401 W. 9th St., Charlotte
704/332-6789
www.almikestavern.com

HOURS: Mon.–Thurs. 11:30 a.m.–10 p.m.,
Fri.–Sat. 11:30 a.m.–11 p.m.

COST: Most entrées less than $10

Locals have flocked to this Charlotte address in search of food and conversation since 1897. It started off as the Crowell-Berryhill Store, a division of the nearby Star Mills Grocery Company and specialized in selling Star Mills products such as cornmeal.

Under various owners, it operated as a retail grocery until 1958, earning a reputation as a social, political, and economic centerpiece of the neighborhood. Since then, it has been the site of Charlotte Paint and Body Supply Company and the Ninth Street and Pine Laundry Center. In 1983, Charlotte attorneys A. Michael Troiano Jr. and Alexander Copeland III purchased the building and opened Alexander Michael’s.

The building retains a historical appeal (the bar and back bar were constructed from the original solid-oak doors on the front of the Independence Building, which was constructed in 1908 and stood on the corner of Trade and Tryon Streets until 1981; the beer cooler was originally used in a grocery store in the 1920s).

The restaurant is a Fourth Ward staple and welcomes a steady stream of regulars who file in for burgers, fries, wings, and an impressive selection of beers, including Low Down Brown and Highland Gaelic Ale, microbrews from North Carolina, as well as beers from as far off as Thailand, Scotland, and the Czech Republic.

Don’t forget to ask for an order of fried pickles: The piping-hot battered pickle spears are the best in town!