I'm heading to Raleigh and Charlotte next week for work. Anyone point me in the right direction for good local beer and food? I'm staying by the airports both nights, so closer would be better, but I will have a rental car and can drive if need be. Also, i'll be in Raleigh on 12/10 and 12/12 and Charlotte on 12/11 in case anyone wants to join me. Thanks in advance!
There should be a few threads within the first few pages of this forum that have ready-made answers for ya. Enjoy your stay!
For Raleigh I would suggest Ridgewood Wine & Beer (no food, but WholeFoods is next door). They have 16 on tap, and a good bottle selection. They are also close to the airport. A little farther away from the airport and in downtown Raleigh i would recommend the Busy Bee, the Raleigh Times and Tyler's at Seaboard Station.
Raleigh times is a favorite place of mine. Good stuff on tap and great chips and salsa/guac. Don't pass up SAMs in Durham. Great bottle selection!
For one night business trip in CLT, I suggest one of three routes (all very close stops to each other) Route 1 - Olde Meck Brewery (german style brewery) - Brawleys (king of bottle shops)- Duckworths/Good Food on Montford (eat at Good Food, beer list is amazing at Ducks) Route 2 - Triple C Brewing (newest brewery) - Good Bottle Co (new bottle shop with 12 taps) - Mac's Speed Shop (BBQ place with excellent beer selection) Route 3 - Noda Brewing (top brewery) / Birdsong Brewing (good brewery 30ft next door to Noda)- Salud (bottle shop with taps) - Growlers Pour House (good bar food / good beer) Stop one is local brewery, stop two is a bottle shop, stop three is a beer centered restaurant. Route 1 is the most direct from the airport. Route 2 is easy to get to from airport. Route 3 is furthest way but only 15mins from the airport and mostly interstate. If I only had an hour for dinner at one place, I would pick The Liberty. Great gastro pub food and always a good beer selection (easy to get to from Airport). There is also a brew pub (Heist Brewing) in the Noda neighborhood but I haven't been there so I can't personally comment. Reviews on BA and online say food is very good (portions small) but beer is very average.
The Yard House opened a few months ago, and they have a ton of taps, great food, and very close to I40. There's another beer place next door too, maybe Beer World? The Yard House is maybe 10 minutes to the airport, and easy to find.
Liberty is arguably the best one stop place in Charlotte for great food and beer... I saw Brody from Homeland eating and drinking there a couple of weeks ago..
There's also this: http://beeradvocate.com/beerfly/list?city=Charlotte&c_id=US&s_id=NC and this: http://beeradvocate.com/beerfly/list?city=Raleigh&c_id=US&s_id=NC
NoMoreBeerBelly has added some great recommendations for Charlotte. You'll be here on a Tuesday, which means NoDa Brewing will be tapping their NoDable Series beer as they do every week. While they won't announce what it is until Monday, they did say they'll do all "Christmas beers" for the month of December. Hope you enjoy Charlotte. If you have any other questions, just ask!
If you would like to come see us at The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery, it'd be my pleasure to show you around the brewery, give you sort of an insiders tour for a fellow BA.
Stay away from Olde Mecklenburg. No one likes that place and the beer is so-so. Good Food on Montford is also similarly disgusting.
I would go to breweries in Raleigh. Roth and Big Boss would be my bets. agreed on the beer. Didnt stand out at all.
