Red Salt, Fatz and Catawba Brewing closures among top Charlotte restaurant news

CHARLOTTE — August brought with it a string of restaurant closures across the Charlotte area.

In uptown, celebrity chef David Burke last month shut down his two concepts inside the Le Meridien hotel — Red Salt and Cloud Bar, citing a lack of business stemming from the pandemic and the model not being the right fit. Instead, Burke is shifting his focus to a restaurant he’s opening at the former Dogwood Southern Table & Bar in SouthPark as well as his other ventures in the Charlotte area.

In nearby South End, The Dunavant closed over the weekend after its owners were bought out of their lease. And Catawba Brewing made some waves when its large taproom in Charlotte’s Belmont neighborhood shuttered abruptly in August after a six-year run.

In Huntersville, restaurateur Jon Dressler is closing his namesake eatery, Dressler’s, at Birkdale Village later this month, swapping in his Fin & Fino concept in its place. That seafood restaurant is expected to open there in late winter.

And it appears to be the end of the road for a couple of restaurant groups that have closed their Charlotte-area locations: Cantina 1511 and Fatz Cafe.

Despite those closures, other restaurants opened their doors for the first time in August, with several more on the way.

Sixty Vines, for instance, opened its 8,000-square-foot restaurant at Vantage South End two weeks ago, bringing a touch of Napa Valley to that neighborhood. Also in South End, Mexican restaurant The Matador has taken space at one of Charlotte’s oldest fire stations, and Asheville pizzeria Pie.Zaa is expanding here with a location next to Wooden Robot Brewery, Vinyl and Brigid’s Irish Pub. Both are expected to open later this year.

And still to come are a couple more cheesesteak spots in Charlotte. Big Dave’s Cheesesteaks is targeting a winter opening in the University City area, while Cheat’s Cheesesteak Parlor is lining up space for a walk-up location in South End.

CBJ’s latest installment of Restaurant Bites offers a closer look at these happenings and more. Check it out here.

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