This friendly store carries lube, vintage porn and everything in between. The staff is knowledgeable in all things sex and can point you in the direction of whatever toy/prop/crop/visual you desire.
It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the big fro-yo chain shops, but the yogurt is delicious and the topping selection is just fine - all the essentials, none of the goo.
Planned as a streetcar suburb in the early 20th century, Myers Park is home not only to some of the city's elegant environs, but to one of its most fawned-over biking routes, known as the Booty Loop.
It really is a "Weiner Wonderland" at Pinky's, with its griddled beef hot dogs and organic soy sausages. Our favorite, the Southern 500 dog, glistens with tasty chili, slaw and onions.
One of our favorite things about Orange Olive is that it shares on Facebook what appointments it has available each day. Once you see the stylists' own do's, you're going to want to keep coming back.
The Blake hosted the Mad Monster Party, a superb three-day film convention, the brainchild of West Coasters Eben McGarr and Joe Moe (creators of Mad Monster magazine).
While many eateries come close, we're still going with the crown king when we want wings. With so many savory flavors and purchase options available, it's hard to bet against the house - er, café.
The light rail coming to South End was the best damn thing to happen to this neighborhood. But you know what else is pretty cool about this area? The selection of retail.
While many other eateries come close (for instance, the wings at Fuel Pizza are mighty tasty), we still think these wings are the best.
What's better than a new pair of shoes? Two or three new pairs, of course! Plus, if you save your encore rewards, you can get money off your next purchase.
Save your encore rewards, get money off your next purchase. The most complicated choice you'll face is picking a brand, whether you're a Chinese Laundry kind of gal or a proper Calvin Klein lady.
The neighborhood, traditionally known as Charlotte's Historic Arts District, lost many of its galleries during the recession, but it has still managed to support and promote local artists.
The venue offers regular fries, sweet potato fries, Brunswick fries and chili cheese fries, but we're all about the Smashfries: Tossed with olive oil, rosemary and garlic, they're spectacular.
If you think the quickest passage to Kingston is via US Airways, the curries, jerk chicken, coleslaw, plantain tarts and coco bread from Austin's may prompt your taste buds to disagree.
According to Pinky's co-owner Greg Auten, FreeMore West is one of the few neighborhoods that missed the migrant influx from the North. The area remains home to a large population of Charlotte natives.
Charlotte doesn't have ramen-yas (ramen shops), but luckily, Musashi serves a diverse menu, which includes soups. The best pork broth ramen in town is found here.
We can't help falling in love with The Elvis, a decadent banana cake with peanut butter butter-cream frosting and spiked with two strips of lean candied bacon.
By 8:30 a.m. on weekends, the line forms for lamb barbecue made the traditional Mexican way: grilled and covered with maguey cactus leaves and served with house-made, griddled corn tortillas.
In this day of pricey farm-to-fork cuisine, the burgers at Wysacky are about as local and fresh as can be, since the beef comes from neighboring Waxhaw farms.
The most complicated choice you'll face is picking a brand, whether you're a Chinese Laundry kind of gal or a proper Calvin Klein lady.
Want to spend $15 on your next outfit, or $500? Either way, you're covered. Ladies, the best part about this boutique is owner Cindy Siesel's ability to make you feel like the supermodel you are.
The coffee served here is fair trade, but the real draw is the sensational and certifiably addictive Liège waffles. Trust me, you'll make this a frequent stop.
Ben Thånh produces exemplary Vietnamese dishes: pho, crispy quail, curry spiked with shrimp, yellow rice flour pancake filled with shrimp, hot pots and charbroiled chicken in lemongrass.
Time to throw stereotypes out the window. Uptown residents are more likely to be arts lovers than late-night partiers; in fact, they're neighborhood encouragers who go days without getting into a car.
Not only does it offer more of the same creativity it's always had, Plaza Midwood is becoming more convenient with a revitalized Harris Teeter and plenty of watering holes. PM sweats hipsterism.
Middle Eastern food in this town has a checkered past, present and future. Although Zeitouni offers foods in the street food range, the spin on traditional manoushi and the kibbeh support this nod.
Dynasty is the place for Shanghai and taro dumplings, congee or juk (porridge), preserved duck eggs, barbecue buns, turnip cakes, pot stickers and the ubiquitous egg custard tart.
With its red-checkered tablecloths, delicious pasta and homey vibe - well, now, that's Italian.
Sure, organic is a little more expensive, but it's good for you. Besides, we always like to go wherever there's wine involved.
Hands down the best chicken salad in town, but with so many creative lunch selections, it's difficult to choose. Plus, Halcyon - located in the Mint Museum Uptown - is open for lunch on the weekends.
Zen isn't exactly our middle name, so if it's time to stretch, we like to multitask. We love that the yoga at this half-yoga/half-wrestling studio comes with a free side of cardio.
Since it started 15 years ago, Project Halo, a no-kill, nonprofit animal rescue and sanctuary, has relied solely on volunteers and donations. Last year, it pulled in $60,000 and rescued 400 animals.
Like all good mom-and-pops, the food here - Vietnamese - is pure comfort and extremely reasonable.
It doesn't matter whether you order your preferred fish plainly grilled or loaded up with sauces and stuffings - it's all superb.
Readers will get fired up by the food offered at this favorite. "Wan fu" translates as "10,000 blessings," and at times it seems as if there are that many items on this lengthy menu.
By 8:30 a.m. on weekends, the line forms for lamb barbecue made the traditional Mexican way: grilled and covered with maguey cactus leaves and served with house-made, freshly griddled corn tortillas.
With 37 miles of nature trails, you could get lost on the Greenways of Charlotte - and we mean that in a good way. The Little Sugar Creek Greenway is a favorite spot for runners, bikers and families.
The eggs here are local and organic, and Harvest Moon's Summer Benedict, with thickly sliced heirloom tomatoes, will make you wish for tomato season year-round.
This hidden-away space has quickly become a staple because of its eclectic scene and varied offerings. The nightlife includes live music from every imaginable genre, DJs, and themed parties.
If you like your sushi creative and flavorful, this is the place. The Hamachi Jalapeño roll with the sweetness of crab and the unctuousness of avocado spiked with a wasabi citronette is all that.
You can pore over once-loved women's and men's clothes - and collectibles - without high prices of other vintage boutiques. The selection is also less commercial and less picked over than Goodwill.
All coffee served here is fair trade, but the real draw is the sensational and certifiably addictive Liège waffles. Trust me, you'll make this a frequent stop.
Enso not only offers delicious cuisine, but the drink menu ranges from sake selections to fancy cucumber/flower/fruit-infused concoctions straight from the imaginations of creative bartenders.
RIP Breakfast Club, but thankfully owner Jody Sullivan started the Roxbury. It has carried the BC spirit to 5th Street, giving the city a place to spazz out to favorite hits from the '80s and '90s.
With its massive, 50-meter competition pool, there are so many lanes that you rarely have to share with someone whose idea of swimming is splashing more water out of the pool than is already in it.
Follow the aroma into this 1950s, western-style dining room. This is the only place in the state with the barbecue pit in the main dining room. Want outside brown? Old Hickory is your kind of place.
Monte is the place to hang with friends on weekends. Be warned: Given the quality of the French provincial cuisine, everyone will prefer to be chewing the tasty treats rather than chewing the fat.
Anything you want is available at TJ's, from fresh veggies to beer and all kinds of branded gourmet items done up to make you feel ... well, special.
You can get anything you want at Trader Joe's, from fresh veggies to beer and all kinds of branded gourmet items done up to make you feel ... well, special.
To paraphrase Arlo Guthrie, you can get anything you want at Trader Joe's, from fresh veggies to beer and all kinds of branded gourmet items done up to make you feel ... well, special.
Southern and Low Country dishes prepared with heart by owners James and Renee Bazelle at this Uptown favorite where everybody takes out-of-town guests. It's Charlotte's version of NYC's Sylvia's.
One of the last remaining family-owned Greek diners in Charlotte offers homemade spanakopita, cakes and reasonable prices.
Year in and year out, Chef Bruce Moffett creates the best restaurant experience in town. It's quiet and unassuming, but its food, desserts and wines are bold and delicious, the ambiance warm and cozy.
The intimate place has the feel of a backyard in summer and the food is creative and delicious.
You name it, they have it. From obscure breweries to local favorites, World of Beer will have you globe-hopping. The customized flights are a great way to sample a variety of brews.
The venue of choice for buffets and booty-dropping. With its infamous amateur night on Sunday, the joint has been featuring T, A and a mix of impressive dance moves for many racy moons.
Plenty of bench seating and chairs dot the deck and patio, but it's the little things that make you feel like you're in your own backyard: ping pong tables, cornhole, firepits - plus, a bar.
A nice hybrid: a cozy atmosphere for gathering and a hyper joint for shaking your tail feather. With hospitable staff, a hip location and one of the most happening crowds, Petra's is queen of the QC.
Need a place to watch the game? Dilworth has just what you're looking for: TVs galore. They offer shuttle service to and from Panthers games - once you're done tailgating in the parking lot, that is.
Chef Jamie Lynch makes use of local ingredients and puts a creative twist on any dish. (Try the NC Grouper.) The spot is perfect to enjoy a drink (we recommend QC Iced Tea) before hitting the clubs.
It may look a little dicey on the outside, but it's a whole lot of awesome on the inside. Any given night, weeknights included, you can meander over and find folks willing to drink with you.
Ten Park Lanes has become one of the most revered nightspots on the ever-busy Montford Drive. In addition to the best bowling in town, Ten Park Lanes offers a full menu of food and libations.
A Plaza Midwood favorite. It's a little grimy and the acoustics require yelling to communicate, but it's the quintessential pool hall, embodying everything that's to be adored about a local dive bar.
Some first dates need a conversation starter, and nothing beats sitting in the dark for two hours to work up a good getting-to-know-you question. Actor's Theater is that place on Cult Movie Mondays.
Silent disco is a chance to dance in a club setting like you normally would, only while wearing headphones. The fun is for the outsiders: watching a room of people who appear to be dancing to silence.
The tragic news is that Breakfast Club, Charlotte's '80s dance club for about a decade, has shut its doors. But as suitable placation, owner Jody Sullivan started a new venture Uptown, the Roxbury.
This mainstay features musician-friendly environs (i.e., two different patios for talkers) and a gritty rock vibe, improved acoustics (if you haven't been in a while, go), eclectic booking.
We're sure glad the Neighborhood Theatre's a part of the Charlotte music scene; aside from being a great place to see a show, it always brings in good talent - local, regional and national.
There's a reason Hayley Lakeman books appointments months in advance - she's that damn good. She has the talent for portraits and pets and the skill to pull off anything you can come up with.
Heroes carries the best variety of comic books in Charlotte. Owner Shelton Drum hosts the annual Heroes Convention, which draws homemade Spider-Mans of all ages.
Being caught in a used bookstore makes you look not only smart but money savvy. And what a selection, from art to zoology and everything in between. Plus, you can spy through aisles, Unfaithful style.
Want a brand-new copy of that hit movie on Blu-ray or DVD? You'll find it at Manifest. Satisfied with just getting it used? Wait and it should turn up. Low on cash? No problem; bring items to trade.
From A to Z, whether you're searching for a title (Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein to Zulu Dawn), director (Altman to Zetterling) or star (Astaire to Zellweger), you'll probably find it here.
Ayrsley Grand Cinemas 14 has an inviting lobby, more than a dozen screens (one of which is usually employed to show Bollywood films for the city's Indian population) and an awesome fish tank.
The Light Factory supports aspiring and indie filmmakers with its annual Filmmakers' Showcase, as well as hosting screenings of newer titles that otherwise wouldn't have played locally.
Impressive: CAST's exemplary production of Tracy Letts' three-act and three-story-tall August: Osage County, a spectacle that left no doubt why the script won the Pulitzer.
Maja Godlewska's On Tigers & Putti, included paintings inspired by frescoes, icebergs and other phenomena. Her work, dense with gold leaf and dripped paint, brims with contrast and contradiction.
Sentimentality aside, Tracy Curtis' "ra-ra Charlotte" attitude is more than a little obnoxious. Her posts that focus on parenting seem useful; if she stuck to that, we wouldn't put her in a timeout.
A frequent funny guy as well as a reporter, Jon Wilson brings levity and light to FOX Charlotte with his spots on positive community events, his philanthropy and his signature camouflage baseball cap.
The online-only Plaza Midwood Community Radio is the city's hyperlocal neighborhood radio station; it offers a free-form mix of DIY shows, the best of which is Armando Bellmas' Ecléctico.
Ramona Holloway is more than half of the Matt and Ramona show. She wrote and performed in Women Exposed: Mating, Motherhood, and All the Madness at The Comedy Zone, roping in local personalities.
The airport is a melting pot where, on any given day, you can witness both love affairs and emotional meltdowns. And possibly a TSA strip-search or two.
Yiasou produces some of the best pastries. You'll find tasty loukoumades, galaktoboureko, baklava. And let's not forget the meals (including Grecian baked chicken and fish) and the entertainment.
The Mint Museum has been revitalized by its new Uptown location and new executive director. A string of impressive shows signals its new swagger and ambition.
Freedom Park is a favorite stop along the Little Sugar Creek Greenway. Bring a sack lunch, water and a compass.
"The Urb" offers a daily soup kitchen and mail service, showers, counselors, substance-abuse treatment, laundry, art classes, resume advice, communal garden, sculptures and a welcoming environment.
Creative Loafing is the go-to source for all things arts and entertainment in the Charlotte area, including music, film, visual and performing arts, dining, sex and love. Founded in 1987.
