Charlotte Travel Forum

Hi all,

I will be visiting a friend in Charlotte in late Jan to late Feb from Sydney so I have a few random queries which I would appreciate any responses/input, etc.

1. What can I expect the weather to be like? Deathly cold or mild?
2. Recommendations for restaurants (Spanish, Japanese, European, Korean) - I'm quite open-minded and enjoy my food so will eat anything but grease
3. Bars/Clubs? - r'n'b, house, live bands
4. Is there yum cha anywhere? My friend said no so it would be great if I could find out otherwise.
5. Recommendations for good delis/bakeries as I'll be there for about a month so planning to do come cooking.
6. Can I get an ice cream cake anywhere? Or can you suggest a good place to purchase a cake from.
7. I am keen to purchase a Canon digital SLR whilst in the States. Can you suggest any good dealers/electronics stores you’ve had prior dealings with I should visit?

And any other tips, advice, suggestions and kind words would be equally appreciated.

Thanks.

Cheers !!

You should know that SF prides itself on its variety of restaurants. It has been said that you can eat out every night of the year and not have to eat at the same place twice. One of my favorite neighborhoods in SF is the North Beach area. (If you're looking at a map of SF find the intersection of Columbus and Broadway, follow along Columbus towards Fisherman's Wharf). There are many fine Italian restaurants in this area. Also, this is the northern edge of Chinatown, so you'll be close to wonderful Asian restaurants as well. My favorite Italian restaurant is across the street from "The Stinking Rose". Don't go to the stinking rose (aka garlic) as it's more of a tourist place. The restaurant across the street will serve you excellent italian cuisine at a reasonable price.
Good luck and I hope you have a wonderful time.

Sorry. Somehow my response above got added here. For some reason I thought you were asking about San Francisco. So my response above is totally out of context for this forum. And I don't know how to delete it.
Best of luck.

I can answer a few questions only.

1. January is mid-winter, so be prepared for cold weather. The winters can vary from mild to very cold and are unpredictable.

2 & 3. There are many resturaunts to choose from, so just bring your appetite. American food in general can be greasy, fatty, and/or too sugary. It's a cultural thing. We didn't invent it (per se), we were just born into it.

4. I have no idea what a "yum cha" is.

5. In general, delis/bakeries are located within supermarkets. Though there have been specialty chains sprouting up here and there. These are a bit pricey and are geared toward the "yuppie" (or whatever) crowd.

6. I recommend buying an ice cream cake from an ice cream place, such as Baskin Robbins 31 Flavors. (This is a national chain.) And yes, they are good!

7. The best electronic deals are of course on the internet. The drawback is that though the website may accept a foreign credit card, they will only ship the item to the address assigned to the credit card. As far as retail outlets (and these are mostly national chains), I recommend Best Buy, Circuit City, or CompUSA. Walmart this year also has a very big selection of cameras a good prices. All of these stores have a website, so you can browse for specials before you get here. And find out where their stores are located in Charlotte. BUT beware of sales that specify "mail in rebate". They are a pain in the butt to deal with and I have had one incident where it took over 1 year to finally receive my rebate check.

I hope this helps and I hope that you enjoy the USA!!!

Thanks sacking. Your post is useful since I will be in SF also =)

And Jim, thanks for your response!

As for yum cha:- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yum_cha

So this is like Chinese Brunch. You may know it as 'to eat dim sum!'). Basically, you're seated at a table and ladies push carts or hold trays w/ dishes/servings of food around the room and you simply pick and choose what you'd like to eat, they'll place it on your table and place a stamp on your bill. Its quite an experience really. Does this sound familiar?

And yes I've heard Baskins is good and thanks for the advice on electronics!

Thanks again!