April 13 through April 22, 2012 — The Metrolina Expo Center will be the venue for Charlotte’s 2012 Fair. With carnival rides, games, thrill shows, a petting zoo, and of course plenty of your favorite fair food, there’s fun for the whole family!
The Florida-based Publix grocery store chain has announced it will be opening two stores, one in York and one in Lancaster county South Carolina. The stores will be Publix first go at the Charlotte Metropolitan area.
Fort Mill will have a Publix located at a new shopping center at Gold Hill and Pleasant roads. Van Wyck will have the second store located in the Cross Creek shopping center, being built at U.S. 521 and Doby’s Bridge Road. Both stores are expected to open late this year.
Publix is a welcomed addition for many shoppers looking for more options in the area. If Publix makes a move further into the Charlotte area, you can expect the supermarket wars to heat up, which will hopefully mean lower prices for shoppers.
Whole Foods is also set to open it’s first store in Charlotte, located in the Southpark area next to Philips Place shopping center.
Local foodies rejoice! The 10 day restaurant extravaganza known as Queens Feast : Charlotte Restaurant Week is nearly here.
Charlotte Restaurant Week begins January 20th and goes through January 29th. With over 100 upscale restaurants serving 3 course meals for only $30 per person, reservations are filling up quick.
Below is a list of participating restaurants sorted by area.
131 Main – Dilworth 300 East Bonterra Dining & Wine Room Cantina 1511 – Dilworth Copper Modern Indian Cuisine Dolce Ristorante Fiamma Fran’s Filling Station Eastover Primo Tuscan Grille Providence Café Elizabeth Cajun Queen Carpe Diem
131 Main – Lake Norman Alton’s Kitchen & Cocktails Campania Cafe Choplin’s Dressler’s – Birkdale Epic Chophouse Firebirds Wood Fired Grill – Northlake Flatiron Kitchen + Taphouse Jeffrey’s Restaurant Kabuto Japanese Steakhouse Kobe Hero The Melting Pot – Lake Norman Mickey & Mooch – Huntersville North Harbor Club The Prickly Pear Red Rocks Café – Birkdale Sushi @ The Lake
Santé Restaurant
Dressler’s – Metro La Paz Maharani Indian Cuisine Mama Ricotta’s The Melting Pot – Midtown Pisces Sushi Bar & Lounge Vivace
Bistro La Bon Fern, Flavors from the Garden
131 Main – Blakeney Cantina 1511 – Stonecrest Domenico’s Cucina Italiana Firebirds Wood Fired Grill – Stonecrest Gallery Restaurant Global Maestro’s Bar & Bistro Mickey & Mooch – Arboretum New South Kitchen & Bar Passion8 Bistro Rudy’s Italian Restaurant & Bar Terrace Cafe – Ballantyne Trio Waldhorn Restaurant
The Liberty Gastropub Nikko Japanese Restaurant & Sushi Bar Pewter Rose Sullivan’s Steakhouse
15 North Roadside Kitchen BrickTop’s Brio Tuscan Grille Café Monte Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steak House Firebirds Wood Fired Grill – SouthPark Georges Brasserie McCormick & Schmick’s – SouthPark Paco’s Tacos & Tequila The Palm Red Rocks Café – Strawberry Hill Ruth’s Chris Steak House – SouthPark Terrace Café – SouthPark Toscana Ristorante Italiano Upstream Village Tavern Yama Asian Fusion Zink American Kitchen
Omaha Steakhouse University / Concord Rocky River Grille The Speedway Club
Aquavina Steaks & Seafood Aria Tuscan Grill Bernardin’s at Ratcliffe BlackFinn American Saloon BLT Steak Blue Restaurant & Bar Caffe Siena The Capital Grille Chima Brazilian Steakhouse Enso Asian Bistro Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse LaVecchia’s Steaks & Seafood Luce Ristorante e Bar McCormick & Schmick’s – Uptown Mez Mimosa Grill Morton’s The Steakhouse Osso Restaurant & Lounge Room 112 Modern Asian Cuisine & Sushi Lounge Ruth’s Chris Steak House – Uptown Savannah Red Restaurant & Wine Bar Vida Mexican Kitchen y Cantina West Mecklenburg / Gaston County Nick’s Steak and Taphouse Old Stone Steakhouse
For more information visit the Queens Feast website here.
First Night Charlotte is a family-friendly arts and culture event taking place New Years Eve at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Outdoor terrace at Charlotte Convention Center, Bechtler Museum, Mint Museum, The Green, and the main stage located at Levine Avenue of the Arts.
The event starts off at noon with First Night Kids with and last until 5pm with a kids countdown at the main stage from 4-5pm. First Night then restarts at 8pm with evening activities at The Green until 11pm and a midnight finale show from 10pm-12:30am on the main stage.
View the First Night Kids Schedule
View the First Night Evening Schedule
For more information on the event visit the First Night Charlotte website here.
Whole Foods, a natural and organic foods supermarket, is preparing to open an approximately 42,000 square foot space in the first phase of the mixed-use Ashley Park development, which is located at the intersection of Fairview and Sharon Roads in the SouthPark area of Charlotte.
Whole Foods already has a North Carolina presence with stores in Asheville, Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh and Winston-Salem, and plans for additional stores opening in North Raleigh in 2011 and Greensboro in 2012. The Charlotte store will broke ground over the spring 2011 on the Ashley Park site and has a targeted opening date of spring 2012.