📍 Optimist Hall, Charlotte

AJ and Kristina Sankofa's Optimist Hall pasta counter — handmade pasta with a perfect soft-chewy-al-dente balance. Sells out limited-time specials like a $30 tajarin al tartufo dur...

The Szechuan dumpling counter at Optimist Hall that always has a line — pork dumplings wrapped to order, dan dan noodles, chili wontons, a scallion pancake worth grabbing before yo...

The ramen counter inside Optimist Hall's old Highland Park Mill space, doing tonkotsu and miso the right way — deep broth, proper noodles, and a pork belly bao that holds up as a s...

The grilled-cheese specialist that started as a Charlotte food truck and now anchors Optimist Hall — Eater Charlotte Best Of recognized. The Pig + Fig and Buffalo Cheese are the ma...

Chef Meherwan Irani's Bombay street-food counter at Optimist Hall — the Chicken Tikka Roll comes off the grill with the kind of char and spice that makes you grateful someone final...

The Charleston-born fried chicken sandwich crew at Optimist Hall — the Boxcar comes with pickled slaw and peach BBQ and is worth every queue minute. The Not-So-Southern is the vege...

Honeysuckle brings Atlanta-born Southern gelato to Optimist Hall — and the flavors actually mean something. Bourbon Pecan tastes like pecan pie's cooler cousin; Peach Cobbler is pe...