Mac and cheese on french fries? “Why not,” says newcomer What the Fries. The popular Charlotte food truck became a brick-and-mortar restaurant this year. Know for gourmet french fries, tots, and irresistible burgers, fans will no longer need to chase down the mobile kitchen to feed their comfort food cravings.

Atlanta transplant Bocado brings its famous double-stacked burger to Charlotte, along with new Southern American fare like fancy deviled eggs, watermelon salad, and seared chicken thighs in a Tabasco-white wine sauce.

Wood is the star of the show at Vana. The food is cooked over wood and the dining room is covered in wood. It’s rustic. On the menu, find charred greens, carrots with burnt honey, and pork cheeks with chimichurri.

Located inside the Mint Museum, Mariposa offer mezze of international influences for lunch and dinner. Examples of menu items include lamb belly bulgogi lettuce wraps, ceviche aguachile, piri piri chicken, tomato and burrata tart, Gullah paella, and more.

Uptown newcomer Caroline’s Oyster Bar offers a taste of the North Carolina coast with a menu full of oysters, ceviche, and stacked seafood towers. Nautical touches in the dining room add an upscale beach-y vibe, and the 360-bar welcomes patrons to stay for another round.

Restaurateur Jim Noble goes Italian with his latest venture, the Jimmy. The menu focuses on Neapolitan pizzas, pastas, and seasonal salads.

Babe & Butcher comes from Lindsay Anvik (the babe) and her partner Robert Henricks (the butcher), who had already established the brand in Charlotte with their elaborate grazing tables and charcuterie boards. The shop offers customers a chance to build their own cheese/charcuterie/crudites boards or boxes from a selection of items. Patrons pick items from behind the glass case, and employees arrange the end product, with pretty edible flowers and Instagram-worthy results. The shop offers a buffet of cheeses, meats, fruits, vegetables, sweet and salty snacks, spreads, pickles, and olives for customers to choose from.

Vegans rejoice — you can have everything on the menu at Camp North End stall Plant Joy. Carnivores line up for the vegetable-forward offerings as well. The falafel plate is one of the most popular dishes freshly baked pita chips, chickpeas, beet slaw, falafel crumble, pickles, and hummus served nacho-style.

What started as a pizza hotspot in the Williamsburg, Emmy Squared has rapidly expanded recently with the latest target in the Plaza Midwood neighborhood in Charlotte. The restaurant is widely known for its thick crust pizza and its double-stacked burger on a pretzel bun, which has won multiple best-of awards. The Charlotte location will offer favorites like waffle fries, cheesy garlic sticks, chicken katsu sandwiches, and salads, in addition to all those pizza and burgers.

The only thing missing at sunny spot Calle Sol Latin Café and Cevicheria is the beach. This new Plaza Midwood restaurant transports patrons to the shores of Miami, Cuba, and Peru via its rum-soaked cocktail menu and classic Latin American dishes like ceviches, Cubanos, and arroz chaufa. The dining room is full of fun details and bright colors, making a festive atmosphere.

Supperland is billed as “Southern steakhouse meets a church potluck,” and it delivers on that promise. The restaurant is housed in a former house of worship, though now the altar is the hickory-and-oak-fired kitchen. Bring friends to sample the sharable items like the wagyu pot roast, a cheffed-up seven-layer salad, and oysters with smoked butter (poured tableside).