by TM Petaccia

Now in its fourth year, Charlotte StrEATs is a celebration of the diverse food and beverage scene in and around the Queen City. It is a joint venture of Carben Events and Unpretentious Palate. Part of Charlotte SHOUT, the 2025 Charlotte StrEATs Festival will consist of two ticketed events and one free family-friendly event — all taking place in Uptown Charlotte next month.

“StrEATs has become the unofficial kick-off to spring in Charlotte,” says Casey Wilson of Carben Events. “I love seeing people travel from all over the state to get to know Charlotte’s food and beverage scene. We have hit our stride in year four.”

Here’s what’s in store this year.

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StrEATs Uncorked
April 4, 6-9 p.m. at Johnson & Wales University

An exploration of North Carolina wines, with a tasting curated and led by Josh Villapando of Assorted Table Wine & Shop. The tasting will be accompanied by small bites highlighting North Carolina’s regional styles of cuisine created by the culinary students at JWU, as well as music by Charlez360. Bottles of the sampled wines will also be available to purchase. Tickets are $77, inclusive. Get tickets here.

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StrEATs Tasting Tour
April 12, noon-3 p.m. at Gateway Village

Sample dishes from 21 restaurants located throughout the city:

• Ace No. 3
• B.A.D. Beyond Amazing Donuts
• Catalú
• Chop Chop Red Pot
• Dogwood Southern Table & Bar
• DŌZO Japanese-American Kitchen
• Dressler’s Restaurant
• Enat Ethiopian
• Haberdish
• Hestia
• Mano Bella Bistro & Market
• Manolo’s Bakery
• Marina’s Tapas
• Mazi
• Mizu
• Prime Fish
• Restaurant Constance
• Soul Miner’s Garden
• Spaghett
• Sweet Lew’s BBQ
• Uptown Yolk

In addition, the day will include cocktail demonstrations by Kayleigh Brown of Chief’s Modern Cocktail Parlor, Sergio Granados of Puerta, Justin Hazelton of Lorem Ipsu, and Ashley Sarkis of Yunta — plus cooking demonstrations by chefs Callan Buckles of Rada, Eric Ferguson of L’Ostrica, Yara Mage of Johnson & Wales University, and Reyaña Radcliff of Your Braisen Chef. Live music will be performed by Queen City Keys, courtesy of Lovin’ Life Music Fest.

General Admission tickets are $111 with VIP tickets costing $163, all taxes and fees included. The VIP ticket gives you 11 a.m. early entry as well as the 2025 StrEATs Cookbook with recipes from participating restaurants and a StrEATs swag bag. Get tickets here.

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The Charlotte StrEATs Festival
April 13, noon-4 p.m. at Gateway Village

StrEATs 2025 concludes with a free afternoon-long festival headlines by a cooking demonstration from celebrity chef and author Eric Adjepong and this year’s Neighborhood Cook-off battle. Attendees can also enjoy shopping an artisan market featuring 32 local food, wellness, and craft vendors; a fleet of six food trucks; and six cocktail demonstrations by local mixologists Amanda Britton of Spaghett, Justin Hazelton of Lorem Ipsum, Kayleigh Brown of Chief’s Modern Cocktail Parlor, Rhea Buck of Supperland, Sergio Granados of Puerta, and Stefan Huebner of Dot Dot Dot. Purchase a cocktail tasting wristband to sample some of these fantastic drinks.

From Top Chef to the Food Network to his new restaurant Elmina in D.C., Bronx-born Adjepong tells the journey of his life through his food — a fusion of American South, West African, Caribbean, and South American cuisines. He is also the best-selling author of the children’s book Sankofa: A Culinary Story of Resilience and Belonging as well as the cookbook Ghana to the World.

This year’s Neighborhood Cook-off will be a showdown between DJ Ivey — Sea Level NC, representing Uptown, Garcia Brown — SouthBound, representing South End, Joseph Huang — Bang Bang Burgers, representing Elizabeth, and Perry Saito — DŌZO Japanese-American Kitchen, representing West Charlotte. The winner will receive a trophy along with $1,000, a commercial kitchen hood and exhaust cleaning from Kitchen Guard of Charlotte, a complimentary pass to the Party Room at Sauna House, and two VIP three-day passes to the Lovin’ Life Music Fest.

The event is free to attend, but pre-registration is recommended. Attendees 21 and over can also purchase a cocktail wristband for $31 which gives them six tickets to sample the cocktails made by the day’s mixologists. Register and get tickets here.

“We are in a rhythm now,” Wilson says. “We know what attendees want and we go out of our way to give it to them.”