24 places to get comfort food right now

Here are 24 comfort food dishes you can get from Charlotte restaurants.

Mama Ricottas

Order this: The Penne Alla Vodka ($8.50 lunch, $16 dinner, $27 family-sized). It’s creamy and carby. What’s not to like?

[Related guide: 12 must-try Italian restaurants in Charlotte, right now]

LuLu’s Maryland Style Chicken & Seafood

Order this: Jumbo lump crab meat. Our very own, Michael Graff has convinced us that crab cakes can in fact be comfort food.

[Related story: Crab cake sticker shock: A crabmeat shortage hits Charlotte restaurants]

Community Matters Cafe

Order this: Sugar-crusted French Toast ($7 half/$12 full). It’s made with brioche bread and topped with whipped ricotta, fresh fruit and maple syrup. And to drink, treat yourself to an extra tasty caffeine kick with a s’mores mocha latte.

Papi Queso

Order this: The Pig Mac ($10). It’s got pork, mac and cheese, and caramelized onions so it’s a substantial grilled cheese. You can add classic tomato soup for $3.50 if you really want to get nostalgic.

Lupie’s Cafe

Order this: A hardy bowl of chili ($7.75). Choose from four types — Texas, Southern, vegetarian, or Cincinnati — served over spaghetti noodles or mac and cheese with a side of cornbread.

Cuzzo’s Cuisine

Order this: Chef Andarrio’s famous lobster mac & cheese. A half-pound of the lobster mac (suitable as a side) is $8 and a full pound is $14. You can actually choose from four different lobster mac & cheese combos (shrimp, chicken tenders, fish and wings).

[Related guide: 22 best mac and cheese dishes in Charlotte]

Pasta & Provisions

Order this: The Ravioli Special ($20). You get one pound of cheese ravioli served with marinara or pomodoro sauce, greens and focaccia bread as a take-home dinner.

The Batchmaker

Order this: One of everything in the case. You can’t go wrong with the s’mores brownie, oatmeal creme pie, or chocolate puddle cookie.

[Related story: The Batch House opens today in west Charlotte]

What the Fries

Order this: Single burger ($7) with a side of cheesy fries ($12+).

[Related guide: What The Fries food truck serves what may be the city’s best loaded fries]

Pinky’s Westside Grill

Order this: Kinda fried turkey sandwich ($7.95). It’s made with herbed turkey breast, provolone, bacon, basil, tomato and garlic-parmesan spread. Vegetarian? Get The Nature Boy veggie burger “White Trash Style.”

Dish

Order this: You can find comfort in just about every dish at this place. We recommend the chicken and dumplings ($10.75).

Midnight Diner

Order this: Hashbrowns all the way ($5.49). The “all the way” upgrade on the hashbrowns adds cheese, ham, and onions.

[Related story: Major development planned for Midnight Diner, Uptown Cabaret sites]

Taipei South

Order this: Sesame chicken ($7.75). Maybe order a full spread with dumplings, lo mien, and fried rice, too.

BW Sweets Bakery

Order this: A slice of the vanilla pound cake ($3.75) because sometimes you just need dessert.

[Related story: East Charlotte bakery expands with new location, now open with 15+ cake flavors]

300 East

Order this: Baked French onion soup with provolone with croutons for $7.

Your Mom’s Donuts

Flavors: They have vanilla bean, vanilla sprinkles, chocolate sprinkles, glazed, milk chocolate ganache, dark chocolate ganache, cinnamon sugar, salted caramel, lemon honey, Boston cream, maple bacon, peaches and cream, and lemon pistachio.

Price: $4.25 each, $19.50 for a half-dozen, and $30 for a dozen.

Haberdish

Order this: The chicken and waffles ($13+). It’s Haberdish’s pearl sugar, liège waffle topped with your choice of fried chicken.

Workman’s Friend

Order this: Their Irish American grilled cheese and tomato bisque.

Zio’s Casual Italian

Order this: The fried ravioli. It’s crispy on the outside and cheesy on the inside plus the side of marinara just completes it.

Bossy Beulah’s

Order this: The Beaut ($8). It’s made with Joyce Farms fried chicken breast, pickles, Duke’s mayo all on a Copain bun.

[Related story: The 19 best chicken sandwiches in Charlotte]

Noble Smoke

Order this: Miss Mary’s Platter. If you’re feeding a group, this is a good way to get a little bit of everything. It comes with a pound of pork, a pound of brisket, a pound of turkey, one short rib rack, slaw and pickled veggies.

Intermezzo

Order this: The sarma, which is essentially a cabbage roll or the Piroska — a Balkan-style stuffed pizza.

Al Mike’s

Order this: The spicy crab soup. It’s thick and creamy and has a bit of a kick.

Sir Ed’s

Order this: The Shepherd’s pie made with ground lamb, onions, peas, carrots and mashed potatoes, or Classic English fish and chips.

More food: 50 must-try cheap eats in Charlotte under $10,