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Grab food and stay a while at Optimist Hall

Charlotte’s first food hall offers a wide variety of tasty options + space for community that leaves guests coming back.

People eat on covered benches in an outdoor courtyard lines with trees and umbrellas.

Optimist Hall offers ample indoor and outdoor dining and hangout space.

Photo by CLTtoday

Feeling hungry? Fortunately, we know a food destination found only in Charlotte promising something for everyone’s tastes.

Step inside Optimist Hall at 1115 N. Brevard St. in Charlotte’s Optimist Park neighborhood where you’ll find a vibrant hub packed with 20+ food stalls, three dine-in restaurants, a craft cocktail lounge, and brewery.

“My favorite thing when I walk in is to see a variety of food,” said property manager Bernie Smith. “Everybody’s sitting together and somebody’s got a hamburger, somebody’s got Dumpling Lady. It’s all over the map. I love it. That’s exactly what [the designers] envisioned.”

An exterior shot of Optimist Hall showing the building cast in red brick.

Optimist Hall blends a modern metropolitan food hall inside a 131-year-old building.

Photo by CLTtoday

Much like the Queen City, Optimist Hall has seen a dramatic transformation. The site was originally home to Charlotte’s largest textile mill built in 1892 and operating up until 2015. Charlotte-based White Point Paces Partners purchased the property in 2016 to transform the 150,000-sqft mill into the city’s first food hall.

Optimist Hall officially opened in August 2019, with dozens of popular food options under one roof + new tenants like Marina’s Tapas recently joining the party.

A woman glances up at the menu at The Dumpling Lady food stall.

Several Optimist Hall tenants like The Dumpling Lady began as food trucks before blossoming into brick and mortar locations.

Photo by CLTtoday

Editor’s note: Optimist Hall tenants are offering discount specials and festive events to ring in the holiday season.

When CLTtoday spoke with Smith in the courtyard on a sunny afternoon at lunchtime, people mingled, carrying their meals with the Uptown skyline visible on the horizon. It’s clear to see Optimist Hall offers guests not only a wide variety of dining options, but also a safe and clean environment bustling with a community atmosphere.

“You couldn’t duplicate this place if you tried” said Smith.

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