Halcyon Restaurants | Recommendations - Find. Eat. Drink.
Halcyon Restaurant, Chef Marc Jacksina, Bartender Maggie Ruppert, Where to eat, Where to drink, Where to shop, Charlotte, NC, North Carolina, Farmers Markets, Shops, Food Stores, Restaurants, Bars, Dive Bars, New American, BBQ, Barbecue, American, Vietnamese, Pho, Soups, Fish Market, Bakery, Bodega, Deli, Local’s Guide To Charlotte, Where the pros Go
Atherton Farmers Market
2104 South Boulevard, Charlotte, NC 28203
Dilworth
Farmers Market
Edisto, SC
Find | Markets & Food stores - Charlotte, NC
The farmers are actually there doing the selling. So it’s very authentic.
Recommendations
The Common Market
Plaza Milwood
2007 Commonwealth Avenue, Charlotte NC 28205
T: 704.334.6209
South End / Dilworth
1515 South Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC 28203
T: 704.332.7782
Multiple Locations
Deli / Bodega
They make great sandwiches. I’m not vegetarian, but they do great vegan and vegetarian sandwiches. They buy fair trade coffee. They have a small bar, a great beer selection, and a really a decent wine selection, plus cool sodas.
Who
Marc Jacksina is the executive chef and Maggie Ruppert is the resident mixologist of Halcyon, Flavors From the Earth in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Why
Chef Marc Jacksina shops the local markets for his “farmhouse chic” approach to cooking. Maggie Ruppert adds unique twists to classic cocktails using locally distilled spirits and moonshine.
Chef Marc Jacksina & Bartender Maggie Ruppert | Recs
September 4, 2012
Photo Credit: Find. Eat. Drink. | Photograph courtesy of Halcyon | Photo Credit: Find. Eat. Drink.
Halcyon - Charlotte, NC
Matthews Farmers Market
Matthews
Farmers Market
Very local and great ingredients.
Clean Catch Fish Market
Myers Park
Fish Market
It's a fish market in Myers Park. It’s expensive, but good fish is. They’re buying directly from the fisherman and this is what he is charging.
The King's Bakery
Uptown Charlotte
Bakery
Super crusty breads that flake off the way that it should.
5 Church
Fourth Ward / Uptown
New American
Eat | Restaurants - Charlotte, NC
I think they're doing really good work at 5 Church.
Barrington’s
South Park / Quail Hollow
New American
It’s sort of the stately dame of Charlotte, upper-end cuisine. Bruce Moffett is a very accomplished chef and has been nominated for a James Beard Award. It’s a little stuffy for me. I love the food, but it’s just too quiet.
Diamond Restaurant
Plaza Midwood
Southern
I’m not a huge hotdog fan, because usually they’re pretty cheap and nasty, but here I get a Race Track Dog. It’s a Southern dog with chilly, slaw, mustard, and onions. I always go for a Big Block Burger. Full Blown Hemi is like a mass amount of food.
Old Hickory House
www.oldhickoryhousebarbecuerestaurant.com
6538 North Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC 28213
T: 704.596.8014
University City
BBQ
It’s one of the only pit barbecue joints in Charlotte. I love barbecue. The condiments are okay, but the pulled pork is amazing.
Pho Real
440 McCullough Drive, Suite 206, Charlotte, NC 28262
T: 704.717.2500
University City
Vietnamese
It’s a little bit more Anglicized and it’s a little more lounge-y feeling, but the food is pretty darn good. I always get the train size bowl, because I’m going to take it home. I’ll crave it two hours later because I’ll fixate on it.
Queen City Q
First Ward
BBQ
Dan Boone does probably the best brisket that you’re going to find outside of Austin, Texas. He has a box smoker, he doesn’t have a pit smoker. He makes some of the most perfect, spot-on, Southern-style barbecue. I always get the brisket, it just calls me every time I’m there. Coleslaw is amazing. Some people bitch that he serves out his collards with too much pot liquor, I like that much pot liquor because you’re supposed to have it with your corn bread. You just dunk it! I’m on the record saying it's ‘punch your mama in the mouth good!’
Comet Grill
Dilworth
American
It’s a Dilworth neighborhood bar and I love the hamburgers. It’s an off the beaten path place, but they have live music almost every night of the week and it’s free. The beer is cheap and it’s usually pretty chilly inside. Occasionally the AC gets a little wonky, but that’s the charm of it. When certain bands play there they have to stock up on certain brands of alcohol. If the Loose Lugnuts play there won’t be any whiskey left. It doesn’t matter how much they buy, all the whiskey and all the bourbon will get drank.
Good Food on Montford
South Park
New American
It’s sort of a small plate, eclectic-style restaurant, very beautifully done. It’s one of the best pork steammed buns in the city, which is amazing. Their charcuterie is really good that they do in-house. I’ve always had really good luck with the risottos.
Saigon Palace
Starmount
Vietnamese
Saigon Palace is a Vietnamese restaurant in a strip mall. Their menu is fantastic. It's owned by an older Vietnamese couple. Order the Bún Bò Huế, which is a really spicy Vietnamese red broth that’s got pork knuckle, tripe and tendon. You pick these two big giant pork knuckles up and just kind of muscle through them with your hands, which is pretty disgusting, but it’s so delicious.
Drink | Bars - Charlotte, NC
The Thirsty Beaver
1225 Central Avenue, Charlotte, NC 28204
T: 704.332.3612
Plaza Midwood
Dive Bar
It’s a cinder block building next to the rail road tracks, it looks like my childhood has been thrown up on the wall. The two boys who own it also own one of the best vintage shops in Charlotte. They have overalls with a Hee Haw print. There’s Evil Knievel stunt sets up on the wall, the jukebox is free, the beer is cheap and it only comes in a can, you can’t get it in a bottle.
Find | Food Purveyors / Stores - Edisto, SC
Geechie Boy Market and Mill
Edisto Island
Mill / Farm Store
Greg Johnson sources out Kentucky white corn and Kentucky yellow corn for his milled grits. He hunts down the oldest machines that he can find. He worked with Glenn Roberts at Anson Mills, but he’s not a seed saver. He’s really about crafting the product and he wants to preserve an older way of doing things.
Good Food on Montford
South Park
New American
They have a solid, well-rounded cocktail list. They’ve got a great cold-smoked mint julep; they’ve got some dessert cocktails; they’ve got a gin, St. Germain, Meyer lemon, egg white kind of a deal. If I want to go out for a cocktail, I know I can depend on them to be consistent, really good and worth the money.
The Common Market
Plaza Milwood
2007 Commonwealth Avenue, Charlotte NC 28205
T: 704.334.6209
South End / Dilworth
1515 South Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC 28203
T: 704.332.7782
Multiple Locations
Deli / Bodega
They have Birdsong and Note beers. If you’re having a beer. You literally open the cooler and take a beer out. It's a standing room and they have DJs spinning on certain nights.
