Visiting Charlotte first week of January (Matthews, Davidson: coop, hotels, restaurants)

[South4now]

We will be in Charlotte Jan 1-3 to look around for our future move. We are looking at a few hotels in Matthews, is this a good area to stay in a hotel?? Will need resturants and coffee close by.

[ex-burgher]

Matthews is just fine as a place to stay, but the area where the hotels are have that suburban sprawl look and you will most likely have to drive to restaurants and coffee. There are tons of restaurants in the shopping centers around the Independence Blvd (74) and Highway 51 intersection.

[GoodLifeNC]

Matthews or Pineville are great places to stay when looking. Both are Close to 485 and you can tour both Mecklenburg and Union Counties quite easily.

[South4now]

Thanks for the advice. Are there any nice non-chain resturants we should take our kids to in this area?? Something with a good kid menu, any kind of food is good. Thanks

[Brooklyn_QueenBee]

Here are several:
Best Western: you can walk to a diner or chili's; everything is accessible.
Courtyard Marriott: very new and accessible to everything
Holiday Inn Express; everything is accessible.
Country Inn & Suites By Carlson Charlotte; everything is accessible.

Just go to hotels.com and put your search under Matthews, NC. Avoid Sun Suites hotel.

Are you looking for a free kids menu? There are places that cater to children.

[urbancharlotte]

Originally Posted by South4now

Thanks for the advice. Are there any nice non-chain resturants we should take our kids to in this area?? Something with a good kid menu, any kind of food is good. Thanks

Matthews used to have a few decent local BBQ joints; but they've closed (so I've heard). Cookout (eventhough it is a local Carolina chain) is good, cheap, and your kids will most likely lOVE IT. They've even got a low carb platter for those who are trying to watch their weight (which is soooooo cool for guys like me).

IMO, Matthews is the wrong place to be looking for non-chain restaurants. For that, you will probably have to travel closer into Charlotte near the Plaza Midwood and 7th Street/Hawthorne Lane areas of town. Matthews tends to be Costco/Walmart/Car Dealerships and chain restaurants everywhere. Lots of hotels out that way though.

Here are some good non-chain restaurant locations in Charlotte.

Dilworth
35.199816,-80.841737 - Google Maps
^^^Big Daddy's Burgers is my favorite on this particular strip.

South End
1942 Camden Road, Charlotte, North Carolina - Google Maps
^^^Pike's, Phat Burrito, and Price's Chicken Coop are my favorites on this strip. (Chicken Coop is good, but it is take out only).

Noda
3300 North Davidson Street, Charlotte, NC - Google Maps
^^^Cabo Fish Taco is my spot in this area. Their BBQ Mahi Mahi taco is crazy good!!! There is also a local frozen yogurt place across the street from Cabo.

Plaza Midwood
1488 Central Avenue, Charlotte, North Carolina - Google Maps
^^^Take your pick. Everything in this area of town is good.

Uptown
35.228899,-80.842938 - Google Maps
^^^It hasn't always been this way, but the 5th Street/Church Street/Tryon Street areas of uptown have some decent non-chains now. The only "issue" will be getting uptown (which can be a pain and expensive with parking). The good news is that you can avoid driving into uptown by parking at I-485 station and riding the light rail in.

I-485 station location
35.107394,-80.881412 - Google Maps

Hope this info helps and welcome to Charlotte.

[South4now]

Oh thank you so much for these links! So funny I already had Big Daddys Burgers on my list as we travel. Saw it on another Charlotte site. Thanks again for the great info