“We could’ve gone to a lot of different cities but Charlotte just felt right,” Chef Troy told CLTtoday. Restaurant and development lovers sank their teeth at this news — acclaimed steakhouse Guard and Grace is sizzling Charlotte’s food scene in mid-2026.
The Queen City will become the restaurant’s third location nationwide, debuting on the tenth floor of the upcoming luxury high-rise Queensbridge Collective in South End. Guests will savor stunning skyline views of Uptown before dining on oak-fired steaks and entrees that have landed high on multiple rankings, highlighting the best steakhouse experiences in the country.
City Editor Jack here. I spoke with Guard and Grace chef and owner Troy Guard about how this vision came to life and the culinary experience guests can soon expect.
How did Guard and Grace begin?
My wife and I started this company in May 2009. Our landlord at our first location came to us when we had only one restaurant and said ‘we really love your restaurant tag and we’d like you to consider doing a concept and being the flagship.’ So, I tossed around what I think would do well. I finally ended up with steakhouse. When you say steakhouse, I think everyone can picture high quality, great ambiance, and great service.
What led you to choose Charlotte as your next location?
Charlotte’s got a great downtown scene, as you know. Business-wise, banking-wise, and tourism-wise. It’s our first [location] being not on a ground floor, so going ten floors up, having beautiful views, beautiful common areas, beautiful patio scenery... there was a lot of exciting new things, but still having the comfort of the city, literally a five-minute walk away.
Any takeaways from when you came to the Queen City?
I think the growth has tremendous opportunities. The people were fantastic. The weather obviously, too. The location we picked has everything we look for: business, tourism, sports, and people live five minutes away that can walk in and come see us. We’re very community-centric. We want to do business where we love to hang out and love the people.
What differentiates Guard and Grace from other restaurants?
We just do things maybe a little bit differently. We don’t have super dark wood like a gentleman’s club steakhouse. We’ll have big windows, lots of air, lots of skylight, lots of sunlight coming in. In my words, more modern — our menu is diverse. We’re not going to have the same stuff as everyone else, like cream spinach and crab cake. We’re gonna have some sushi on there. We’re going to do octopus. We’re going to do Chinese dumplings.
What’s your favorite item(s) on the menu?
At dinner, I know it sounds simple, but the Grilled Shrimp Cocktail. I just love the seasonings we put on there in the old fire grill with our Wasabi Cocktail. I love the Oak Grilled Octopus and I’m never going to turn down a Bone-In Ribeye, and I also like our Chinese-Marinated Black Cod.
Guard and Grace is slated to open at Queensbridge Collective in mid-2026. If that seems too long of a wait, you can visit the locations in Denver, CO or Houston, TX for an early taste.
