Q: I saw an Eater story that 50 percent of restaurants on Yelp have closed, but it doesn’t seem like that many have closed in Charlotte. Thoughts?
UP: That story was based on Yelp data, based on what restaurants have been marked as permanently closed. If you look at the actual findings it looks like the bulk of closures happened in restaurant-dense cities with the highest rent. We anticipate most of the restaurants that have closed in Charlotte — and will close — were already facing some troubles. The speed at which you’re forced to make a decision to close will be higher when your rent is in expensive cities like New York or San Francisco. Charlotte may well see this many closures — especially if restaurants are forced to close again — as things drag on. We’ve already seen Upstream, Summit Room, Stone Table, and Carpe Diem close for good.

Q: Is it just me, or are more restaurants than usual closing for the Fourth of July?
UP: I think you’re just noticing it more. A lot of restaurants choose to give their staffs the time off because restaurants tend to be really slow this time of year — that’s one of the reasons Queens Feast takes place in July. This year, however, since restaurants are already at 50 percent capacity, business might not be so slow. The Fig Tree usually closes for the week of the Fourth, but the restaurant’s chef and owner Greg Zanitsch told us last week they decided to stay open and are fully booked.

Q: Is Justin still doing recipes? I didn’t see any last week!
UP: Yes, he is! He was back with another one on Wednesday after being out sick last week. (Don’t worry, it wasn’t Covid-19). We’ve transitioned from Quarantined Cooking to Unpretentious Cooking, but you can still expect his recipes several times each week! In case you missed it, in this morning’s newsletter, we listed a few of our favorites for Fourth of July.

Have a question for us? Send to to editor@unpretentiouspalate.com and we’ll answer it for you next week!

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