Chick-fil-A is pretty much my favorite fast-food restaurant, so I was excited I got the chance to get an “advance” taste of their new spicy chicken sandwich, which is being debuted for real on June 7. All you had to do for a free sandwich was visit getspicychicken.com and reserve a time for May 24-June 5. A great gimmick for Chick-fil-A, I think. But on to the sandwich:

The anticipation is killing me

The Sandwich

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I was back in Charlotte last weekend and Mario and I got a chance to meet up with some of my high school buddies that are new to the area. I’ve been debating on whether or not to do some name-dropping in this post, but I think I’m gonna go ahead and drop away One of my besties just moved to Charlotte to be with her longtime boyfriend and my old friend, recently acquired Bobcats player Tyrus Thomas. They requested a soul/Southern food spot, and after some debate, Mario and I decided to meet them at Boudreaux’s Louisiana Kitchen in NoDa. Obviously Boudreaux’s is not the name of this post, and that’s because I didn’t feel motivated to write a full post after our disappointing meal. The crawfish and spinach dip appetizer was the highlight. I had an oyster po’boy that was unseasoned and borderline gross. There was one interesting point on the menu–their selection of hurricanes. We couldn’t decide whether it was in poor taste or kind of funny/clever that they named their different hurricane concoctions after actual hurricanes. The Hurricane Katrina was made up of spirits from locations that followed the course of the hurricane. Hmm…

Anyway, toward the end of the meal, my friends asked if we had heard of Amelie’s French Bakery, also in the NoDa area. When we said no, they both insited we go right away. Tyrus, usually a pretty goofy guy, got extremely serious when he started to describe a fruit tart they serve. “Jessica. Ok they have this graham cracker crust. And then this custard that is really, really good. Then on top are these perfectly sliced strawberries and berries and stuff, gracefully arranged and topped with this apple jam….ok we have to go right now.” And so we did:

Amelie's French Bakery

I’ve been searching for a “user-friendly” place to get my feet with with Vietnamese food because I feel like I’m missing out on so much of Atlanta’s food options. Though it’s actually in Charlotte, Vietnam Grille, was just the place I needed for an introduction. Charlotte bloggers and Yelpers were singing its praises, so Mario and I decided to check it out one gorgeous weekend in the Queen City.

Our server was super friendly and apparently recognized the slightly perplexed looks on our faces, as he asked if it was our first time eating Vietnamese and gave some suggestions. I decided to try the phở with flank steak and brisket, and Mario got the broken rice (which I believe was Cơm tấm, but correct me if I’m wrong) with chicken:

Phở

Cơm tấm

Our dishes came out literally within 5 minutes and we dug in.
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Mario and I found a newly opened (October) and judging by the number of people seated, apparently as-yet undiscovered dining gem in Charlotte. Terrace Cafe is located in the Southpark area near the mall (I’m not up on my Charlotte geography enough to be more specific than that). We were looking for a brunch spot one Saturday morning and I surfed a few reviews, browsed their interesting-looking menu, and made the choice. Man, am I glad I did.

Terrace

Though I can only speak for the breakfast items, I can’t imagine that the rest of Terrace’s menu would disappoint either. I ordered the Red Velvet Waffle topped with cream cheese drizzle (can’t believe no one in Atlanta has done this!) and Mario threw together a meal from the sides menu of pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon:
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Mario and I visited hip-looking burger joint The Counter last weekend in Charlotte (there is also a location in GA in Roswell). We’ve been scoping it out for a while and decided that the fact that it was packed was a good sign. Surprisingly, we were seated immediately (larger groups should expect a longer wait) and were given the run-down on the order process.

The Counter

We were given a half-page menu and order sheets on a clip board. The Counter’s order process reminded me of a sushi place where the table checks off their orders for the server. You can choose your patty protein and size (1/3 lb, 2/3 lb, or 1lb), cheese (1 incl), toppings (4 incl, with “premium” toppings like bacon or mushrooms running $0.50/each), sauce (1 incl), and bun (English muffin, regular, or honey wheat). Whew! There are also “signature” burgers, the burger of the month, and non-burger sandwiches.

Mario and I ordered a “fifty-fifty” (half regular fries, half sweet potato fries), a bacon cheeseburger + bbq sauce, and a bleu-bacon-mushroom-pickle burger + roasted garlic aioli:
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I was visiting Charlotte a few weekends ago and Mario took me out to Zink American Kitchen downtown. Food, not bad. Service, lacking. We went in and were quickly seated in the main dining room. Oddly, you only get a drink menu when you sit down and no food menu, so we couldn’t even see what they had to offer in the 15 minutes we were sitting there without even a glance from a waiter. A group of 5 was seated next to us not long after we arrived, and were brought water and menus within 5 minutes. After that, we decided it was time for us to leave.

I guess at the same time we decided our wait was unacceptable, the manager did too, because he caught us about halfway to the door, apologized profusely, and offered us a free appetizer for being ignored. Apparently the person normally assigned to our table was helping with a large party in another room and none of the other waiters in the area noticed. Mmhmm. Whatever, we were hungry. I ordered us the Streetside Tacos (beef shortribs, mango, red onion slaw, chipotle crema) as our on-the-house app:

Streetside Tacos

I spent last weekend in Charlotte and got to do some shopping, participated in a 5K heart walk, and visited New South Kitchen & Bar. I basically decided on this place based on some online buzz and a promising-looking menu, and I was expecting it to maybe be Charlotte’s version of JCT Kitchen. That it was not, but I wasn’t disappointed.

New South Kitchen

Mario ordered the Crispy Chicken Sandwich (honey mustard, grilled apples, cheddar cheese) and I had the Shrimp and Grits (housemade sausage, mushrooms, white cheddar grits).
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