Charlotte Restaurant Week Summer 2011 Is Underway

It's that time of year again when you can eat out at a great restaurant without hurting your pockets. The summer installment of Charlotte Restaurant Week began yesterday and runs through next Sunday (July 15-24). Also known as Queen's Feast, and held for ten days twice a year--once in the winter and once in the summer--Charlotte Restaurant Week is as popular as ever. You can tell that by the huge banner hanging in Uptown and by the fact that there are 92 restaurants participating this time, which I think is a record number. When CRW started a few years ago, there would be around 70 restaurants involved.

It's the same deal that people have come to love: a prix fixe, three-course dinner for $30 per person (not including tax and gratuity) at each of the participating restaurants. Plus, several of the restaurants either throw in a fourth course or a glass of wine. Eighteen restaurants in Uptown are participating, which is the most for any section of town. Followed by sixteen in the SouthPark/Park Road/Foxcroft area. There are several participating in Dilworth, south Charlotte, Lake Norman, and a few in Elizabeth, South End, Plaza Midwood, and other neighborhoods around Charlotte.

While there are a lot of top-notch, typically expensive restaurants on the list--Del Frisco's, Upstream, BLT Steak, etc.--I'm more inclined to try some of the places I've heard a lot about but have yet to visit, like Fran's Filling Station, Table 274, 15 North Roadside Kitchen, and Pisces Sushi Bar & Lounge.

Go to www.charlotterestaurantweek.com for all the details, which includes a page for each restaurant and the menu it's offering for the special. You can also become a fan on Facebook (www.facebook.com/CharlotteRestaurantWeek), where you can see people post comments about their experiences.