Charlotte Institution Soul Gastrolounge Finally Finds a New Home

Soul Gastrolounge, a pioneer in the culinary renaissance in Plaza-Midwood since 2009, has announced plans to move to a new and much larger location in the Sugar Creek area near Asian Corners Mall.

Soul is the first tenant announced in a new development called the Pass (4100 Raleigh Avenue, Charlotte) an adaptive-reuse project near the Sugar Creek light-rail station. The area has started to become a creative destination hub, with the Independent Picture House, Charlotte Art League, and Black Box Theater.

The new space will be 6,400 square feet, more than three times larger than the original, and will include an outdoor area and a new version of Tattoo Liquor Lounge, which had shared space with Kiki/Sister under the original Soul on Central Avenue.

The kitchen will be larger as well. Since closing nine months ago, Soul has been using a food truck to continue serving some favorite dishes such as pork belly tacos, lamb skewers, and Korean barbecue wings. The food truck may continue to be used for catering.

Co-owner Andy Kastanas says most of the iconic items from Soul and Tattoo will make it into the new space, including the soaring peacock, Duy Huynh artwork, custom bar, and the “rumored-to-be-haunted” mirror from Tattoo.

“We’ll have a bit of room to spread out, but it’ll all be there.”

Soul, co-owned by Andy and Lesa Kastanas, left its second-floor spot at the corner of Central and Pecan Avenues last year. The new location is expected to open in the fall.