The handsome dining room at Marbled & Fin. | Andrew Cebulka Neighborhood Dining Group opens Charleston’s latest see-an-be-seen restaurant When Neighborhood Dining Group (NDG) founder David Howard explored the former dry cleaner space at 480 East Bay Street, he imagined its potential. “When I walked in, I saw the dimensions, the windows, and the height. And I thought, ‘Where is there anything like this in Charleston?’” The grandness of the room inspired Howard to create a more upscale restaurant — a modern steakhouse. Marbled & Fin opens on Wednesday, June 12, and will be the fifth Char ..read more

The main bar at Puttery. | Drive Shack Inc. From game bars to honky tonks, here’s where to get away from all the breweries in Charlotte With more than 75 breweries in town, Charlotte is quickly becoming a top brewery destination. Love them or hate them, they revitalize the local economy, but not everyone in a friend group may wish to sip small batch beer under string lights while playing cornhole, or even drink at all. If members of your crew associate “crafts” with knitting more than hops, consider these diverse, third-place hotspots. These places offer a good time for all, and beer isn’t the ..read more

Bring the whole family to Transfer Co. Food Hall. | Transfer Co. Food Hall Because moms and dads need a drink, too. It’s time for a drink. The kids need a spot to be loud and not forced to sit still. These eight spots in and around Raleigh tick three key boxes for choosing a place to have a drink when you’ve got offspring in tow — a space for kids to safely roam around, at least one kid-friendly snack option, and plenty of great drink options for you. Cheers to being able to actually enjoy a beverage or two ..read more

Daniel Harthausen recently joined the team at Late Air. Chef Daniel Harthausen brings his Korean Japanese heritage to the menu Natural wine bar Late Air (2805 Bull Street, Savannah) recently brought on chef Daniel Harthausen to its kitchen. Harthausen comes to the popular neighborhood spot from Richmond, Virginia, where he ran a Korean and Japanese pop-up named Young Mother. He is also notably the winner of the HBO Max cooking competition show The Big Brunch. Late Air co-owner Colin Breland met Harthausen while he was in Richmond for a wine fair. “We just hit it off,” Breland says, “We hung ou ..read more

Plus all the other openings in Asheville this spring Having a tough time keeping up with all the new dining options? Welcome to the Opening Report, a regularly updated round-up of restaurant openings big and small across Asheville. May Chai Pani stuns with updated address Asheville’s beloved Chai Pani (22 Battery Park Avenue) had long outgrown its original 1,200-square-foot space, so the team decided to move South Slope in the building that formerly recently housed Buxton Hall Barbecue (32 Banks Avenue). The second location of the Indian restaurant opened this week, and it is a stunner. Marig ..read more

Cochinita pibil tacos at Jaguar Bolera. | Anna Routh Barzin Order lamb birria and cochinita pibil tacos in between rounds of duckpin bowling Somewhere in the mind of restaurateur Robert Thompson resides a stylish, bold, slightly eccentric woman of the 1950s-1960s era. This woman (unnamed, but let’s call her Betty), is a huge fan of gardening, as devoted to her pet parakeets as she is to Elvis, and absolutely loves to throw a good dinner party. Betty’s a fan of bold prints, spicy food, stiff cocktails, and always, always having a good time. Too bad Betty isn’t real, because she sounds like a ho ..read more

Plates at Luminosa. | Andrew Cebulka Check out the menu full of local produce, steaks, pizzas, and pastas Located in the highly anticipated Flat Iron Hotel (20 Battery Park Ave, Asheville), Luminosa opened on Wednesday, May 15. The newcomer is the work of Charleston-based Indigo Road Hospitality Group, which has multiple restaurants all along the East Coast. Still, Luminosa is very unique to its Blue Ridge environment. Indigo Road was committed to hiring local chefs for Luminosa — executive chef Graham House and chef de cuisine Sean McMullen were born and raised in Asheville. The menu offers w ..read more

The Alley will close to make way for yet another hotel on the peninsula. | The Alley The bowling alley bar will shutter to make way for yet another hotel on the peninsula Boozy playground the Alley (131 Columbus Street, Charleston) will close down on Saturday, June 1. Owner David Crowley made the announcement on Instagram yesterday afternoon. “It is with a heavy heart that today we announce The Alley’s last day of operations will be June 1st. With the property owners’ upcoming and imminent hotel development, the time has unfortunately come to close our doors permanently,” he wrote. The owners ..read more

Rendering of the 3rd & Fernwood building. | 3rd & Fernwood Expect hambone grits, fonio tabbouleh, and large selection of hot sauces Bayhaven Restaurant Group (of Charlotte’s Uptown Yolk and Leah and Louise fame) takes on the Southern meat-and-three meal with the upcoming opening of 3rd & Fernwood (1100 Metropolitan Avenue, Charlotte). The group emailed the menu to newsletter subscribers as part of the announcement that 3rd & Fernwood will open in May, sometime before Memorial Day. The menu from James Beard-nominated chef Greg Collier is Southern (candied sweet potatoes and a fr ..read more

Jackrabbit Filly will move to a larger space this fall. | Mike Ledford The popular Chinese American restaurant will change its address this fall When the building at 1083 East Montague Avenue, North Charleston, became available, restaurateurs Shuai and Corrie Wang jumped on the opportunity to claim it as a new home for their busy Chinese American restaurant, Jackrabbit Filly (4628 Spruill Avenue). “We’re looking at a very large restaurant now, but it’s exciting because I think we outgrew the current Jackrabbit space in the second week we were open,” says Shuai. The Jackrabbit Filly team will h ..read more