I am a foodie. I love dining out and discovering the new, trendy restaurants or the historic hole-in-the wall places to eat. When I travel, it’s always on my list to find the truly local food places. I personally find it much more enjoyable than just doing the usual tourist attractions and feel I gain a much deeper experience with the local area and people. So when LendingTree offered me the opportunity write an article on restaurants and basically eat food, I immediately accepted and imagined my life to be one step closer to that of those world traveling T.V. celebrity chefs, which I’ve always lived through vicariously.
While I didn’t have the opportunity to travel to some exotic location and eat some local, wriggly, six-legged, insectoid delicacy (oh well), I did have the chance to still explore my home city of Charlotte, where LendingTree is also headquartered, a bit more. And this project worked out well for me. I had recently gotten the Discover it® card which offers an outstanding 6% cash back on restaurants and dining for the remainder of this month. You can’t argue numbers, 6% cash back is really solid. If you’re foodie like me and eat out a lot, it’s truly a great card for dining because you do get a hefty amount of your money back. There is such a thing as a free lunch!
Anyway, I decided to check out these six amazing Charlotte local restaurants with my Discover it® card. My pictures won’t do these dishes justice, but I promise, you will get hungry.
Customshop Handcrafted Food
Customshop Handcrafted Food is a modern, rustic-chic restaurant located in Charlotte’s Elizabeth neighborhood. They have a great variety of small plates for sharing as well as delicious main entrees. If you ever visit, definitely check out their cheese and charcuterie menu which features some fantastic meats and unique cheeses. All of their food is sourced locally from the Carolinas, so eat well and feel good about it!
Namastay Kitchen and Hangout
Namastay Kitchen and Hangout is located in the Cotswold area and is actually attached to Y2 Yoga studios, the largest yoga gym in the entire United States! So go be fit and then enjoy some healthy smoothies, great food – including vegan-friendly dishes – and some of the best sushi in Charlotte. Sushi at Namastay is provided by Sushi Guru, which was voted in Charlotte Observer’s 2015 Reader’s Choice as the best sushi in Charlotte. My friend, Chef Louis Park, creates some great sushi here including this menu special, the Y2 Cotswold Roll, which features a whole soft shell crab.
Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar
Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar is a Charlotte original with the first restaurant opening in the Dilworth neighborhood. If you’re a fan of great burgers, they have a wide variety of mouthwatering, house designed specials. Or you can even build your own custom creation! But for me, this special menu item called to my heart, which is really my stomach. The Bad Ass Burger, as it’s aptly called, is huge and features large pieces of buttermilk battered fried bacon. Buttermilk. Fried. Bacon. You can practically taste the patriotism and it tastes good.
Cowfish
I’ve had a burger. I’ve had sushi. Now I present to you, burgushi. Cowfish Sushi Burger Bar in Charlotte’s South Park area provides a unique East meets West fusion twist, mixing burger elements with sushi. And it’s amazing. The picture above is the 4-S (Sear-iously Sensational Sushi Sandwich) and features seared Koji marinated tuna and yellowtail, Asian slaw, red peppers, daikon sprouts, cucumber and is served on a “bun” that is made with kani and sushi rice. Or you might want to try their Doug’s Filet Roll (Not our CEO, Doug) which has avocado, kani, cream cheese, slices of filet mignon, spicy mayo, scallions, and masago. Would you like some bacon, cheese, and truffle fries with that?
Futo Buta
Futo Buta is quite literally a small hole-in-the-wall restaurant located off the tracks at Bland St. Station. This place is a noodle house featuring daily, fresh handcrafted Japanese style noodles. Trust me when I say this isn’t your “I’m too lazy to boil water so I’m going to microwave it in a cup college-life ramen.” The above is their Tonkotsu, which features a rich pork bone broth, pecan smoked pork belly, fresh scallions, organic mushrooms, onsen egg, pickled ginger, seaweed, sesame, and black garlic.
Abjani Moroccan Cuisine
I am a firm believer that some of the best food can be found in local, tiny, unassuming places like this. Abjani Moroccan Cuisine is located on Central Avenue just outside the limits of Charlotte’s Plaza Midwood neighborhood. Technically, this very modest, strip-mall restaurant, is actually a take-out place. They only have four tables, of which two are outside! But truly, this is fantastic food and really hits the spot when you want a less traditional, exotic flair. Not all food needs to come in fancy plates served tableside with excessive silverware. I’m going to start an #AllFoodMatters campaign.
Now Go Eat Well Without Breaking the Bank
These are just some of the many fantastic local restaurants Charlotte has to offer. But even if you never make it this way, go explore your own local places and see what you can find! You don’t need to travel to be a foodie. If you are a foodie though, as I mentioned before, the Discover it® card is really, truly a great card right now for adverturous eaters. The card offers unlimited 1% cash back on everything you purchase, and for the rest of June the 5% cashback rotating category is restaurants and dining. That 5% is on top of their standard 1% on everything offer, giving you a total of 6% cash back rewards, up to $1,500 of quarterly category purchases.
If you apply right now, Discover is still currently offering a special introductory sign-up offer of doubling all of your cash back rewards in the first year. That means you’re really getting 12% worth of cash back rewards for eating. That’s insane. The Discover it® card also will feature other great categories the rest of the year, including cash back at home improvement stores for those DIY projects and online shopping with sites like Amazon.com.
So if you’re hungry now, get your Discover it® card sooner than later and take advantage of great rewards and an even greater introductory offer. Cheers!
>> Click here to explore the Discover it credit card and double your first year’s cash rewards
Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuer. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer. This content was accurate at the time of this post, but card terms and conditions may change at any time. This site may be compensated through the credit card issuer Affiliate Program.
The post What is Burgushi? Discover These 6 Great Local Restaurants in Charlotte appeared first on .