June 4, 2026

Q&A: Restaurant challenges, Yama/SouthPark timeline

Each week, we answer reader questions about food and drink in Charlotte

Q: With all the influx of new restaurants and recent national attention, what is the biggest challenge facing Charlotte restaurants today?
Tom: Pretty much same as always: keeping the doors open. For all the attention surrounding Charlotte’s growing food scene, most conversations among restaurant owners eventually come back to making the numbers work. Every restaurateur faces higher costs across the board. Food, labor, insurance, utilities, rent, equipment, and everyday necessities like takeout containers and credit card processing fees all cost more than they did just a year ago. At the same time, many diners are becoming more selective about when and where they spend their dining dollars.

That creates a difficult balancing act, especially for locally owned restaurants. Customers want memorable food, attentive service, attractive dining rooms, and locally sourced ingredients, but they also want prices to remain accessible. And while even the national restaurant groups enjoy some economies of scale, a full dining room anywhere doesn’t necessarily mean healthy profits. Success isn’t just about attracting customers. It’s about finding a way to absorb rising costs without sacrificing the quality and hospitality that made diners choose a restaurant in the first place. Hopefully, all this national attention will get more locals and out-of-towners into restaurant chairs because at the end of the day, restaurants can’t survive on buzz alone. Awards, social media attention, TV shows, and “best of” lists may generate interest, but sustainable success still depends on people showing up.

Q: Yama’s SouthPark renovation was supposed to be finished in May, but I see it’s still closed. What’s the latest?
Tom: You can always rely on one thing: restaurant openings and reopenings never (or nearly ever) happen on time. Birdie Yang’s Yama/SouthPark is no exception. Permitting delays, contractor schedules, and procurement issues just about always come up. A recent social media post revealed that the remodeled sushi spot is now slated to open later this month or early July.