I’ve done the excruciating work of eating and drinking at every brewery that has their own food in Charlotte and created a ranking of the absolute best food at breweries around the city. A lot of breweries have rotating food trucks, but these are places with a permanent onsite restaurant or food truck.
Brunch at Legion SouthPark
In ranking order, here is the best brewery food in Charlotte:
Monday Night Brewing
Monday Night’s pizza is wildly delicious. It simply cannot be beat. The Hot Honey is my personal recommendation that I have ordered far too many times, but it is a delight. Highly recommend!
Salud Cerveceria
Pizza is also what Salud does best, but their appetizers, salads and sandwiches reign supreme too. Order upstairs in the brewery or downstairs in the beer bar and bottle shop.
Livy’s Neapolitan Pizzeria at Heist Brewery and Barrel Arts
Coming in third place is Livy’s at Heist’s Barrel Arts location. Their Neapolitan pizza is extremely delicious and their appetizers are also fantastic. There is no shortage of pizza and beer in Charlotte.
Resident Culture South End
BBQ is the name of the game at Resident Culture’s South End taproom. Chef Edmar Simoes hails from Brazil and put together a menu of BBQ classics and fresh twists. It includes shareables, BBQ Plates, Sandwiches, Desserts, and even a breakfast menu in their café. Pro tip—don’t skip the mac & cheese. They’ve also got a food truck outpost at the Plaza Midwood location.
Legion Brewing
Legion has four taprooms in Charlotte and they all have kitchens, but the menus at each spot are very similar so I’ve lumped them together versus ranking each one individually. They are in Plaza Midwood, SouthPark, West Morehead and their Trolley Barn location is in South End. Expect apps, sandwiches, salads, entrees, and brunch. The Legion pretzel is always a favorite, and West Morehead and SouthPark also have pizza.
Lenny Boy Brewing Company
Lenny Boy’s menu has a variety of appetizers and sandwiches. Their pretzels are delicious and they offer several different varieties—the everything pretzel with beer cheese and house-pickled veggies is top notch. Lenny Boy’s charcuterie is also not to be missed!
Heist Brewery NoDa
The original Heist location in NoDa has a large menu with anything from an appetizer to a full entrée and even brunch.
The Suffolk Punch
Suffolk Punch specifically crushes the brunch game. They even have weekday brunch instead of just weekend brunch like most places. Their main menu is also delicious and quite large—there is something for every palate!
Katsu Kart at HopFly Brewing
Katsu Kart specializes in Japanese Katsu Sandos that are unique and phenomenal. They have a permanent truck parked on the side of HopFly and another truck that rotates around the city.
Brewers at 4001 Yancey
Yancey’s menu is consistently delicious. Whether it is a unique appetizer, a pizza or a beer dinner, everything is always done well. They have more of a restaurant vibe than a brewery so it is a great spot for a regular sit-down meal.
Brewers at 4001 Yancey
Other CLT breweries with food, in alphabetical order:
Burial Beer Company
Burial’s Charlotte taproom menu is simple with burgers, fries, wings and tacos.
Devil’s Logic Brewing Company
Devil’s Logic has a very small menu with a couple of snacks, two types of pizza, a cuban sandwich and pork carnitas tacos.
Frothy Beard Brewing Company
Frothy Beard makes pizza on the counter top without a kitchen, it’s a no from me.
Gilde Brewery
Gilde has a full menu of German classics such as pretzels, schnitzel, spaetzle and more. They also have brunch on the weekends.
The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery
Olde Meck has a full food menu with German fare, salads, appetizers, burgers and sandwiches. They also have brunch on the weekends.
Panzú Brewery
The Caribbean menu here includes tapas, soups, and a lunch-only menu with tacos, sandwiches and more.
Protagonist
Protagonist is best known for their massive pizza slices and whole pies. They also have appetizers and salads.
Sugar Creek Brewing Company
Sugar Creek has a bit of a unique menu with soups, salads, small plates, paninis and doner kebabs.
Sycamore Brewing
Sycamore’s menu includes typical bar foods like apps, burgers, pizzas, salads and spreads.
Town Brewing
Town’s menu includes appetizers, sandwiches, salads, flatbreads and weekend brunch specials.
Izzy’s at Triple C Brewing Company
Izzy’s menu includes pizzas, appetizers, wings and sandwiches. I expect some folks will be outraged with this not being included in the “best brewery food” list above, particularly with the hype around their burger, but I have found the food to be very underwhelming.
Wooden Robot South End
Wooden Robot’s food menu is based around appetizers and sandwiches. They also have their own coffee.
Fonta Flora x Papi Queso at Optimist Hall
Breweries at Food Halls:
Fonta Flora Brewing at Optimist Hall
Fonta Flora is a superb brewery and their location at Optimist Hall makes it easy to snag food from one of the vendors upstairs and bring it to the taproom or patio. My favorite tenants are The Dumpling Lady, Papi Queso and Suarez Bakery, but there is a huge variety to choose from. You can also order online and just pop up into the food hall to grab your goods when they are ready.
Free Range Brewing at Camp North End
Free Range opened a taproom at the fabulous Camp North End. This outdoor food hall and event space is full of different types of vendors. My favorite food stops are Babe and Butcher, Bleu Barn and La Caseta.
