Dilworth’s Red Star Goes Dim
With no warning (even to the landlord), Red Star Closed Sunday. I never went and was never told that I should go. As far as I know, the long lines when they opened (which were apparently due to them keeping a large section of the seating closed so that their inexperienced staff could handle it) was the main attraction. If the place had been worth going to, the people in line would have gone back. I have no evidence that there was any reason to go back and the fact that they are closed makes it obvious that there wasn’t. A restaurant in what could very well be one of the top 10 locations in Charlotte has to do a lot of things wrong in order to go under like that.
Hopefully the next tenant will focus on quality and service instead of shiny and attitude.
December 13th, 2004 at 4:51 pm
So that’s what happened. I drove by the other day and noticed it looked kinda dim inside, and only one of the (2) neon signs was on. I gave it 3 visits (like I do all new restaurants) and was less than impressed each time. The ribs were tough, the fish overdone; the only meal that was worth a damn was their burger/fries (and damn good I might add, but not worth 7 bucks when you can get an even better burger at Thomas Street for less money). Tonya dug the fish tacos, but again you can get better quality for less at Cabo. I can think of 2 other large chains in prime locations that also abandoned Charlotte suddenly: Bertolini’s at Philips Place (where Upstream is now), which is absolutely the best location in Charlotte (same complaints, mediocre food)…and Cooker (2 locations; one in Ballentyne and one where Guytano’s is now, again, great locations) which was absolutely dreadful in all regards. Charlotte may have sold out in some respects, but it’s good to see that people still appreciate good food over “where to be seen”. Good post.
December 13th, 2004 at 5:06 pm
I really liked Cooker except that I only went during lunch (like most of the others who ate their, I worked in that building) and they didn’t have a lunch menu. They had great food for lunch but it was a HUGE dinner portion at dinner prices. I usually ate about half of the food and took the other half in a box. So I always left a little pissed at the check and bothered by a styrofoam to-go box.
December 14th, 2004 at 10:45 pm
I loved the fish tacos at Red Star but they still didn’t compare to the original recipe
December 14th, 2004 at 10:53 pm
I was going to ask but I realized it was a dumb question.