Mike Ditka’s restaurant group opens Catalina Kitchen + Bar at Elizabeth on Seventh

It’s the first restaurant in North Carolina for NFL legend Mike Ditka’s restaurant group. 

Menu: Catalina will serve coastal-inspired dishes with southern influences, including Carolina Sunburst Farms trout with butter bean succotash, pappardelle with short rib ragu and roasted tomatoes,  and a spicy buttermilk fried chicken sandwich. The restaurant will also have salads, protein bowls, a raw bar and a kids’ menu.

• Catalina will have 60 wines (more than half of which will be served by the glass), craft cocktails and 10 local or regional beers on tap.

Details: The 5,800-square-foot restaurant includes booths, high-top tables, patio and bar seating. Parking is free in the Elizabeth on 7th garage.

• Catalina will be open Monday-Thursday 11am-9pm.; Friday-Saturday 11am-10pm and Sunday 11am-8pm. The bar will remain open an hour after the last seating.
• Expect weekend brunch and a social hour menu with snacks, small plates and drinks from 3-6pm in the future.
• The restaurant is located at 1942 East 7th St,. in the Elizabeth on Seventh development next to Rosemont Market and Wine Bar and across from Puerta.

Why it matters: Elizabeth, like much of Charlotte, is rapidly changing. It’s evolving from a mostly residential neighborhood to one filled with hot new restaurants, including Menya Daruma, The People’s Market, Rosemont Market and Wine Bar, Puerta, and soon, Pizza Baby.

Yes, but: Elizabeth is among Charlotte’s oldest neighborhoods, and neighbors are currently trying to curb increasing development by proposing historic district status.

Zoom in: Elizabeth on Seventh has leased space to a growing number of office tenants, too, including Lodging Capital Partners, Hord Coplan Macht, and LifeStance Health according to Ned Austin, vice president of leasing at Crescent Communities’ commercial business unit.

Take a look inside: