September 24, 2026
Q&A: Learning N.C. wines, ice cream parlors
Each week, we answer reader questions about food and drink in Charlotte
Q: I’m surprised I don’t hear more about North Carolina wines, which I hear are pretty good. How can I learn more about them?
Tom: It is a bit surprising we don’t see more Charlotte coverage and availability of North Carolina wines at area restaurants. I think it’s kind of a chicken-and-egg thing. Most restaurants don’t stock them, so customers don’t know to ask about them, and since customers aren’t asking for them, restaurants and wine bars don’t carry many, if any. A good place to start is reading the pieces our late dear friend and UP wine expert Anita Skogland wrote on the topic, including A North Carolina wine starter guide, A winery guide to Lexington / Winston-Salem area, and A guide to the Yadkin Valley and Swan Creek AVAs. many of those wineries offer tours and tasting rooms you can explore. Close to home, keep an eye on what Elizabeth Anne Dover Bishop is doing at Dover Vineyards in Concord. She hosts many fun events that spotlight her wines, including a grilled cheese and wine event coming this Saturday. If you want to make a full series of of it, NC Wine just launched its NC Wine Winners Pass, a program where you can visit six North Carolina vineyards between November 2026 and March 2027 for $99.00. This not only includes wine tastings but ciders and meads as well. The good news is this doesn’t need to be a single hit-em-all trip, and I wouldn’t advise that anyway. But it sounds like a great way to have in-state adventures this fall and winter.
Q: Are there any real old fashioned ice cream parlors in Charlotte?
Tom: The days of Mr. K’s and Pike’s are long gone, sadly. Park Road Soda Shop may be the lone survivor in the city. Good old fashtioned counter service with a pure 1950s vibe, although it opened in 1999. Out of town, you have a few more options, most notably Tony’s Ice Cream in Gastonia has been churning the good stuff since 1915. Here, you can banana split, sundae, and root beer float to your heart’s content. Cabarrus Creamery in downtown Concord dates to 1923. It was closed briefly this past winter as longtime owners Beth and Hunter Huss sold the business Ashley Cline and Jeff Koenig. It serves housemade ice cream, floats, sundaes, milkshakes, and banana splits in a 1950s-style shop. Mooresville Ice Cream Parlor traces its business to 1924 and remains family-operated, with DeLuxe ice cream, cones, and shakes served from its downtown Broad Street shop. Similarly, The Soda Shop in Davidson, open since 1951, remains an independent mom-and-pop shop with original booths, old counter stools, checkered floors, to go along with its milkshakes, floats, and classic sundaes. A little farther north, Udderly Delicious Homemade Ice Cream in Hickory It has made its own ice cream in hand-poured batches since 1995.
