
Chic spot for chef-driven New American small plates with beer, wine & signature cocktails.
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Reviews
Everything was good, no bombs anywhere. The best part of our meal was the mushroom meringues in the leek dish. They were fantastic and we could’ve eaten those by the handful and been very happy.
The Good: I mean, the food. It’s incredible. Each course, a tasting menu experience, is only a couple of bites. You don’t get a menu and don’t get to pick what you want but you CAN specify foods to omit when you make reservations. I don’t eat veal so they subbed the veal course for a vegetarian course that was delicious. I wish I could remember what everything was but I do remember the beef tartare, a farro dish with an egg, hearts of pal m with a strawberry mousse…I can’t remember everything but I really loved each dish. The dessert course was fantastic- it was a red bean ice cream with a type of cake and mousse-like cheese – incredible (I’m so sorry for butchering the descriptions of these courses!!). Service was ON POINT. Our server rattled off the details of each dish with amazing recall and always kept our drinks full. Loved the ambience as well – artsy, intimate, cozy.
The Meh: if I had to dissect one thing, I was a bit disappointed in the cocktails I had. I ordered the Bartenders Choice because I love when mixologists get creative and go nuts on cocktails. Our server told us Bardo’s mixologists were some of the best in Charlotte. For the first drink, I told our server they could do whatever they wanted but I didn’t care for sweet cocktails. Well, The cocktail was sweet. It was good, but sweet. Similar thing happened with the next round. I still enjoyed both drinks, as much as I can for sweeter ones, but didn’t find them to be particularly inventive. Oh well!
The Bad: nothing noted.
Again, do keep in mind this is a tasting menu so if you have a huge appetite, you may want to nosh on something beforehand. We were delightfully full after 7 courses but I think we would’ve still been hungry with 5 (I think it’s the smallest course available). Would love to come back some time to try the full tasting menu!
There were 11 of us that went. Some wanted to try more of the menu than others, so we split the table in half. My half tried the entire menu (13 small plates). Right now the menu is: oysters, scallops, lamb neck, mushrooms, shishito peppers, ribeye, octopus, veal shortbread, beef tartare, egg and grain, crudo hamachi, sunchokes, and sardines. I loved everything with one exception: the sardines. They were better than other sardines I’ve had, but I’m really not a fan of sardines.
If I had to pick my favorite dishes, I would pick the scallops, the Tempura Maitake (mushrooms), the beef tartare, and the Spanish Octopus as my top 4. I would order all of it again though (minus the sardines).
They also brought me a complementary squash dessert for my birthday which was amazing.
This style of food is not something you’ll find elsewhere in Charlotte. The plating is gorgeous. I honestly had no idea what I was eating most of the time (even after they explained the dish), but I didn’t care because it was delicious. The preparation styles were incredibly unique.
We also got a couple of cocktails — Putting Down Roots and the South Mint 75. They were some of the best cocktails I’ve ever had. Incredibly unique and delicious.
The price is on the higher side, but I would expect it to be a lot higher for the quality of food that’s being served. Small plates are about $10-20 and they recommend at least 2-3 per person. We paid about $50 per person including tip and cocktails (only half of us got a cocktail). Other small plates restaurants around here are much more expensive for not nearly as good of food.
I think our group size was less than ideal. I think you’re better off coming with 2-4 people. The service was great and they were very accommodating to us, but figuring out how to share and split checks with that many people is hard.
I’d agree that this is Charlotte’s best restaurant. I don’t know anywhere else where I could order everything on the menu and love it all. Everyone should definitely give this place a try!