Happy Tuesday, Charlotte. If you’re the kind of reader who plans your weekends around where to eat and what to try next, today’s CharlotteFive newsletter is packed with the good stuff: a nostalgia trip through Charlotte’s burger scene, a first look at the city’s newest movie format, a veggie-forward dinner win and a barbecue event worth blocking your calendar for. Let’s dig in. 🍴
Melissa dove into The Charlotte Observer’s archives and unearthed a gem from restaurant writer Helen Schwab, published May 8, 1992. Readers had been asked where they’d send the TV tabloid “A Current Affair” to find Charlotte’s juiciest burgers for National Hamburger Week — and they responded with passion. Lupie’s and Spoon’s tied with five votes each, while the Rebel Room racked up seven (including one faxed letter that claimed to represent five votes on its own).
The list is a full tour through ’90s Charlotte: South 21 on East Independence, the Lantana at the Bradley Motel, Zack’s on South Boulevard, Providence Road Sundries, What-A-Burger, and dozens more. One vegetarian reader confessed she still dreamed about the South 21 cheeseburger a decade after quitting meat.
📖 Check out the full time capsule to see how many spots you remember — and email the CharlotteFive team at charlottefive@charlottefive.com if you had a ’90s favorite.
Théoden went into Charlotte’s newest premium movie experience at AMC Concord Mills with his skeptic hat firmly on. SCREENX — which debuted in South Korea in 2012 and just landed in the Charlotte area for the first time — projects selected scenes onto the side walls of the auditorium for a 270-degree panoramic effect. He tested it on “Toy Story 5,” the first Pixar film designed specifically for the format.
His verdict? Genuinely surprised. The side walls aren’t trying to hijack your attention — they’re engaging your peripheral vision, expanding scenes like a sequence under a bed or a wide-open pasture with Jessie and Bullseye. Not every scene uses the panoramic effect, and Théoden actually missed the side walls when they went dark. 🎟️ The premium ticket runs about $5 more than a standard showing, and he says it’s worth it for movies built for the format.
🍿 Read his full candid review for the nitpicks and the wins.
“Monica recommended the Strawberry Shortcake Nachos, and this might have been the surprise star of the visit.” — Tristan Graziano on Crazy Mason Milkshake Bar. If you’ve been curious about the over-the-top milkshake spot but weren’t sure what to order, Tristan’s tip is your green light. 🍓
If you need a veggie main that actually satisfies, Melissa says the charred zucchini at Haberdish in NoDa is one of the best veggie-forward entrees she’s had in a long time — and she’s not even vegetarian. Bonus tip: save room, because the bread pudding is on special right now. 🍞 (She only ate half the zucchini to make it happen.)
Barbecue fans, block your calendar. On Sunday, Sept. 20 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., The Hunter Farm in Weddington hosts a chef-driven event featuring five pitmasters worth traveling for:
- Lewis Donald of Sweet Lew’s in Charlotte
- Hector Garate of Palmira Barbecue in Charleston
- Evan LeRoy of LeRoy and Lewis BBQ and Bar in Austin, Texas
- Elliott Moss of Elliott’s BBQ Lounge in Florence
- Zach Parker of B.E. Scott’s BBQ in Lexington, Tennessee
Tickets are $175 per person. 🎫 The lineup alone — pulling in some of the South’s most talked-about pitmasters in one afternoon — makes this one of the more exciting food events on Charlotte’s fall calendar.
📰 More Charlotte food and fun reads
The CharlotteFive team also rounded up a handful of stories worth clicking through:
- 🍟 French fries, ranked: The Unpretentious Palate team named their favorite French fry places, and CharlotteFive has its own reader-picked winner for the best french fry restaurant in Charlotte.
- 🎓 NC hidden gems: Two North Carolina college towns landed on a national list of the best hidden gems to visit — worth a weekend road trip.
- 🔥 Date night idea: Axios Charlotte wrote up Hot Glass Alley as a heated-up date night spot.
- 🍸 Southern cocktail scene: Southern Living named the best cocktail city in the South — and the answer might surprise you.
You can find all of those links (plus what to do this week) in today’s newsletter. 📩
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Got a ’90s Charlotte burger memory, a great new dish you tried or something that made you smile today? Send it to charlottefive@charlottefive.com — the team might feature it. 💌
This report was produced with the assistance of a proprietary tool powered by artificial intelligence and using our own originally reported, written and published content. It was reviewed and edited by our journalists. To learn more about how The Charlotte Observer is using AI in our newsroom, see our policy here.