CLTGuide
The Charlotte Restaurants & Bars Featured on “Love Is Blind,” Ranked
photo credit: Jonathan Cooper
It was a big deal in Charlotte when resident Fantasia Barrino won season three of American Idol two decades ago. Oh, if we could’ve seen ourselves now: Since 2019, a surprising number of reality dating shows have filmed here, though perhaps none as big as Love Is Blind.
We still haven’t gotten any cooler about seeing our city on TV. Set anything in the Queen City, and suddenly those of us who don’t usually care who got a rose or which housewife gave another housewife a black eye are like, “Oh my god, I think Trevor goes to my gym.” We lose our minds each time there’s some B-roll of the skyline, a telephone poll we think we recognize, or a restaurant we JUST ATE AT LAST WEEK. So in an effort to justify our obsession, we took it upon ourselves to do the Lord’s work: compiling—and ranking—the restaurants and bars that the Love Is Blind cast visited.
THE SPOTS
photo credit: Jonathan Cooper
This coffee and wine bar where Johnny and Amy meet her dad is as much a winner as Amy’s precious dad himself. Rosie’s is inside McGill Rose Garden, a gorgeously manicured park that’s been around since 1962. These days, you can order inside from Rosie’s wine, coffee, or hot chocolate(!) menus, then wander the winding pathways to find a tucked-away table or group of chairs. The charcuterie plates in the LIB scene aren’t from Rosie’s—or, at least, aren’t available to regular people—so pack a picnic if you’re hungry for more than bar snacks and pastries.
The Goodyear House is a proper choice for a meet-the-fam dinner. It’s your typical chic-but-homey restored mill house in NoDa, with multiple dining rooms that open to a courtyard. The restaurant’s not too loud but buzzy enough to fill any awkward silences, which is good because things do get—to borrow Chelsea’s vocabulary—“uncomfy.” Clay and AD meet Clay’s mom and sister here, and they immediately begin to bicker about Clay’s work schedule. We can’t help but admire the sister, who mostly ignores everyone to focus on the marinated shrimp with mignonette butter, and a shaken fry bag, hopefully topped with garlic-herb-parm seasoning. The group never makes it beyond apps, which is a crying shame. The Goodyear House’s creative comfort food is not only the best on the show, but it’s even more enjoyable without the side of family drama.
photo credit: Jonathan Cooper
Margaux’s is actually in Pineville, a suburb of Charlotte, but it’s close to Blu South Townhomes, where the couples lived during filming. Laura and Jessica are too busy gossiping about the rest of the cast to touch their build-your-own charcuterie boards—a mistake, because they would’ve enjoyed them. But wine is Margaux’s main attraction, anyway, and their list has over 300 different bottles to choose from. Jessica must’ve taken the full tour, because she admits to Laura that she’s not over Jimmy. We hope they soaked up the alcohol off-camera with woodfired pizzas—Margaux’s is the only place in the Charlotte area known for making St. Louis-style pies with cracker-thin crust and provel cheese.
photo credit: Jonathan Cooper
This cafe/coffee shop is the kind of place you go when you want a solid weekend brunch without having to fight for a table. And even though most of us can’t buy out the entire loft like LIB clearly did, it’s never overly crowded, so you can do (almost) any activity without judgment: work on your laptop, knit, file your taxes, or get marriage advice from your mom, like AD and Clay. The coffee, wraps, sandwiches, and waffles aren’t life-altering, but they’re as dependable as a good partner should be.
photo credit: Jonathan Cooper
To those of us from small Southern towns, McKoy’s generic sports bar-ambiance feels as safe as our mothers’ wombs. Chelsea and Jimmy meet his mom, dad, and sister here, which could just as easily be a restaurant in their hometown, a little unincorporated community 90 miles northeast of Charlotte. Because Jimmy’s family members are the most authentic, likable characters in the entire season, we hope they got to experience McKoy’s best menu item: smoked and double-grilled chicken wings.
photo credit: NoDa Co. Canteen
#6
Canteen can be a bit dead when there’s not an event happening at Camp North End, the mixed-use complex that the bar’s a part of. But that makes it ideal for a private event—like a bachelorette party for AD and Amy. Canteen serves craft beers, mimosas, sake, sangrias, wines, seltzers, and non-alcoholic drinks—but no hard liquor—in a vibrant space with plenty of easy-to-rearrange lounge seating. The colorful murals and lush tropical plants also make great photo backdrops. Of course, we can’t see in those gold glasses, but Amy and AD are wise women who surely ordered Canteen’s signature frozen colada, made with coconut and pineapple juices and prosecco.
photo credit: Jonathan Cooper
South End is where you’ll find most of Charlotte’s late-night chaos, and this small, trendy bar and club is at the heart of it. There’s nothing spectacular about what it offers—it’s a regular ol‘ bar with regular ol‘ drinks and a subpar DJ—except it’s where you go to see and be seen. For that reason, it’s no surprise that it’s where Jeramey claims to have “bumped into” Sarah Ann. While that could very well be true, Lost & Found couldn’t have been his last stop that night. He was out until 5am, and like everyone who lives in Charlotte, Laura knows there ain’t nothing in this city open past 2am.
Chelsea and Jimmy meet an ice sculptor on the rooftop of this upscale tiki bar in Belmont (the neighborhood, not suburb). While The Royal Tot’s bartenders and tropical drinks are fun, the cocktails taste only fine, and the bar snacks aren’t worth it. But you don’t go to a themed bar for five-star dining. You go because it’s entertaining and full of photo-ops, and The Royal Tot is just that. Cocktails are served in conch shell glasses garnished with banana-dolphins, and are sometimes set on fire. There’s also bird-of-paradise wallpaper, Pepto-pink booths, rattan lights, and—as the Love Is Blind production team no doubt knew—a rooftop patio with skyline views.
photo credit: Queen Park Social
Nothing says “my man cries during sex” quite like an arcade date. (Actually, Chelsea said it, too.) And frankly, if you’ve been to one of these bar-restaurant-bowling alley combos in any city, you’ve been to them all. Jimmy and Chelsea meet two of his gal friends at this one in LoSo, because someone was clearly worried that they’d need a round of skeeball to get things going. But the three women have no problem bonding as they collectively tease Jimmy, who sits red-faced and awkward-laughing below a mural that reads, “Shoot your shot.” They sip on subpar drinks, but no one orders food, which is fine: All they missed is some mediocre chicken wings or tenders.
