First was a trip with some friends of The Mrs. to Vida, a Mexican place in the Epicenter. We stopped in before going to see Spring Awakening at the Belk Theater. Which meant the location was good. Pretty much everything else was not. There were six of us in a relatively empty restaurant, whose claim to fame is over one hundred tequilas and sadly I am not drinking at the moment. The menu was exactly what you would expect from an upscale mexican-american place, also slightly overpriced due to location. With an execution on par with a Fridays, it wasn't great but it also wasn't going to offend anyone. There was a mix up on one order, which was taken off the bill, nice, but the missing item was brought out as we were ready for dessert, less nice. Then toward the end, our server tried chatting us up to make up and save her tip. She should have just kept her mouth shut. All in all, I would not recommend unless you are going for tequila. However, I enjoyed Spring Awakening more the second time.
Next we met the Whiskeys' for dinner at The Diamond, in Plaza-Midwood. The Diamond was an old time meat and three diner that was purchased by the former proprietors of The Penguin, who basically moved the Penguin lock stock and barrel down the block, with a new name and larger menu. It's hard to gauge right now since it is a zoo and getting a table in nearly impossible. The food was fine. I had a sloppy joe and the Mrs. a burger. It's all a little "hipper than thou" for me but, whatever.
Third on our tour of food is another place run by a former Penguin business associate, Pinky's. Opened in a former auto repair shop, on the westside, it's less pretentious than The Diamond. But, we were there early so who knows. They do have some parking issues, so be prepared. We started with an order of waffle fries smothered in melty pimento cheese, heaven. I got a fried bologna sandwich with red potato salad, both very tasty, while The Mrs. opted for burger and some sweet 'tater fries. I am so happy the world has figured out that these need to be battered to get crispy. We couldn't even finish after the basket of waffle fries. So we rolled ourselves to the car and headed home.
Finally last night, again with The Whiskeys', we finally had a reason to go to Villa Francesca. We were going to see The Princess Bride as a stage production performed at The Breakfast Club, an eighties themed night club a block down the street. When doing anything in downtown Charlotte you should always check the arena schedule, we did not, so parking was a bit of a thing. Oh well. It could have been worse. Anyway, Villa Francesca is an Italian-American place run by Yankee fans, I will forgive them. The menu hits all the highlights and adds a couple of twists. We got there before the pre-game crowd but it was full by the time we left. My veal parmigiana was excellent as was the Mrs. pasta. Both of the Whiskeys got eggplant dishes that looked great. Thin sliced eggplant, not that thick stuff you usually get that is either not cooked all the way or the outside is almost burnt. The prices were reasonable. And the staff was friendly and attentive even as it got busier. The play afterward was a lot of fun, just plain silly, I needed silly, we could all use more silly in our lives.
A Sia Saide
Kevin
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