Three mostly tongue-in-cheek proposals:
1. During a City Council transportation committee meeting about how many connecting streets that the city has mapped as "proposed" that were never built when subdivisions were developed (answer: because no city ordinances require them to be built) – bicycle advocate Dan Faris leans over and says, "Why can't the city just buy a bunch of foreclosed houses, move them somewhere else, and put in the connecting streets that should be there?"
Good idea Dan. Though, A) I don't think the city has a pool of money to do that, and B) I'm not sure some of those starter-home houses are built well enough to survive a move.
2. Lunching on barbecue driven in from Lexington, the editorial board was – again – lamenting the lack of any truly excellent N.C.-style barbecue in Charlotte. (Bill Spoon's on South Boulevard is the best of the bunch, but it is NOT a large field.) Hmmmm. Why not, someone suggested, get the City Council to go ahead and buy that store building at Parkwood and Pegram – it had just said no, the night before, because it thought the building wasn't big enough – and offer it at reasonable rent to a willing BBQ-meister, perhaps of the Stamey or Bridges families. It's win-win: The city gummint gets steady rent, and the fine QC populace finally gets an amenity that's been sadly lacking for years.
3. The question came up at Civic By Design Tuesday night: why doesn't East Charlotte have Starbucks or Caribou Coffee or even a Kinkos? Some people think that's a slight. Others think East Charlotte would be better off without same-old-chain development. What about a locally owned coffee house along Central Avenue's international restaurant corridor, people said. Hmmmm. Good idea, but there's a glitch: What kind of coffee? Vietnamese? Colombian? Brazilian? American-style joe? Here's the idea: A willing local entrepreneur sets up an International Coffee House, serving all kinds. You'd need expert baristas for all genres, though. I don't trust Americans to make good Latino-style coffee.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Coffee, barbecue and foreclosures
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12 comments:
BBQ is serious business. As John Shelton Reed used to say, it is to the South as wine is to France. (The country, not the welfare-grubbing racing family.)
As such -- define your terms. "N.C.-style barbecue" is a malapropism as the relevant matter is eastern OR western NC style.
Plus, given our proximity to Lesser Carolina, the mustard-based variant must also be given consideration.
I'd have to rank eastern tops, then mustard, then western but none would be refused.
And happily, given the East Charlotte laments, Elliot's BBQ in Windsor Square dishes up first-rate cue. Try it some time.
JAT
Agree with the first responder - There's plenty of Lexington BBQ around here. What you can't get at all is EASTERN NC BBQ. The kind from Wilson county.
Agreed. Charlotte does ot need anymore Lexington style Q. There is plenty of that around. Now if we can get Kings from Kinston, Wilber's from Goldsboro or parker's from Wilson to open up a place here.......
We need a rubios fish tacos and a In-Out burger.
ld it be that we don't have eastern style BBQ here because we are in the western part of the state. Just a thought.
lol, I find it funny that BBQ brought out the most comments. My vote goes for Texas BBQ.
I LOVE Bubba's up 77 at the same exit with the Metrolina Expo. Great Eastern BBQ!!!!! Also Troutmans in Concord! Yum...now i am hungry!
"The city gummint gets steady rent"
At the cost of spending several hundred grand. Maybe instead the city gummint could INVEST the money instead and earn some interest. Or the city gummint could reduce our tax burden.
Again, you seem to have missed the point: The city does not need to be investing in stuff like this. It doesn't matter if it's a convenience store, a BBQ shack, or anything else.
Lancaster's on Beattie's Ford Road, Old Hickory House on North Tryon and Bubba's on Sunset are all insulted by your false statement that there is no good BBQ in Charlotte.
Maybe if the city would allow a restaurant to burn some damn wood in a pit we would have more good barbecue.
There was a local owned coffee shop on the East side, Lava Java. It recently closed after being open many many years.
Come on Mary. Bubbas and Lancasters should demand free papers for a year.
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