Charlotte restaurant known for its ‘Brooklyn-inspired comfort food’ opens new location

A local restaurant is bringing a taste of New York to the Charlotte area.

The team behind Food Geeks Eatery has opened the doors of its newest concept: Good Food by Food Geeks. It’s inside the Goodwill Opportunity Campus in the space formerly home to Community Table Bistro — which closed at the end of last year.

The restaurant, run by Brooklyn native TR Burns and his family, was previously selling its signature comfort food creations across state lines at a Walmart in Indian Land before closing that spot and making the move to open in west Charlotte.

Though it’s a new concept in the Queen City, the family behind the restaurant has been in the food business for over a decade.

“Our restaurant started in my church 15 years ago in Pennsylvania,” Burns told CharlotteFive. “Ultimately, we had such a buzz that we ended up moving from operating out of our church into a full brick-and-mortar restaurant.

“Since then, we’ve created multiple concepts, and Food Geeks is just a culmination of all the different concepts that we’ve owned.”

‘Comfort food the Brooklyn way’

Inspired by the flavors of Brooklyn’s comfort food scene, the new restaurant will have a wide variety of dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner — along with some plant-based options, too. Menu options include:

• Salmon BLT salads

• Smoked Jamaican jerk chicken

• Smash burgers

• Smothered chicken and grits

• Sweet potato chicken and waffles

If you’re not grabbing a full meal, Good Food by Food Geeks also has grab-and-go offerings, small bites, a coffee bar and hot buffet lunch specials.

“I just love food and I’m a geek, and I just wanted to bring something great to the Carolinas that is fun, that tastes great. And the real goal is to get people — when they come here — to experience, not just good food, but good fellowship,” Burns explained.

“By coming to the Goodwill campus, it allowed us to be centrally located where everyone can get to us but also … we have a huge kitchen, we have a catering kitchen, so we are able to expand our brand and our menu.”

Good Food by Food Geeks’ official grand opening will be Thursday, May 3 from 4-9 p.m.

Good Food by Food Geeks

Location: Goodwill Opportunity Campus, 5301 Wilkinson Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28208

Cuisine: Brooklyn, NY-inspired comfort food

Instagram: @foodgeekseatery

This story was originally published May 23, 2024, 6:30 AM.