A new Black-owned restaurant is set to open in Uptown on June 1, and QCity Metro has gotten a sneak peek at what's to come for the Dallas-based eatery.
Kitchen + Cocktails by Kevin Kelly is a two-story restaurant at 210 E. Trade St. in the Queen City Quarter (formerly the EpiCentre) that serves “upscale Southern comfort food.”
The restaurant is known for its weekend brunch, creative cocktail menu and Southern-inspired cuisine.
Setting
As soon as you enter the restaurant you will be greeted by the staff.
“Welcome” is a common greeting from everyone, from the doorman to the hostess to the servers.
The Kitchen + Cocktails brand has a reputation for modern, Instagram-worthy décor: From Washington DC to Dallas, Chicago and Charlotte, each location features eye-catching floral and 3D décor that serves as the backdrop for many guest photos.
Charlotte has two rooms: a seating area with a ceiling covered in red roses and textured black walls with LED signs.
Expectations and services
We attended a preview of the restaurant and the standard of service was obviously high.
Over 10 people visited our table to check on how our group was doing, including various servers, managers, and even a chef.
“How is it going?”
“is there something you need?”
“May I bring you something else to drink? Water?”
Food and Drink
Owner Kevin Kelly also visited our table and shared his hopes for the Charlotte location.
When asked about his favorite dish, he replied, “That's easy. My favorite dish is shrimp and grits with fried lobster tail. I also like blackened shrimp because it adds more flavor.”
Kelly said customers “can't go wrong with anything on the menu.” He noted that the lamb chops are popular among customers at other locations, and said the Jamaican jerk recipe seasons them “really well.”
During the preview, staff carried some of the restaurant's most popular dishes, including fried catfish, jerk-flavored lamb chops, shrimp and grits, fried lobster, chicken and waffles, lobster macaroni and cheese, deviled eggs topped with shrimp, salmon bites, crab cakes, yams, greens and peach cobbler.
Popular items among our group were the deviled eggs, chicken, lamb chops, shrimp & grits and peach cobbler, but overall there were very few complaints or dislikes about the food.
Kelly also told QCity Metro that Kitchen & Cocktails will be serving up a new Charlotte summer drink: the Peach D'asse Froze, a frozen peach-flavored cocktail with cognac.
“This is going to be the most popular drink across Charlotte this summer,” Kelly said.[The Peach Dusse Frose’] It was popular in Dallas. [popular] In Chicago [popular] “In DC.”
During the preview, the bar served up a variety of mimosas and mocktail versions of their most popular drinks, including blueberry margaritas and strawberry lemonade drinks, both of which our group enjoyed.
Final Verdict
This restaurant looks like the perfect place to enjoy a Saturday brunch or after-work cocktails, and with its attention to detail, extensive cocktail options, and Southern-inspired cuisine, Kitchen + Kocktails has the potential to become a Charlotte favorite.
The food was well seasoned, artfully presented, and felt true to the “fine Southern comfort” the restaurant claims to serve.
“That” means: Cocktails, beer, various main dishes, monkey bread dessert
Overall score: 4.6/5 (team average scores: 4.5, 4.5, 4, 5, 5)
price: Approximately $40 per person for a shared entree, drink, and appetizer.
What we liked: The atmosphere of the restaurant, the food and the overall attention of the staff
What we wanted differently was: The menu at this restaurant is somewhat heavy on seafood – one person in our group has a seafood allergy and felt the options were somewhat limited, but we would still come again.
