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| - First off, let me say, if you have not already done so, go hunt down some little kid in your neighborhood, and get him/her to sell you a Charlotte Citipass book. Most people know SOMEone who sells these things. Far better than the cheap wrapping paper and popcorn buckets the little rugrats in my neighborhood keep trying to pawn off on me. This book is chock-full of great coupons that allows you to dine on the cheap at great restaurants, and find some hidden gems that you might not otherwise patronize.
That is how we stumbled into Nolen Kitchen one Friday night. This place is actually one of three restaurants owned by the same group; the two others are Big View Diner (Ballantyne) and Ilios Noche (almost to Weddington). We were a little concerned at the lack of foot traffic in this place; typically a bad sign for a restaurant to be hearing crickets on a Friday night. At least there was no wait...
Why is this place not packed? The salmon and chive dip as a starter was so good that I ended up licking the bowl...thank god for a lack of other diners. My wife had the Spinach Pie and I had the Seafood Cioppino...both were fantastic. My wife as usual, won the "who ordered better" contest...and I am not usually a fan of spinach and cheese combos, as they can be a "ho-hum, freezer-dinner" experience most of the time...not this time! As good as our dinners were, I almost knocked out the guy sitting three tables away so that I could steal his Kobe Sliders (I think that's what those were)...they looked (and smelled) amazing as well.
Service was a little slow, which I found odd, due to them not being that busy. The server must have fallen asleep in the walk-in cooler due to a lack of open menus at the tables.
We will be returning, with or without a coupon.
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