Small Bar to open Optimist Park location
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Small Bar, the popular dive with South End and Music Factory locations, will open a fifth spot in the NoDa area this spring.
Why it matters: The intimate bar will meet the rising demand for cheap beer in Optimist Park, fueled by an influx of young residents moving into the new apartments, such as Joinery, where Small Bar is building out its ground-floor space.
The intrigue: Unlike other Small Bars, the NoDa location will have a kitchen, serving bar food like wings, pizza and sandwiches for lunch and dinner. For entertainment, there will be DJs and karaoke, similar to the South End spot.
Co-owner Ashley Roberts wants Small Bar NoDa to be the neighborhood's go-to sports bar, especially for Buffalo Bills fans. It'll have old team memorabilia, a sports mural and games playing on the TVs year-round.
- "We're definitely going to stick with that dive bar feel," Roberts says. But the bar will also ramp up its drink offerings with craft cocktails like espresso martinis and a "Small Fashioned," the bar's spin on an old-fashioned.
Zoom out: Small Bar has become a growing local franchise of neighborhood dives with loyal customers. It recently opened in Dilworth in the former Cypress Drinkery spot. There's also a Small Bar in Fort Mill, though ownership varies by location.
The big picture: Small Bar is one of several incoming businesses at Joinery, a development that opened in 2022 and expanded with a second phase in 2025. Built by urbanist Charlotte firm Space Craft, Joinery is known as Charlotte's first "car-optional" complex, with limited parking and a walkable retail corridor taking shape.
- Businesses have been progressively filling up the 14 storefronts, including Night Swim Coffee, Ridpath Insurance and BK Pilates, all now open.
What's next: Businesses still set to open this year include Sharigato, a sushi hand roll bar; Roz Café, a Mediterranean breakfast and lunch spot from the same owner of Roz Grill in south Charlotte; and Beauty Embrace, a brow studio.