11 editor picks in Charlotte.
Charlotte's cocktail bars trade on craft programs and reworked rooms, often tucked behind or above a restaurant. Dot Dot Dot is the Myers Park members-style bar, Supperland Bar pours in a converted Plaza Midwood church, and Snug Harbor keeps the dive-leaning, music-driven side of Plaza Midwood honest.
11 cocktail bar places in Charlotte we have eaten in, sorted by editor score. All cuisines in Charlotte · Cocktail Bar across every city.
Order A classic cocktail done correctly. The list rotates by season.
Dot Dot Dot is the members-only speakeasy behind a brown door at Park Road Shopping Center in Charlotte, with a reservation-led cocktail programme.
Order Whichever seasonal cocktail Hughes has on the menu that week.
The Supperland bar in Plaza Midwood pours cocktails from Michelin's 2025 Exceptional Cocktails Award winner Colleen Hughes, inside the converted 1950s.
Order Whatever classic is on the night's menu. The speakeasy runs a focused short list.
Leluia Hall's basement speakeasy under the 1915 Dilworth church is the reservation-only cocktail room of Charlotte's newest steakhouse, opened in May 2025.
Order A house cocktail and the pork-belly tacos to soak it up.
The Soul Gastrolounge bar on Raleigh Street is Andy Kastanas's DJ-driven NoDa cocktail and tapas counter, reopened in 2025 after three years away from Plaza.
Order A seasonal cocktail off the rotating menu.
Light Rail is the upstairs craft cocktail bar at Optimist Hall, with a small list of seasonal drinks and a perch above the food hall in Charlotte's South End.
Order A pub burger and a cold pour from a local Charlotte brewery.
Selwyn Avenue Pub in Myers Park has poured pints and run a burger menu across Selwyn Avenue for over thirty years, with a back patio and a long beer list.
Order A classic cocktail and a small plate off the bar menu.
The Bar at Leluia Hall in Dilworth is the walk-in cocktail and small-plates lounge below the main dining room, with a separate menu inside the 1915 Cleveland.
Order A cold PBR or a Moscow Mule while a local band plays the front room.
Snug Harbor in Plaza Midwood is the nautical-themed live-music dive opened by booker Scott McCannell in 2007, with two stages, karaoke and a back patio.
Order Fish and chips with a pint of Guinness. The shepherd's pie is the cold-weather pick.
The Workman's Friend on Central Avenue is the Plaza Midwood Irish pub with a working fireplace, an open-air patio and scratch pub fare like fish and chips.
Order A bottle off the beer wall and a deli sandwich on Golden Grains bread, taken to the patio.
Common Market Plaza Midwood on Commonwealth Avenue has been the neighbourhood's all-in-one bar, deli and bottle shop since 2003, with a sprawling beer fridge.
