Ceviche and house music are recipe for cool at new Charlotte hotspot Yunta

The big picture: Yunta was barely on my radar before it opened, and that was a mistake. Word spread fast about the restaurant from the owners of Viva Chicken, and now prime dinnertime reservations are hard to come by.

• The 7pm slot is booked up every Friday until mid-May, and Saturdays look similar.

Why it matters: The industrial design paired with chef Bruno Macchiavello’s wide-reaching menu and the just-loud-enough house music gives Yunta a big city feel in an intimate package.

• Everything from the ceviche to the Pisco sour to the service lives up to the hype.
• Yunta currently has a 4.9-star rating on Google and a 5-star rating on Yelp.

Zoom out: We already knew Charlotte’s food scene is pretty stellar, but it seems like the rest of the country is just now discovering this. Charlotte was named one of the U.S.’ next great food cities by Food & Wine magazine this week. Restaurants like Yunta help raise our profile even more.

Yes, and: Ceviche — a core feature of Yunta’s menu — is having a moment in Charlotte and beyond.

• Calle Sol from restaurateur Frank Scibelli (Mama Ricotta’s, Yafo, Midwood Smokehouse) is another new and notable restaurant serving top-notch ceviche.
• STIR’s parent group, SquareOne, will also open a ceviche-focused restaurant called State of Confusion this year in lower South End, CBJ first reported.

Quick confession: Before I could write this article about my first visit to Yunta, I went back a second time. So this is a two-for-one deal about both visits — a girls night out and a double date, respectively.

Let’s get to it. Here are my 7 takeaways.

(1) Sit at the bar if you don’t have a reservation.

Reservations are recommended, but you may get lucky with a seat at the L-shaped bar. The bar overlooks Yunta’s open kitchen so you can watch bartenders prepping cocktails and chefs firing up octopus.

• There’s also seating available outside, but they’re better for drinks than dinner.

(2) Pisco Sours are a must.

Speaking of drinks, Yunta’s take on the classic Peruvian cocktail comes with three flavors of foam: traditional, passion fruit and violet. I ordered passion fruit, but the house favorite so far is violet, which adds a touch of lavender to the sour and citrusy drink.

• Cocktails range in price from $10 to $14, which the Pisco Sour falling right in between at $12.

(3) Cancha is the new bread for the table.

When you sit down, you’ll be served water and a bowl of cancha, toasty Peruvian-style corn nuts. Just like fresh bread, Yunta serves cancha while it’s still warm. It makes a great addition to a bowl of ceviche, too.

(4) Order a little bit of everything.

The menu is split in 10 categories from bites and ceviche to maki rolls and “the wok.” Here are some of my favorite dishes I tried:

• Shrimp croquettes with aji amarillo sauce ($12).
• Fried yuca tostones with rocoto sweet chili ($9).
• Yuca balls stuffed with Andean farm cheese and aji carretillero sauce ($10).
• Parrillero maki sushi roll with tuna, avocado, chimichurri and aji citrus ($15).
• Arroz chaufa, a Peruvian fried rice ($18).

(5) But please don’t leave without ordering the ceviche.

I’ve tried three types of ceviche from Yunta’s menu of four, and I’m on a mission to try them all. My favorite so far is the Tiger’s Milk ceviche ($18) with the catch of the day, fried squid, tiger’s milk and tartara sauce.

(6) The AC isn’t great …

Brand-new restaurants often have kinks they need to work out, and this is a big one. It was pretty cool out on my first visit so this wasn’t an issue, but it was 80 degrees out on my second visit and steamy inside. I called on April 13 and an employee said they’re still working on fixing the AC.

(7) … But the music is.

Just like the temperature, the music is hot. Yunta’s deep house music playlist is cool without trying too hard. It reminds me of nights at Soul Gastro, one of Charlotte’s other effortlessly cool restaurants.

Try Yunta yourself

Location: Find it at 2201 South Blvd. next to Wine Loft where a Five Guys used to be.

Hours: It’s open 11:30am-2:30pm and 5-10pm daily.