New restaurant Culinary Dropout opening in South End

It opens in the Vantage South End building on Wednesday, Oct. 11. 

Why it matters: The highly anticipated restaurant opening is the brainchild of Sam Fox, the James Beard-nominated restaurateur behind popular neighborhood spots like North Italia and Flowerchild.

• “Since opening other restaurants in the Charlotte market a few years ago, we’ve seen South End’s growth firsthand and are looking forward to adding Culinary Dropout to the mix,” Fox said in a press release.

Details: Culinary Dropout is at 1120 South Tryon St., near Sixty Vines.

• It’ll be open for lunch and dinner Monday through Thursday from 11am-11pm, Friday from 11am-12am, Saturday 10am-12am and Sunday from 10am-11pm. Weekend brunch will be served on Saturday and Sunday.
• You can validate your parking at the Vantage South parking deck for up to two hours.

Menu: Culinary Dropout is known for its classic comfort food, like its 36-hour slow-roasted pork ribs, wings, and soft pretzels.

• It’ll open with seasonal fall-inspired feature items including the fall roasted salmon served with butternut squash farro risotto and a butternut squash salad. They’ll also serve popular dishes including Detroit-style pizza, build-your-own charcuterie boards and pretzel fondue.
• The drink menu will include over 20 handcrafted cocktails, four mocktails, beer and wine.

• The restaurant will also have award-winning North Carolina brews on tap like Fullsteam Brewing’s Paycheck Lager and Sugar Creek Brewing’s Big ‘O’ Blood Orange IPA. 

Everything we ate:

The space: The 13,312-square-foot restaurant has indoor and outdoor seating for about 600 people.

• It’ll also have rockstar-themed decor, three private dining spaces and a pet-friendly outdoor patio with yard games. 
• An indoor stage for live shows will feature different genres of live music from local bands every week from Thursday to Saturday.

Take a look inside:

What’s next: Culinary Dropout will expand to Atlanta, Dallas and Birmingham.