CLT Eats – A Charlotte Restaurant Review

Main Dining Area

It’s pretty bold to name your restaurant Good Food on Montford. It sets a high expectation. I’d noticed this place as I drove by several times and I’d heard people mumbling about it. Most comments were positive and a few were negative. Upon checking out their web site I realized that they appear to be started by the same people that run my favorite restaurant – Barrington’s. After finding out this tidbit I was definitely making sure I got here sooner rather than later.

I coordinated with one of my friends that was up to the challenge. Unless I’m paying, it’s tough to convince most of my friends to cough up the change necessary to visit more expensive restaurants like this one. We agreed to meet there a bit earlier than we might usually since I had noticed how packed this place was the few times I’d driven by when it was open. No lunch hours by the way. We got there at 6:30 which ended up being just in the nick of time. There were a few tables available when we got there but it wasn’t long before it was standing room only in there.

The interior is really nice. It has a warm contemporary feel with a lot of wood trim and soft lighting. Very nice. It’s not a terribly big location but it is bigger than Barrington’s, probably double in size. The bar is long but despite that it struggled at accommodating the large number of people that were waiting for a table to open up. Aside from the amount of space struggling to keep up with the traffic my only complaint was the noise level. It was quite difficult to carry on a conversation comfortably. If you’re a fan of the noisy bar scene this probably wouldn’t be an issue but I did expect a more quite and relaxed atmosphere as opposed to the frenetic and boisterous one that it turned out to be. Having been seated at a bar table probably didn’t help this much since we were within spitting distance of the more well lubricated of the patrons.

This is a tapas style restaurant so there isn’t much in the way of entree sized meals but there are a few things available that boarder on that size. My friend and I both settled on one of the larger meals since we didn’t feel like haggling over what we were going to eat but we did order calamari as an appetizer to help bridge the gap. The calamari was absolutely fantastic! I really loved it. It ranked up there with some of the best calamari I’ve had. I asked our waitress what the best item on the menu was and she informed me it was the Gnocchetti. I had been eyeballing it along with a couple other things but that sealed the deal. When it arrived it did look excellent despite being rather smallish, but I expected that. I have to admit that this may have been the very best meal I’ve had. Seriously, it was that good. Your mileage may vary but I loved it! My friend on the other hand did enjoy his Garganelli but wasn’t blown away. Since my waitress had steered me right with my meal I asked what the best dessert was and was told the Banana Torte was the one to get.  Sounded good so I went for it. Honestly it wasn’t incredible but it was reasonably good. I don’t think I’d get that on my next visit but it wasn’t bad. Maybe just not my speed.

Service was good considering the place was really slammed. Our food didn’t come flying out of the kitchen but it did come within a reasonable amount of time. Something I should mention is that as soon as a particular order is ready it gets served. There isn’t an attempt to sync a groups food to come all at the same time which I kind of like but could be awkward on a date. Being selfish like I am I want my food hot and fresh out of the kitchen.

I definitely want to come back but if I do I’ll be sure and make a reservation ahead of time and I’ll probably ask for a table in a corner opposite the bar to hopefully help cut down on the noise level a hair and be a little more comfortable. It’s definitely worth checking this place out in my opinion and it ranks up there good enough to be one of my favorite restaurants around.

Pros

• One of the very best meals I’ve had
• Good Service
• High Energy Atmosphere

Cons

• Very Busy
• Very Noisy

Rating: Recommended