Stumbled upon Runaway Whisky and Wine while looking for a spot to kill some time before a flight,…read moreand wow--what a find. The atmosphere is moody-chic in the best way, with dark walls, glowing chandeliers, and a cozy, elevated vibe. We tried the espresso flights, which were delicious and not overly sweet. The heated espresso ended up being our favorite. I ordered the avocado toast and absolutely loved the combination of avocado, pickled onions, salmon, and feta. My husband asked for a bartender's choice--essentially their take on a Penicillin--and it was perfect. My sister went with the chicken wrap and had zero complaints. We will be back at some point.

First time at RWW and let's just say I'll be back very soon…read more Ordered: - First in Flight - flight of 4 espresso martinis - Bartenders choice - Friend asked for Tequila inspired and she loved it. - Calamari was lightly fried, delicious and well seasoned. They should include a side of the sauce instead of it only being on the plate. - Burger - Friends ordered Medium, had to send back it was well done. 2nd came out Medium well but it was close. Everything was great & I recommend the menu. We had a group of 10 for a birthday and only compliant was the burger. It was slightly warm, not because of the drinks lol. A tad warm but manageable. Bartender who was also our sever mentioned it's much cooler than a prior day after AC was fixed I guess lol.

The vibe if you want a cocktail with a lil chit chat:) Bartenders can make anything u wantread more

Delicious drinks and a great atmosphere. We tried the Old Fashioned and another fruity mixed…read morecocktail and both were delicious.

Love this bar and the design. Great nod to the historic building in south end, shout out to the…read morestaff who work really hard with the heavy traffic of people on the weekends.

Fun, lively place…read more My friends and I were in town and wanted to have one last drink before we jetted out the next morning, so we ended up in trendy South End. First thing we noticed was how HUGE this place is. I feel like everywhere we turned, each section had its own vibe and its own designated bar. With the loud music, it was more loungey than anything and the crowd was on the much younger side. Canopy seems to be the go-to place in the South End. We did not encounter this kind of lines or crowds anywhere else in the area. Ordered a grapefruity drink (Our Flowerchild) off the menu and it was pretty good. Price was alright - definitely cheaper than what I'd pay in NYC (which is already atrocious in itself).

This place is so cool. It is down an alley with a bunch of other bars! It's upstairs. It's small…read moreand the drinks and service were amazing! Shay was our bartender and she recommended a drink that she created and it was amazing. It was sort of raspberry and citrusy! We loved the vibe and the quaintness!

The ambiance is trendy, southern-rustic mixed with wood and night lounge vibes. The aroma of the…read moreroom smells like roasted marshmallows. The service is great and the bartenders are more-so artists.

This place blue my mind…read more I was visiting my best friend while in town for a conference on amusement ride standards. We had a reservation for Blue Door for Saturday night, and it was amazing. Now while she was vaguely aware of their "spirited kingdom" menu, I had NO CLUE. It was the best surprise! They have such a cool menu with a full theme park map containing 4 lands with 4 cocktails each. The cocktails all match the type of ride they are, it's honestly such a cool idea, and it was so well done. I loved the art. I will say, I was skeptical that all of their drinks would actually work and worried that they'd be too caught up in the theme to make results but . . . Oh my goodness I was so impressed by the drinks here. I think a lot of bars these days can get so caught up in trying to be unique that their drinks become nearly undrinkable. This place definitely doesn't suffer there. They brought us an aperitif when we came in, but unfortunately I have a blueberry allergy so we skipped that. We had 4 drinks between the 2 of us and they were all awesome. I ordered the star breaker and the green dragon (what can I say, I love gin and a good coaster), and they were both balanced and tasty. My friend got the diablo and the neon shift, and they were both fantastic as well! The neon shift was served with a black light too which was super cute. The one drink I have to call out specifically is the green dragon. There was something about this drink that was so unique, I have genuinely never had anything like it but I would order it a thousand times over. It's so good. It keeps me up at night. It haunts my every bar order. I will be writing home about it. What else can I say about this place - the service was great, the atmosphere was fun, and the DJ was amazing. I thought "wow this guy really likes sax covers" only to look over and see him PLAYING HIS SAXOPHONE LIVE?? Iconic. This place was perfect and I wouldn't change a thing about it. The spirited kingdom menu will only be around for 6 months according to the waitress, so definitely catch it while it's there! If I'd heard about it sooner, I would've maybe descended upon them with 200+ theme park engineers in town for the conference (maybe it's a good thing I didn't know they were there until after it was over), but instead I will just say DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND MAKE YOUR RESERVATION NOW

3.5/5 stars. Went back to Blue Door to give it another chance with the new menu... it's still my…read moreleast favorite cocktail bar in all of charlotte. The menu this time is theme park theme... again, a fun concept but not well executed. Pretty overwhelming, especially with the bartenders explaining the menu to us twice with the same spiel there is too much to look at it makes it difficult to pay attention to the drinks. I really did not love my drink (starbreaker?) you could only taste the lychee The bartenders not a vibe, it was not that comfortable to sit at the bar. They now serve food, hotdogs... which do NOT match the vibe at all, so that was interesting that their only food (other than the free popcorn) is not hot dogs..

This cool little speakeasy in South End is worth a visit any time of the year, but is especially…read morefun during the holidays, when it turns into a festive wonderland of cocktails and magic. Located behind the SoundBound taqueria on South Blvd., this small space comes alive between Thanksgiving and Christmas with fun decor, holiday-themed drinks and even indoor snow. On a recent visit, I enjoyed a delicious Snowball Old Fashioned while my wife sipped a rum-infused Yippee Ki Yay MotherF*****r! The menu also includes non-alcoholic cocktails and shots. In classic speakeasy fashion, you access the lounge by picking up a hallway phone and giving a 'secret' password that's available on the Backstage Instagram page. On our visit on an early weekend evening, the phone wasn't working and the freezer door leading to the lounge was already ajar. A bit disappointing, but nothing that took away from the overall experience. Service was great at the bar, and the lounge also has booths and tables for larger parties. Definitely one of the best speakeasies in Charlotte, and one of the most enjoyable pop-up holiday bars you'll find anywhere.

Stopped in to Backstage for the Christmas pop up and was not disappointed. It's Christmas overload…read morein the best way, if you're looking for something fun and kitschy. They have a Christmas drink menu, mostly sweet, but they also offered to make some minor modifications. I had the Koala LaLaLa, which was more tart with some apple and bitters. Probably not everyone's jam, but I loved it. All the bartenders were great-Star kept us laughing, and they moved quickly considering how busy the place got. I recommend going early to get a good spot to people watch. I plan to come back at least one more time during the holidays. 10/10!

If you like Lincoln Street Kitchen & Cocktails then you'll love its adjacent hidden venue, The…read moreGreen Room, and its "Vintage Holiday" experience. Tiny and intimate with craft cocktails and a limited but thoughtful menu, it's the perfect space for a holiday wind down. The Amuse Bouche is a delightful sampling, including a bacon wrapped date, mushrooms in buttery dough pocket and an oyster. The cocktails are inventive and remarkable. We tried the Old Fezziwig, Noche Buena, The Haynes Sisters, and Clarified Mexican "Hot" Chocolate to high satisfaction. The popcorn with truffle oil and pecorino will have you rethinking movie theater popcorn. Take someone you like and check this place out. It's special.

This is a drinking establishment. Cypress is coffee and beer and wine and spirits. No food. But…read morethey do have pool tables and televisions. It's not a fancy place - it just does what it says. This is a "drinkery" that is uncomplicated by a food menu. This was quite awesome as our last-of-the-day stop. Friendly bartender made Mrs. K. a mocktail. I had a beer - Wooden Robot's "Good Morning Vietnam" which was on Thursday night's special. A pleasant spot, just sitting at the bar and talking, watching three bros playing pool and everyone in a good mood. I have a new spot to bring friends who are visiting Charlotte! [Review 2398 of 2024 - 3855 in North Carolina - 23411 overall]

Service was OK. Small hole in the wall place. Go for a beer…read more- don't go for a cocktail.

It's been awhile, but this place is still amazing and so good! Hoping it won't be almost 2 years…read moretil I come back. Monday night, half price wine by the glass or bottle, all of them on the list! Love when they do that without limitations. So we went with a glass of champagne! Because why not when it's half price! Service was excellent , and the food just awesome . So fresh and delicious. The menu here is so nice and varied with so many options. We started with the prosciutto carpaccio, paper thin prosciutto with olive oil, and fresh Parmesan and fresh greens, white balsamic and hazelnut. This was amazing, just yummy. The roasted mushrooms, come on a sliced yogurt, with verde hummus, and sumac onions. Again so flavorful and so many different things going on in this dish. Highly recommend this. The short rib bolognese. A fabulous small plate, but plenty for two . This sauce was so good with the fresh grilled bread they serve. The pasta was perfectly cooked, spinach flavored. Truffle ricotta, and crispy prosciutto on top, nice pieces of short rib too. This was an excellent dish. We were truly full so had to pass on dessert but we did get a after dinner espresso martini, called the Salud! A Spanish table toast, peppermint infused tequila, espresso, licor 43, coffee liquor and creme de cacao. Served frozen, this tasted like an Andes mint. Perfect after dinner drink. I hope this stays on the menu! So good. I'm so glad this place is still going strong and busy on a Monday night! I love everything about Chapter 6, such a great spot.

My two friends and I tried this place last night for dinner. A girl dinner if you will. We were…read moresuper excited to try it as none of us had been able to make it there before since they've opened. However, to be honest, I wasn't very impressed and neither were they. We started with the Prosciutto carpaccio and the Whipped Ricotta appetizers to share. Both of those were pretty good and the bread that came along with it was good too. It was grilled and nice and crispy. For drinks, one of my friends ordered the rosé wine flight, I ordered their house red wine, and my other friend ordered wine as well. The wine selection was good so we are pleased with that. It was our main entrées that we ordered that we were not pleased with. For example, I ordered the steak skewer, which I understood would be a small plate, but when it came out to find that it was just one skewer was a little bit misleading, and I wish that I had ordered something else because that was not enough for my dinner. Our server didn't come back to check on us after our food arrived so I wasn't even able to add any more small plates. In addition, my friend did not enjoy her pasta at all, and I tried to bite, and it was not good. Only my friend who ordered the Bolognese pasta was pleased with her dinner choice. Due to our server not coming back to our table to check on us and also didn't really give us suggestions of what to order or how to order I wasn't very pleased with our experience. I don't know if I would come back because honestly, the meal was pretty mid for how expensive it was priced. The inside of the restaurant is cute and the patio as well but the food is mid and expensive for the service to be so poor.

Love, love, love Dram & Draught! They have such a creative drink menu that they update regularly…read more The staff is incredible, super nice, chatty, and very knowledgeable about their drinks. If you tell them what you're looking for, they are sure to recommend something you'll love or answer any questions you might have. They also have $6 mystery shots, which are so fun and, 10 out of 10 times, delicious! We came in at a slower, earlier time, but later on and during the weekends, it really fills up. It's such a fun environment with plenty of room to stand and enjoy the music or sit and enjoy your cocktail. It's the perfect spot for after-dinner drinks or as a pre-game before an event. This time around, we tried the "Summer '16" and "Berry the Evidence"--both were incredible. Such a fun spot!

The atmosphere is of a upscale bar but with absolutely no food until fall of 2025/2026 according to…read morewebsite. Drinks were slow coming although staff was nice but can't drink on an empty stomach.