New restaurants with scratch-made food, sweets + more opening in Charlotte
🍽️ Charlotte restaurant openings rarely slow down, and today’s CharlotteFive newsletter offers a look into a few new spots coming to join the crowd.
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Here are the stories CharlotteFive readers are talking about today:
Kitchen Social, a Midwest-based scratch kitchen concept, is opening its first North Carolina location at Cotswold Village Shopping Center with a target of January 2027, co-founder Brian O’Malley told CharlotteFive.
“It’s Indian, it’s Asian, it’s Mexican, it’s Italian, it’s seafood and steak,” O’Malley said of the menu. “We think we offer something a little bit more unique — not just because of the quality of the food, but also the experience.”
📖 Tanasia tells you all about it.
The Cheesecake Factory will open at Concord Mills in November, making it the chain’s third Charlotte-area restaurant, a mall spokesperson confirmed to CharlotteFive.
The Concord Mills project converts a tenant space into a restaurant with a new mall entry tower and covered patio. Other Cheesecake Factory locations are at SouthPark Mall (opened 2002) and Birkdale Village in Huntersville (opened 2023).
🍽️ Get the details from Tanasia.
Buxton in the Outer Banks ranks as the top U.S. destination for spotting wild bottlenose dolphins, according to a BoatBooker study that analyzed 243,809 documented sightings across 356 coastal towns.
Buxton logged 20,128 bottlenose dolphin sightings since the mid-20th century and is also home to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, with miles of beaches, surfing, fishing and kiteboarding nearby.
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🏖️ Read Evan’s story, then plan a trip.
NYC’s beloved French-inspired café and bakery Maman opened its third Charlotte location with grand opening perks including tote bags and Oprah-famous chocolate chip cookies.
Diners will find Maman’s fan-favorite salads, sandwiches and two North Carolina exclusives: the Peaches & Cream Danish and the Mac & Cheese Croissant.
📍 523 Fenton Place, Charlotte, NC 28209
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This report was produced with the assistance of a proprietary tool powered by artificial intelligence and using our own originally reported, written and published content. It was reviewed and edited by our journalists. To learn more about how The Charlotte Observer is using AI in our newsroom, see our policy here.
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