Hey Friends! Last night I went to preview @culinarydropout before they open on October 11th. At first, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but after my experience, I cannot wait to go back! The space is huge, at over 13k sqft - and yet I think it will constantly be packed. The vibe was great, the cocktails were well done, and the food was excellent! Plus I love that they’ll have live music. So here’s the rundown: The Playboy Stache, El Matador, and Espresso Martini were all excellent. All the cocktails use fresh squeezed juice - nothing is pasteurized and it makes a big difference. For apps, we did “The Slicer”, which is a chefs selection of cheese, charcuterie, and snacks. It was solid, but the Soft Pretzels with Provolone Fondue were the real star. Made the old school way with lye, they had the perfect texture - and you can’t ask for a better complement than the cheese fondue. Creamy. Salty. It was perfection. For entrees, the Steak Frites were a great choice - prepared to a perfect medium, it was the truffle butter that makes this dish. The Korean Style Ribeye was also very good, but be prepared because it’s very peppery! The 36 hour pork ribs were fantastic too. Fall off the bone tender. Sweet. Smokey. A slight char. They were really good. My favorite was the Beer Battered Fish and Chips though. It’s a must order if you like fish and chips. The batter was flavorful and could not have been more perfectly crisp, while the fish remained tender, moist, and flakey. Then for dessert, we had the Caramelized Banana Bar and Mississippi Mud Pie. Both were good, but the Caramelized Banana Bar was my favorite. The cornflake peanut butter crunch on the bottom is what made the dessert. It was like a Caramelized flakey wafer crust, that was the perfect contrast to the creamy praline mousse. All in all, I think this will be a great addition to Charlotte. It’s nice enough where you could have a business lunch, but relaxed enough where you can go watch Sunday football with a bunch of buddies. But most importantly, the food was super tasty! #charlotte #eatdrinkclt #foodie #foodreview #restaurantreview #fishandchips #charlottenc #sportsbar #livemusic #steak