood and a cheap escape for parents when I passed this place in Concord. After fighting the Saturday traffic in Concord, NC I managed to find a parking spot for Five Guys around 6pm on a Saturday. This location is side by side with a drive through Starbucks location so the parking lot is taking a life risk to drive in.

Walking up Five Guys struck me as the stepchild of a old favorite restaurant of mine called Schaller’s in Rochester, New York. Five guys is a very minimal white tile white walls and chairs sort of cafeteria look. There is no frills and this place looks like the kind of place you look for at 1am after a night of drinking. The location is open 11am to 10pm 7 days a week only, so you cant take that sugestion unless you leave the bar very early.

The location smells like cooking fries and the stacks of potato bags on the walls say they take great pride in making “home cooking” and not fast food. This sentence really sums up what you get at Five Guys. Everything looked and worked like you were at a family picnic and the burgers were getting made fresh at the park grill. The fries are true potatos cut and dropped in pure peanut oil so they come out heavy, greasy and tasting like biting into potatos and not frozen crisps.

You can see in the photos that we ordered two regular size fries, which is the smaller of the two sizes, and it filled an entire paper lunch bag to the top.

Again - This bag here only has two regular size fry orders in it.

This bag with only 2 orders of fries in it was heavy to carry soaked with grease and filled to the top like luggage. This monster sized order of fries was very impressive, like nothing I had ever seen.

The fries are very fresh and real but a bit heavy with grease for my tastes. We all agreed that still nobody can defeat the flavor of a McDonalds fry. While they are not as fresh or huge as these amazing fried, McDonalds still taste the best for some artificial reason. Keep in mind though, these are the most authentic and largest order of fries I had ever been served, just not my perfect style by my personal tastes.

The wife had the “small” bacon cheeseburger and I had the regular “cheeseburger”. Both of the burgers were doubles, both were stacked like “freak-burgers” and both tasted like licking the grill they were so authentic. My wife proclaimed it the bestburger she had ever had, and I wasnt far behind that assessment. The burgers here are excellent and taste like a backyard cookout with true grill flavor and neatly stacked and prepared while you watch.

Five guys take extra steps with large helpings and wrapping the burgers in real foil and not paper burger wraps. You will feel like you are at a cookout and getting the best grill prepared food you have had in years.

The walls of this location are littered with signs proclaiming awards they have won for the best food and fries, and I now agree that most of that is hard earned. This is a franchise that doesnt feel like one.

Five guys is like someone attending a softball cookout, handed everyone an employee shirt, and asked you what you want on your paper plate.

For fries this place has authentic and good true potatos fries in huge servings. In burgers, Five Guys has a real off the grill amazing fresh and authentic burger like no other you have had.

Our advice is sneak your McDonalds fries into Five Guys and order one of their burgers to go with it.

This combination would be the best burger meal you ever sat down to, this would be the all star of burger meals.

Ishi Japanese Restaurant

8109 University City Blvd
Charlotte, NC 28213
704-921-9219
Ishi Photos In The Gallery

Finally got to Ishi Japanese Restaurant And Sushi bar after hearing second hand rave reviews from a few people including our own prior review here from one of our readers. I have also since sat with a family member who is a freshman at UNCC and her father both who raved that we must try Ishi as soon as possible.

The rumors of the incredible value at Ishi along with the great food made this possible as I am pretty broke lately for restaurant money.

unlike reviews of fancy uptown “bistros” and “4 star affairs” mine are dictated by what’s in my wallet this week and not checks being picked up by “the man”. This is envy talking I know, I admit that much, I am only jealous of larger dining budgets than my own.

This location is not what I excpeted as it is very tucked away in the back of the Home Depot plaza right next to Peak Fitness. The workout addicts must love having healthy, fast and very good food right next door to their daily routine.

I was a bit surprised by the small hole in the wall feeling of this location and the completely dated and worn decor inside. I knew this wasnt a dressed up perkins or upscale dining but it is such a roadside diner feeling i was surprised on how “casual” (run down) it was inside.

The location was clean enough and family feeling enough it is just time for it to find its way out of the 80s.

I want to rebutt this last sentecne and remind myself and my readers that with good enough food, who cares if the stools are from a 1970’s waffle house.

No booths inside is sometimes a bummer, since I was ther with the kids in tow the lack of booths is a bit of a discomfort. I know everyone reading doesnt really care but if asked would always choose a booth.

The menu, which I have scanned and linked to here to save me time in explaining it, is packed with huge and wide variety of great lookig plates. This statement lends to the fact that this place would be a great fast and healthy lunch stop. A lunch stop with a seeming endless variety of choices keeps the patrons coming back over the long haul.

Everything on the menu here is basically between 4.50 and 8.00 which means 40-50 things to choose from for under $7, not many restaurants can say that. I had the Habachi Steak, which means Sirloin steak cut into small pieces and laid on top of fried rice (Japanese fried rice so its basically white rice), this is served with japanese style sweet carrots. These carrots are round carrot sliced and boiled with a sweet flavor. I could take or leave the carrrots, which I imagine all men agree about all carrots in the world, but they were good enough and original.

The habachi steak was without a beter way to put it, the best meat i have tasted in the last few years. I was lucky enough to get to atend the grand opening samplign at the “texas land Company Steakhouse in Concord, at which i had lobster and a T-bone steak. The meal was free as it was a training night for the staff, but would have cost about $40. The Habachi Steak was far better tasting and perfectly cooked soft beef for all of $5. The flavor of the steak and hw tender it is cooked will really impress anyone who sits and orders it.

The major problem with this meal was the fact that it was exceptinal steak pieces on top of essentially white rice and steamed sweet carrots. After eating me meal I could have easily finished my Wife’s, reached over and finished both the plates of the patrons behind me, and still wanted desert. The meal is so “not filling”, while at the same time so delicious that I may order 3 plates on my next visit. This lack of filling food really creates a hole in the “affordable” menu.

If you are going looking for a light lunch, healthy meal or fast high quality taste for somethin orginal to eat this place is a exceptional choice. if you just done doing “negatives or Powerlifting legs” at Peak Fitness and need a heavy filling meal? this place will likely leave you still very hungry.

My Wife had Teriyaki Chicken and Shrimp ($9) which was the same rice with sweet carrots served with chicken and shrimp that has been stir-fried. Again the meat was excellent and the rice and carrots god enough but the meal not very filling. We did determine that the steak was by far the best choice of the two plates and that is the recomendation.

We got out the door for $20 with the tip on the table $23 and was very pleased with the taste though I had to make sandwiches at home 2 hours later.

The steak was one of the best things on any of my plates since moving to Charlotte. The steak and healthy taste was very good, perhaps too good, since it just reinforced the problem that there wasnt enough to fill me.

I will go back and explore this huge menu as well as the excellent sushi choices and have a beer and sushi afternoon. I have given up on the great low prices on the menu though since I expect tohave to order twice.

Amazing tender flavor, great taste, low prices and huge menu including great sushi choices. The food just didnt fill me up and the portions were not nearly big enough for any hunger beyond light lunch.

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.

Olive Garden Northlake Location

8225 Northlake Commons Blvd.
Charlotte, NC 28216
704-494-4473
www.olivegarden.com
(No Pictures from the meal as my camera konked out on me, sorry about that)

Olive Garden? how can a person actually write a review about the Olive Garden?

The Olive Garden and the public view of it has always eluded and confused me. I see people and critics using it as a measuring stick of who to dis, or a restaurant with about as much street credibility as Kevin Federline in Harlem.

But why the dis, what’s the problem, and what is the source of this lack of credibility. I find the answer is generally linked back to the “hate the establishment mentality that is everywhere in society. people hat Wal-Mart, but love to save, people laugh at McDonald’s but their fries taste better than any caviar on the planet, and lastly patrons mock Olive garden as being a “Wonder bread wop” (quote Tony Soprano), but the fact is they have the best bread and salad you will get at any level.

I have long entered this restaurant looking forward to dipping those salty hot breadsticks in some Alfredo sauce as the highlight of all eating out trips. Any critic that denies the amazing breadsticks at the ‘OG’ is lying to themselves and trying to make themselves feel superior. This place excels at the pre-meal warm-up.

If you go in and get the Alfredo dipping sauce, salad and spinach artichoke dip you will every time be lying if you don’t love it. The question I have long had is why do people lie about their love for it?

IM TELLING YOU NOW: Its ok to love a chain, its ok to admit they do a pretty good job even though they are the McDonalds of Italian food.

Now with this all said, I have to laugh as this latest trip to the ‘OG’ newly built in Northlake was a bit disappointing.

If you haven’t been to Olive Garden recently, there are a few changes that are for better and worse. The decor has changed in the last 5 years with high ceiling better lit and featuring a bar on the agenda. The new look for Olive garden is brighter and more to the lunch crowd in my belief. Long gone are the ’80s with the fake Italian paintings and low light for after prom dates.

The new look is nice, and if you want to grab a drink or two the bar is much more useful than in the past.

The next change that I notice is the price increase across the board. Everything on the menu seemed 2-3$ higher than just 9 months ago. The best tasting treats on the menu (Chicken Alfredo Pizza - YUM) went from $6.95 (a steal) to $9.95. This is still cheap, but they did finally figure out what a great bargain I had been getting away with.

All menu items used to range from $8.99 to $14.99 and seem to have shifted to about $9.99 to $18.99. I know this is still pretty cheap eating, but the change is significant and you will notice it too.

We went on a weekday around dinner, and got seated way in the back again. The manager apologized for the slight disarray of the back area, but I honestly didn’t see any issues. Keep in mind this was coincidence, since nobody recognizes what I am up to until after the meal when I’m taking photos and leaving.

Our waiter was there on his day off, was friendly and as attentive as we could have hoped. The service here is always standard fare to good, I have never had an issue.

Out comes the best part of any ‘OG’ visit, the breadsticks and salads, and what a let down this was. Not fresh like normal and the waiter pulled an oops I forgot to offer grated cheese. The salad looked as un-fresh as the bread was, I was surprised as it is usually so good here.

My Wife had the new dish Portabella and steak Alfredo, I went for the Seafood Alfredo with Shrimp, Mussels and scallops. If you don’t know I am addicted to scallops after eating at Golden Taipei so I always order them up now.

Our meals we’re very slow to reach the table. The waiter apologized for the long wait twice and once averted his eyes in embarrassment as to our wait.

After the long delay without the normal fresh bread to get us by the meals cam out and looked great on the table. This great look was half deceiving unfortunately.

My wife was happy with the steak and portabella and recommends it. The steak was soft and the plate was huge and filling. The leftover made it to the next day from her meal.

The seafood Alfredo was very lacking. The dish was almost exact in taste to the Vampire Killer Pasta I invented and wrote about 1 week ago. The difference is that my pasta had about 25 shrimp and only cost me $5 to make. The taste of this dish was so simple and lacking any reason to want it again. I essentially had a plate of pasta with butter and garlic mixed with a few bits of seafood, very disappointing. This marks the first time my wife has out ordered me in a restaurant.

If you go to the ‘OG’ just get the standard dishes is the lesson today. Get the chicken Alfredo pizza and let those who roll their eyes at your lack of sophistication go take a flying leap. The fact is the ‘OG’ makes great breadsticks(usually), has great salad with pepperocinis (usually fresh) and makes great standard food items like lasagna and Portabella Ravioli. I just will be a bit more cautious with ordering off the norm as they may be trying to hard to charge more and name dishes uniquely and have forgotten to do the little things I still think they have in them.

I will give this location one more try as I assume this weak outing was a fluke from what is normally a good franchise with great pre-meal food. If they fall short again, I am more than happy with eating Mexican food instead.

Found this add for Charlotte Soul Food at Down to the Bone Soul Food in Charlotte. This is Charlotte’s style as I see it from an outsider’s perspective.

Charlotte is friendly, growing fast, economically strong and growing but when all that cream is scraped away Charlotte is Southern Soul and Nascar.

So this video above coupled with a united community of all colors makes Charlotte have flavor that is down to the bone, off the bone and on all levels.

“If your in the mood for some great Soul Food than I highly recommend this place. Down To the Bone’s food is exactly what the name implies. Lightly battered and moist Fried Chicken with collards and baked mac n’ cheese is a favorite. The mood is family affair with old jazz and soul normally playing in the background. This restaurant is cafeteria style with a mixed crowd of white collar bankers to blue collar auto mechanics. The one thing I always sense when eating at this fine establishment is that everyone always seems to be enjoying the food.”
Contributors review

As I havnt bee there to say for myself and we havnt gotten a hand written review with a rating or strong personal opinion, this wont go down as an officially review. This is though a high five to the flavor of Charlotte on and off the plate.

If you know soul food, or have had the down to the bone flavor please comment us a review below. You can also email us a review of this place at critic(at)charlottecritic.com and well make you the feature story. Looking for more about this too funny ad and if there is anything to this place.

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.

Cold Stone Northlake Commons
Northlake Mall

Cold Stone Photos

Cold Stone isnt reinventing the wheel, and its a bit pricey sometimes for a family, but there is no denying that it is top quality, clean and a fun franchise.

Got out to Cold Stone Creamery in the new Northlake Commons for Valentine’s Day and as always a good scoop of premium ice cream with alot of choices.

I am a bit of an Ice Cream guru having spent 6 years of my youth working for Abbott’s Frozen Custard, which is one of the premium ice cream stops of the East coast based out of Rochester New York. I also enjoyed about 10 minutes of expert ice cream exchange with Shwan the owner of this Cold Stone location in the new Northlake Commons. Shawn owns 3 locations of Cold Stone Creamy and is quite the clear expert on making frozen deserts.

This newest location is very small but shows great walk by traffic promise once the summer arrives. Cold Stone makes their mark on Ice Cream by serving a very dense and heavy variety of ice cream with your choice of items or candy mixed in by hand. The ice cream is slapped on a clean ice cold stone countertop where it is mixed with the ingredients from one of their many combinations. You point at the ingredients and they mix it up. You can choose from about 12 different house specialties or pick and choose from dozens of candy mixes and say how it gets mixed. Throw your hand made creation on top of a waffle cone or in a dish and you will get full fast on this extra dense ice cream.

Cold Stone is a bit expensive for a family or soccer team after game treat. If you go in with a wife and 2 kids you can expect 14-18$ out the window, but if you think of the “you get what you pay for appraoch”, then this may not seem out of proportion. You definately get a high quality scoop with a huge selection that can please any taste pallet, but will pay an extra buck or two per person.

This location is not the best example of these nice clean comfortable franchises as it is a bit small and just getting started, but you do know you will get a very clean freidnly singing dancing and cheerful customer experience for you couple extra bucks.

The staff is taught to sing, greet and please the customer and this is the mark of a good franchise. Couple this customer service and clean setting with a high end scoop and youll know why it costs a bit more, and you’ll return every week.

Our thanks to Shawn for the brief ice cream lesson and putting our knowledge of ice cream to shame, we wish him success in a franchise that has made the extra effort to be worth your $15 every time you choose to spend it.

Ishi Japanese Restaurant

8109 University City Blvd
Charlotte, NC 28213
(704) 921-9219

This is a review contributed by a reader almost a year ago. I sat with a local UNCC student and got the same raves about this great place.

Seems that if you are on a budget and want the best quality food for a low price and served up fast, this may be the best choice around UNCC.

From the story I was told most students already know and swear by this place for a fast cheap alternative to Ramen Pride noodles or mac and cheese for fast and cheap. So if you want a pace change read on and then get your last 47 cents in the gas tank and drive to grab a great lunch by UNCC.

Ishi for the college crowd and budget!

If you have ever been on a budget then you know about ISHI, the best alternative
to Chinese food, Japanese food.

We have been long long customers to ISHI and go 3-4 times a month.

You can’t beat the prices on everything, from the hibachi chicken to the sushi.
The college student headquarters because you can get lunch for $5, seriously!
Sushi is very inexpensive and the staff is very quick. You never have to ask
for more beverage, the food is just enough, and you can’t complain about the
price.

I highly recommend anything on the menu. It is the exact same food that you
can get at Kabuto or Nakato, but for a fraction of the price. (Don’t forget
to pick up one of my business cards for a mortgage when you walk in the door
to your left!)

Why only 4 1/2 stars - The food is good, not great, it is always warm, but
never piping. You can’t argue with the price or the service. The atmosphere
is a little dated, but the service is so quick that you don’t have time to notice
it.

Ciros Italian Restaurant

8927 J M Keynes Dr
Charlotte, NC 28262
(704) 510-0012
Photos Of Ciros

Here is another old review that got misplaced. This restaurant gets raves in alot of fake publications hat do “adver-reviews”, but the fact that youll overpay for just ok is very obvious to a real diner here.

Here I am freshly returned from trying Ciro’s Italian Restaurant in Charlotte
by UNCC in University City.

This restaurant has one of the best locations you could ask for. Ciro’s is
tucked into the plaza by the Hilton and by the pond where there is a great boardwalk
and you can rent paddleboats for $10 for 30 minutes.

Ciro’s has a corner location, which has very nice outdoor seating giving you
a view of the action at Boardwalk Billy’s Raw Bar as well as the countless folks
there for the boardwalk ambience.

A small note for those with kids or toddlers who stop in for lunch or a nice
Saturday meal, Ciro’s is one of the least handicap and stroller accessible restaurants
I have ever seen. This corner location features about 10 steep steps and no
other way to the dining area, coupled with 4 more steps to most of the tables.

When you enter there is a small bar right at the entrance and a nice entryway
to greet you. The rest of the dining atmosphere is borderline at best in style
and true authentic class. Ciro’s reminds me of a living room and dining room
that might be back at your Italian friends house. This is not to say it is authentic,
but to stress how it seems like the actual restaurant is trying hard to look
fancy to help justify the high menu prices. The truth of the fact is, people
can pretend its so nice or unique, but Macaroni Grill is far nicer and more
relaxing inside, and the price is 5$ less per plate.

All in all, the restaurant looks like a 8-10$ a plate establishment, but charges
like a 15-20$ one. The restaurant is somewhat cramped, with one too many tables
in every area of the eating sections. I always felt like two waiters at the
same time would fill the entire aisle. The service way not bad, the hostess
was somewhat impatient, but the waiter was very friendly and not over-stretched,
so always available.

The menu has you basic assortment of steaks, pasta and traditional chicken
dishes that you may expect at any other "better priced" restaurant.
The dishes range from about $13 to $27 a plate, with the bulk of the traditional
items at $17 or $18. But when you go add another couple of bucks since you’ll
pay exactly $2 for a coke. Keep in mind I’m not complaining about paying
the check at a nice restaurant, that’s not a big deal; it’s when
the restaurant is not as nice as it tries to be.

I will say, if you do make the choice to try Ciro’s, the dish Tortellini Bella
Rosa, was fantastic, and will make the entire trip worth it, not matter how
much you get overcharged. The salad was also very large and fresh, but the bread
was nothing special, and as I have mentioned in the past, an Italian restaurant
serving sub par bread is just a crime.

I have read allot of reviews raving about Ciro’s, and have concluded that most
of them must be employees or someone else with an interest in the establishment.
I cannot imagine how Ciro’s is viewed by anyone as a "great" restaurant.
While there is nothing wrong, and the food was fine, some of it very good, the
fact that it is just a mediocre looking and feeling place that charges more
than countless other better options, ends the argument. Value is important,
and Ciro’s strikes out very badly in this regard.

If you do go to the Hilton Plaza and the boardwalk for a date, go to the excellent
Zapata’s
Mexican Cantina next door, and save you money. Please don’t overpay
for Ciro’s when for $4 less per plate you can eat some of the best Mexican in
town