Our Favorite 'Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives' in Charlotte, North Carolina

Here’s a concept we bet you never knew you were missing … an indoor race track with gourmet bar food. And who better to test drive this concept with Guy than none other than former NASCAR race driver Clint Bowyer. On their visit to Pit Road Bar & Grill in Season 22, they took a few turns around the racetrack and then made a pit stop in the kitchen to taste the Hot Lap sandwich. This spicy, shredded chicken sammie is made with chicken that has been marinated for 24 hours in a Bloody Mary-based sauce. The sandwich is then topped with a jalapeño cilantro crema that Guy says “ties it all together,” adding that, “there’s nothing I would change about the sandwich.”

At Heist Brewery, the beer may bring you in, but it’s the food that will bring you back. While the menu may look like standard pub fare at first glance, this is definitely not the case once you take a deeper dive into each dish. The duck confit flatbread, which is a crowd favorite, is made from a housemade dough and topped with a whole roasted duck that has been slow-roasted in a wood oven. Once this elevated pizza is fully assembled with fresh mozzarella, pickled shallots and Heist’s own barbecue sauce, it goes into a 650-degree oven to give it that perfectly crisp texture that Guy calls “dynamite!”

It’s hard to miss the Volkswagen Bug parked on the roof of Pinky’s Westside Grill, an homage to the former mechanic shop that once occupied the now-converted restaurant. Step inside this quirky spot and you’ll be treated to house specialties like fried pickles, corn dog–battered shrimp and the Triple “G” Burger. Made with three 5-ounce patties (yes, you read that right) and slathered with housemade chili, the burger is what customers refer to as “a messy piece of equipment,” one that even Guy himself had trouble figuring out how to dig into. “Fantastic,” he declared, as much of the juicy burger dripped down his chin.

Charlotte mainstay 300 East has been around for more than 30 years. Located inside a historic home built in 1900, this restaurant, run by a mother-daughter duo, is known for its eclectic, scratch-made menu that locals call “the most welcoming place in town.” When Guy stopped by during Season 22’s episode all about indulgent dishes, the team at 300 East certainly, well, indulged him! After feeding him a mushroom and lamb ragout that Guy thought could have had a song named after it, pastry chef Ashley Boyd made him a butterscotch ice cream sandwich that Guy called “one of the best desserts we’ve ever had on Triple D.”

The Improper Pig didn’t get its name from an ill-mannered mascot, but rather from a reluctance to play by traditional North Carolina barbecue rules. Co-owners Will Bigham and Darius Amidi wanted to mix things up by bringing bold Asian flavors to the smokehouse, resulting in crave-worthy creations like barbecue-stuffed egg rolls, a kimchi burger and smoked chicken curry rolls that add a delicious twist to Charlotte’s dining scene. When Guy stopped by in Season 26, he sampled the Chow Bao Sliders, which are made with pulled pork covered in a house seasoning then hickory-smoked for 12 hours before being topped with a generous scoop of Asian coleslaw and served on a perfectly steamed bun. After one bite, Guy declared, “There is nothing that I do not love about this,” and told chef Darius that the Charlotte area “was lucky to have him.”

Family-owned South 21 Drive In has been a mainstay in Charlotte since 1955 and is beloved not just for the nostalgia of a place that seems to be frozen in history, but also for its delicious comfort food. Menu items like the Super Boy Burger, hot dogs and onion rings make folks drive for miles to get a tray of food brought to their car windows. In fact, South 21 will serve more than 300 orders of onion rings in just one day. Guy, who fancies himself an “onion ring aficionado,” schooled viewers on what makes a perfect onion ring by demonstrating that a well-cooked one should break easily and not “drag all of the inner onion out of the crust.” IYKYK. We’re happy to say that South 21’s onion rings passed his quality control test with flying colors.

New York transplant and classically trained chef Joseph Huang moved to Charlotte with a clear mission: serve great burgers made with great beef. He opened Bang Bang Burgers in 2013, sourcing high-quality beef from New York while creating bold, original flavor combinations of his own. Guy stopped by in Season 26 to try the pimento burger, a standout thanks to Bang Bang’s housemade pimento cheese, which is nothing like the traditional Southern version. Huang’s take, kicked up with sriracha, is regularly praised by fans as “the best they’ve ever had.” Cooked to your preferred temperature and topped with the signature pimento cheese, the burger is finished with house-brined fried pickles that have been soaked for at least two days, then coated in a light tempura batter. Guy called the fried pickle “the kicker” that makes this a truly great burger.

In Season 22, Guy rolled up to Tin Kitchen, a tiny but mighty mobile food truck serving big flavors. Locals rave about chef/owner David Stuck’s inventive menu, calling it “the best in town,” so of course Guy had to see what all the fuss was about. He dug into the Buffalo cauliflower sliders — grilled cauliflower steaks topped with celery root slaw, blue cheese and Buffalo sauce — and loved the char and “awesome texture.” Next up were the chana masala tacos, featuring a coconut chickpea curry over apricot and date-flavored couscous. After showing the camera his empty plate, it’s safe to say that Guy now knows why customers will chase this food truck all over town.

Papi Queso started as a food truck in 2012 and has since parked itself permanently inside Optimist Hall in Charlotte’s historic Mill District. Here, you’ll find chef Brian Stockholm’s take on grilled cheese sandwiches that Guy says are about as close to grilled cheese as “I am to an astronaut.” Meaning, the level of detail and precision that goes into every bite suggests that once you eat here, “you will never be satisfied with the grilled cheese you make at home.” Case in point, the Pig Mac sandwich, which is made with pulled pork and a bechamel-based macaroni. Chef Brian bakes the macaroni on a sheet pan so that perfect squares can be cut and melted to order for each sandwich, delivering that ooey-gooey goodness in every bite.

When Guy visited JJ’s Red Hots in Season 26, he was blown away by the love and care that went into each and every link. From housemade sausage to hot dogs sourced from chef/owner Jonathan Luther’s hometown of Buffalo, New York, it was easy to see that Jonathan was cooking from the heart. Guy even joked that you could hear “hot dog angels singing” after one bite. Unfortunately, when the pandemic hit, Jonathan had to pivot (oof, remember that word?) to a more sustainable economic model of a food truck. Now, JJ’s devoted fans follow Frank the Tank on Instagram to find out where the legendary hot dogs can be found.

Known to locals as “down-home cooking fit for a king,” Mert’s Heart and Soul has been slinging Southern soul food in downtown Charlotte since 1998. They are well-known for their Soul Rolls, a wildly popular dish that combines collard greens, fried chicken, seasoned rice and black-eyed peas together into egg roll wraps before being deep-fried and served up with a spicy honey mustard sauce. Of course, they’ve got more traditional Southern staples on lock, too. When Guy stopped in for a visit during Season 23, chef James Bazzelle fixed him a plate of shrimp and grits that Guy said would have to be “pried out of his hands.”

When you pick up a menu at a pizza joint, you don’t expect to see dishes like eggplant musaka or stuffed cabbage listed next to quattro formaggi. But at Intermezzo Pizzeria & Café, run by the Avramovic family, that unexpected pairing is exactly the point. While the pizzas, made with handmade dough and topped with housemade mozzarella, may draw guests in, it’s the traditional Serbian dishes that turn first-timers into regulars. Guy stopped by in Season 22 and tried piroska for the first time. This is a Balkan-style stuffed pizza similar to a calzone. One bite was all it took for him to call it “dynamite!”

Stepping inside Dish is like being wrapped in a warm hug: cozy, comforting and hard to leave. If you’re a Southerner or just like to eat like one, Dish is a must-try if you’re coming to Charlotte. Guy paid a visit in Season 8 and watched them cook up their signature chicken and dumplings made with whole roasted chicken, homemade chicken stock and hand-rolled dumplings. He loved the “super tender dumplings” and, after a few bites, proceeded to clean his plate, the ultimate compliment.

Any diner worth its salt checks a few essential boxes: breakfast served all day, a massive menu (bonus points if it’s so large that it’s bound like a book) and a bakery case packed with desserts you don’t need but will order anyway. At Landmark Restaurant Diner, it’s a clear check, check and check. While this may be a Greek-family-owned establishment, the menu spans the globe, offering everything from Belgian waffles to chicken parmigiana. When Guy stopped by in Season 8, he happily dug into the Thanksgiving on a Plate, featuring stuffing made with everything from housemade challah bread to apple pie filling, and also sampled the made-from-scratch spanakopita with layers of flaky, filled phyllo dough.