The 10 best bars in Charlotte

Charlotte’s bar scene splits into camps that rarely visit each other: the cocktail crowd, the dive loyalists, the wine bar regulars, the sports bar Sunday crowd. This list takes the best of each, because a city’s best bars are not all the same kind of bar. Several of these were the top vote getters when Charlotteans were polled on their favorites, and the rest are places we would send anyone. Hours are current as of this writing.

1. Dot Dot Dot

A prohibition style speakeasy in a former storage unit behind Park Road Shopping Center, members only, with membership costing $10 a year. Find the three dot sign and the doorman, walk the candlelit hallway, and you are in the room Charlotteans voted the best speakeasy in the city. Upscale cocktails, a food menu regulars rank with the best restaurants in town, a real non alcoholic program and a dress code that is enforced. Our read: the most complete bar experience in Charlotte.

Hours: Monday to Thursday 5 to 11 p.m.; Friday 5 p.m. to 1 a.m.; Saturday 4 p.m. to 1 a.m.; closed Sunday

Address: 4237 Park Rd, Suite B, Charlotte, NC 28209

Why it made the list

• Voted best speakeasy in Charlotte.
• Cocktails and food good enough to be a dinner destination.
• $10 annual membership; reservations recommended on weekends.
• Every cocktail can be made spirit free.

Directory listing: Dot Dot Dot

2. Idlewild

The NoDa cocktail bar on East 36th Street with no menu. You describe what you like, the bartender makes it, and the result is usually better than what you would have ordered. Charlotteans voted it among the top three cocktail bars in the city, drinks run about $17, and the room is small enough that weekends require calling ahead. Quiet on a Tuesday, packed on a Saturday, excellent either way.

Hours: Monday to Thursday and Sunday 6 p.m. to 1 a.m.; Friday and Saturday 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Address: 424 E. 36th St, Unit 2, Charlotte, NC 28205

Why it made the list

• No menu, just very good bartenders.
• A top three cocktail bar by public vote.
• Near the 36th Street light rail stop.
• The right first stop on a NoDa night.

Directory listing: Idlewild

3. Dahlia’s

The Uptown cocktail lounge on the third floor of the Binaco Tower on East 5th Street, above Saku, that took the largest share of the vote for favorite cocktail bar in the city. Ten signature cocktails, wine, beer, flatbreads and build your own charcuterie boards, with live music and half priced bottles of wine on Wednesdays. It runs until 2 a.m. on most nights, which is late for Uptown.

Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 4 p.m. to 2 a.m.; Sunday noon to 10 p.m.; closed Monday

Address: 123 E. 5th St, Suite 300, Charlotte, NC 28202

Why it made the list

• Voted Charlotte’s favorite cocktail bar.
• Live music and a lounge feel rather than a speakeasy one.
• Wednesday wine specials.
• Open until 2 a.m., rare Uptown.

Directory listing: Dahlia’s

4. Folia

Bob Peters’ upscale cocktail bar in the RailYard on South Tryon runs as a coffee shop from 9 a.m. and a cocktail bar until midnight or later, seven days a week. Charlotteans voted it the second favorite speakeasy in the city, and the plant filled lounge works for remote work at 10 a.m., a DJ brunch at noon and cocktails at 11 p.m. Peters is one of the most decorated bartenders in Charlotte and the drinks show it.

Hours: Monday to Wednesday and Sunday 9 a.m. to midnight; Thursday 9 a.m. to 1 a.m.; Friday and Saturday 9 a.m. to 2 a.m.

Address: 1440 S. Tryon St, Suite 102, Charlotte, NC 28203

Why it made the list

• A Bob Peters cocktail program.
• Coffee by day, cocktails by night, one room.
• Voted a top speakeasy in the city.
• Strong non alcoholic and mocktail options.

Directory listing: Folia

5. The Crunkleton

The Elizabeth cocktail bar and restaurant known for one of the deepest spirits collections and beverage programs in the city, an outpost of the Chapel Hill original. Classic cocktails made properly, an Old Fashioned worth the trip, a burger called A Really Good Burger, and a weekend brunch with a nine drink cocktail list. The owners also run Rosemont and Puerta within a few blocks.

Hours: See the bar’s site for current hours; brunch Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Address: 1957 E. 7th St, Charlotte, NC 28204

Why it made the list

• A serious spirits library and classic cocktails.
• Food that is a reason to come on its own.
• The best brunch cocktail list in Charlotte.
• Sister spots Rosemont and Puerta nearby.

Directory listing: The Crunkleton

6. Chief’s Modern Cocktail Parlor & Coffee Shop

Bob Peters’ second bar, inside a reimagined mill house on North Davidson Street in NoDa across from the Johnston YMCA. Coffee, an orange cardamom bun and monkey bread in the morning; cocktails and small plates in the evening, on a porch that watches NoDa go by. It reads elegant rather than dive, a change for the neighborhood, and the bar seats are the best in the house.

Hours: See the bar’s site for current hours

Address: 3024 N. Davidson St, Charlotte, NC 28205

Why it made the list

• A second Bob Peters cocktail room, this one in a historic house.
• The NoDa porch.
• Pastries and coffee that stand on their own.
• Reservations recommended for weekend evenings.

Directory listing: Chief’s Modern Cocktail Parlor & Coffee Shop

7. Dilworth Tasting Room

The wine bar and bottle shop on East Tremont Avenue that Charlotteans voted their favorite wine bar, with 400 bottles, its own wine label and a back patio where the bar wraps around a koi pond. Small plates and a Mediterranean leaning menu are better than a wine bar needs to be. SouthPark and Plaza Midwood locations came later; the Dilworth original is the one to sit in.

Hours: Tuesday to Thursday 4 to 10 p.m.; Friday 4 to 11 p.m.; Saturday 1 to 11 p.m.; Sunday 1 to 8 p.m.; closed Monday

Address: 300 E. Tremont Ave, Charlotte, NC 28203

Why it made the list

• Voted best wine bar in Charlotte.
• 400 bottles and a house label to take home.
• The koi pond patio.
• Tastings and events most weeks.

Directory listing: Dilworth Tasting Room

8. Thirsty Beaver Saloon

The legendary Plaza Midwood dive on Central Avenue that refused to sell and now has an apartment building wrapped around it on three sides. It took a third of the vote for best dive bar in the city, more than double the runner up. A jukebox, a pool table, neon, decades of memorabilia, cheap drinks and a crowd that will talk to you. No food, and the sign changes for every holiday.

Hours: Wednesday to Friday 4 p.m. to 2 a.m.; Saturday noon to 2 a.m.; Sunday 2 p.m. to 2 a.m.; closed Monday and Tuesday

Address: 1225 Central Ave, Charlotte, NC 28204

Why it made the list

• The dive bar Charlotte voted best, by a lot.
• A building with a story the whole city knows.
• Cheap drinks and a jukebox that has not gone digital.
• Open until 2 a.m. five nights a week.

Directory listing: Thirsty Beaver Saloon

9. Ed’s Tavern

The Dilworth sports bar on Park Road that Charlotteans voted their favorite, with TVs everywhere, a big patio, wings, a smash burger, a Nashville chicken sandwich and a mimosa tower for weekend games. Open until midnight on weeknights and 2 a.m. on weekends, so it covers the late West Coast game too. Sister bar FreeMore Tavern does the same job in Wesley Heights.

Hours: Monday to Thursday 11 a.m. to midnight; Friday to Sunday 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.

Address: 2200 Park Rd, Charlotte, NC 28203

Why it made the list

• Voted Charlotte’s favorite sports bar.
• Bar food that is better than the category requires.
• A patio big enough for the whole group.
• Open late every night of the week.

Directory listing: Ed’s Tavern

10. Stylus Soundlounge

A disco noir listening bar at The Pass, north of NoDa, next door to Soul Gastrolounge and built around owner Andy Kastanas’ collection of roughly 40,000 vintage records. The bartenders make custom cocktails from a description, the room is small and dark, and the music is the point. It is the nightcap after dinner at Soul and a destination on its own.

Hours: Tuesday to Thursday and Sunday 5 p.m. to midnight; Friday and Saturday 5 p.m. to 1 a.m.; closed Monday

Address: 4110 Raleigh St, Suite 120-A, Charlotte, NC 28213

Why it made the list

• Nothing else in Charlotte is built around a record collection.
• Next door to one of the city’s 30 best restaurants.
• Custom cocktails, made to order.
• Small, so go early or expect to wait.

Directory listing: Stylus Soundlounge

Also worth knowing

Two more that could not fit are already in the directory: VINYL in South End, the music bar with a full kitchen, a DJ most nights and a weekend brunch, and The Hobbyist in Villa Heights, which turns from coffee shop to cocktail bar every evening. If your favorite bar is missing, tell us.