BluNotes of Charlotte

The music was wonderful. The hostesses were very friendly. Our server Jordan was very nice and accommodating to us. The fried catfish was good. The gumbo was good, but someone might have dumped the bottle of pepper in it. The collards and Mac and cheese need help. The food was medium in temperature. And even though the menu says the bread pudding is a favorite it is not good. Do not waste your money. I would not recommend this place for food, but the music is so worth it.

Blu-​notes left me feeling blue… and a little angry. Arrived at 7:15. It’s 8:30, and no food yet. Appetizer of Gator Bites… toughest I’ve ever had, but the breading was good… may have sprained my jaw. Grilled Oysters… small, dry, and unappetizing. 50 minutes and counting. Did we order something difficult? Bowl of gumbo, red beans and rice, fried shrimp, and a steak. I’ll review the food tomorrow since it’s unlikely I’ll see it before then. Manager came by to «pull some strings» and wound up offering free desert, which I wasn’t going to order anyway.
So-​an update. After 1:30, we got up and left. Manager said… too bad, I just saw your food in the window. I had heard the red beans and rice are good and the same about the gumbo. We’ll never know. The sad thing is, they could have cooked our order 20 times over in that time period. Red Beans and rice, already made. Gumbo — ladle it over rice in a bowl. Fried shrimp-​5 minutes. Steak-​5 minutes.

Maybe because it was a Saturday night but the service was really slow the live jazz was cool $ 4 fee was alright I guess but waiting 20min on two drinks. Also I order the pasta with mushrooms guess what I saw couldn’t even get to change the order because the waiter never came to check on how did I like the food. Only time I saw him frequently is when the check was needed to be picked up. I heard good things about this place my experience wasn’t that, my assumption is mayb because it was a Saturday night idk

Disappointing first time experience. Used the online delivery service. Epic fail. The food was nothing to write home about. I am reconsidering attending an event scheduled here next week due to this experience. I called the restaurant to place my order. I was advised that I would receive a call back because the system was being used. I am still waiting. Placed the order online. The website stated a delivery time of 8:57 pm. My food arrived at 9:50 pm. I called the restaurant again and was advised by the manager that the owner would call me back. I’m still waiting on that call. Bland red beans and rice. Bland spicy chicken sandwich. Plain fried wings instead of cajun. I’m singing the blues after this meal

Attended an event here recently. I have always liked this spit as far as the roominess, chilled environment and crowd it draws. The service was good, food was great! I had the catfish whicmch was light fresh and crispy and well seasoned. The greens were very tasty and I must say I consider myself a greens zealot. Truly they would be in my top 5 «best greens» category. The lobster Mac n cheese, though good did not deliver. When a menu says lobster, I’m looking for a sweet juicy chunk somewhere in the dish. NOT! On to the bar service… Drinks were as my Grandpa would say, «ineffective» and small for a pretty hefty price — as is true for many establishments in the QC.
So why the «2 star rating»… I and my friends were insulted by the obligatory 20% gratuity that they failed to mention was added to my bill!!! And when the final bill for signature came out, there was another tip line added! PATRONS BEWARE AND READ YOUR BILL THOROUGHLY! I arrived as an an individual with 2 other ladies. Please tell me, to what did I deserve this imposed tip… Was it because, unbeknown to me, I was considered a part of a «group» when I attended the event? Or was it because the event was attended mainly by African American guests whom BLU NOTES owners prejudged as poor tippers? For whatever reason, it’s a TERRIBLY OFFENSIVE business practice. Once again, our people being treated differently and unfairly — by our own people. Smh

My Bluenote experience was a sour note from the begining… I walk in and initially pay $ 4.00 a person just to have some dinner. I guess because they had some young guys tharlt were attempting to play some jazz that Bluenote needed to pay them… I get it…
We got seated and ordered a few drinks… We had been at Fahrenheit on top of the Hyatt and just had an amazing Moscow Mule… There it was served in a copper mug and was yummylucious… Here, it was served in a high ball glass void of ginger beer or any bitters. It was horrific…
3 people 3 different meals and only 2 items were decent. Yes i said 2 items… Shrimp and grits were deplorable. .Shrimp were MIA, and could not be found. I preseume that they were hiding in the immense amount of Nacho cheese sauce… That plate was a bust… Poor Boy plate was horrific, old dried out bread and canned red beans with minute rice… The bright spot on that plate was the french fries. The final plate was the catfish which was great… However the sides were not. Collards should not be doused with vinegar but splashed, if we are going to have mac with crab, should there not be some crab?
Fyi, when the Mac gets old add sime milk and regenerate so that it is not dry and it can be cheesy and moist… I want to support black owned business, and to be the best we have to improve daily. …was this just a bad note or is this the normal sound of the bluenote???

I really enjoyed my evening out to blunotes. The food was good. I ordered the seafood Alfredo and my husband ordered the steak. The steak was seasoned to perfection. I kept eating off his plate. My waitress was very nice. She was a very hard worker even while pregnant. The only improvement would be their sound system. If they had bigger and better speakers I believe the sound would be better. That’s why I gave them 4 stars.

So disappointing. Don’t come for the food! Ordered shrimp and grits which had NO taste. I think they used velvetta cheese and a few shrimp. The presentation was lacking. Mom ordered shrimp po-​boy which was loaded with lettuce, tomatoes on stale kaiser roll. The collared shad too much vinegar and red beans and rice was horrible. Rice was boiled rice out of a bag, beans tasted like canned beans. I shared my disappointment with our waiter who sent Manager over to our table. We sent all our food back except catfish. They took 50% off our bill. I have to tell you don’t go for the food!!! Btw bathrooms had no toilet paper. And why did we pay $ 4 per person cover charge when we were ordering dinner?

Basically what you’d expect from a blues bar in the suburbs of Charlotte. In other words, it’s ok but we’re not in the City of Chicago, New Orleans or Memphis so don’t expect big things. The music was decent (but they only played for one hour total when two is advertised), the food was good as was the service. Ambiance average at best. Drinks were pretty bad. Definitely no professional mixologist at this bar. Finally, for some reason, there is neither Jambalaya or crawfish etoufee on this «New Orleans» menu.

The music is good as well as the drink menu. The food, I’d never eat again. I had partically done fried catfish, crab mac&cheese which lacked crab and the worse offender… the collards. I didn’t think it possible to mess up collards especially since the Owner is black and should no better. They were well seasoned but that seasoning was nasty. Nobody at my table could finish them. I found the Mgr a little to agressive when I asked him not to charge my Manager (birthday lunch) for my food. He demanded that I explain exactly what was wrong like he was a police officer investigating a kidnapping.
I’d go back for the music and drinks after eatting dinner at another restaurant.

One lonely star because they are understaffed and poorly managed. I went here on a Saturday and despite there being several empty tables, the hostesses did not sit anyone at them. I watched 3 groups sit at empty tables around the bar area, only to be asked to move. I assume they didn’t want to seat people there because they didn’t have the staff to serve them.
Additionally, the hostess wasn’t particularly friendly and didn’t ask for my name. Just said that she would find me when I was added to the wait list. We ended up leaving.
I’m willing to give it another try, but if they haven’t worked out the kinks yet, when will it happen? Nice venue and good live music.

Honestly I worry that they will be able to make it because their price point for their food is so low. We had a great meal. The crab cakes Benedict did not disappoint. This is one of my favorite meals so it was a good comparison. They do not serve a true hollandaise sauce, but it was a butter sauce with shrimp.
The décor was trendy and they had a great place for locals at the bar with TV’s. They also had a private room and pool tables. For the Sunday Jazz brunch they open at 10am, but the live music does not begin until 1pm. This was the reason for my four stars as we would have gone later had we known.

The land of the plastic… plastic plates, plastic utensils, plastic beer glasses, and drum roll please… PLASTIC wine glasses
Feels like you’re eating at a soup kitchen. The live music was great, but seems like that’s the only thing going for this place at the moment.
You’d be better off stopping at the ABC store right next door, picking up some hungry howies in the next shopping center over, and heading home. Taffer… where are you???

I visited here during my recent trip to Charlotte for Thanksgiving week. I was super hype to hear that it was a Louisiana style restaurant with live music, but after hearing it had recently opened I lowered my expectations somewhat and mentally prepared for some kinks.
Well, glad I did that because the kinks were plentiful — but the party at my table was incredible so it took my mind off of it. The gumbo came out quickly, but it wasn’t hot. I was too hungry to complain and overall, it was tasty. The rest of the food took over an hour to arrive, but when it did, it did not disappoint. I suppose items are made to order. Not really realistic, in my opinion — but I believe these are things that can be worked out as time goes on… but the owners need to make some immediate adjustments.

Love this place. it’s like a Louisiana style wet willies!!!
Very lively atmosphere
Don’t be turned off by the plastic utensils unless you’re bougie person then this place is not for you.
Food is amazing and reasonably priced.
I love it

I was excited to hear that the university area has a new entertainment establishment. We really need more things to do for grown folks. I understand it’s only been a couple of weeks and like anything else you have to give it time to flourish. I give it 2 stars for location and the fact our waitress was pleasant. When waiting to be seated your in the spotlight because you have to walk across the open space in front of the live band and patrons that are watching. I felt like doing a twirl. HA.
The set up is exactly the same set up as the former restaurant that was there midtown sundries. As soon as our waitress greeted us the first thing she said was let me tell you what we don’t have on the menu. NOT a good sign. We figured let’s order the most simplest thing which was the po’boy sandwich. It was the worst sandwich I ever eaten. They give you 6 small shrimp on a toasted bagete bread which was way too much bread. The shrimp was way too salted. Very disappointed since the cooks are from new Orleans.
The live band sounded like olé folk music. No one seemed interested especially since 90% of your customers are african American. I think they should stick with contemporary jazz and invite our local favorite Shableek.
We decided to check out the rest of the place and they have a lounge with pool tables and a large flat screen tv in the back. Nothing special. Just a bunch of women huddled together. I think I’ll give it another try in the next couple of months to give them time to work out the kinks.

Came out for the soft opening the other week, thought it could’ve been better.
We dropped in shortly after 5p on that Thursday. Greeted right away at the door. Can appreciate that. Proceeded to ask for a table and they came back asking if we had a reservation. We didn’t. As such, they told us nothing was available. Really? Nothing? So you wouldn’t leave ANYTHING available for one or two walk-​ins? Lol ok…
Luckily, we found the last two open seats at the bar. The bar tender was really nice but the entire staff in general seemed in extra slow mode. We got a few drinks, modestly priced, not terrible. We wanted a food menu but never got one over the course of 30 minutes. She said there was shortage of menus. Lol ok… We wound up asking our neighbors to borrow theirs. Surprised to find no appetizers whatsoever. Well, it’s not the full menu they said. I know it’s a soft opening but… you’re still a bar… how do you not serve apps, even on a soft opening?
Anyway, I do like what they’ve done with the place, definitely a Nawlins feel to it.
Hoping they get the kinks worked by the next visit.

Went there on the Sunday after their «Grand Opening». Unlike the experience from many of the other reviews, my timing here was one where they weren’t packed to the rim. Thus, this gave the newly opened (and still working things out) restaurant a bit of breathing room when it came to delivery of service and food.
Being from Louisiana (not Nawlins, tho) I have a certain level of expectation when it comes to a place that offers food from my family’s home state. I can state honestly that their food was NOT the same as I get when with family, but then again, the difference is what you find when comparing Cajun vs New Orleans. There’s a lot of crossover but both have their own thing. I can say that the food was what I expected from this style of Restaurant and was very pleased.
In acknowledging that they were opening a brand new restaurant, they went with a reduced menu that focused on what they could deliver. We decided to start with the crawfish eggrolls as a starter, and even though I don’t eat seafood (crazy for a cajun, huh?), I actually enjoyed the flavors experienced here. We thought the rolls were better without the pepper jelly but that is a personal taste thing.
For our entrees, my wife went with the blackened fish (tilapia, I believe) and I chose to go with the Sausage and Chicken Gumbo with sides of Jambalaya and Red Beans and Rice. The gumbo was as good as any I’ve tasted that didn’t get prepared in a family kitchen, the jambalaya had good flavor balance although it was a bit sweeter than my own dish because they start theirs with a marinara sauce. Then there was the red beans and rice… This was a spot on accurate and wonderful example of this dish, which isn’t surprising since that originated from the crescent city. If you want a dish to let the restaurant tell you who it is, go with Red Beans and Rice. I even tried the blackened fish and found it not bad at all.
For dessert, I got their signature white chocolate bread pudding and my wife got beignets. Both were awesome.
Was everything perfect? No. But they’re a new kitchen and working the kinks out. They are in the process of fixing problems with the location and seem to have a clear plan. You also need to understand that if you’re going on a live music night, they’re gonna maximize seating and don’t really want folks buying an appetizer and sipping on water for 2 hours…
Go for the food, go for the music. Go to support a locally owned New Orlean’s style restaurant that WILL get things right.

I was so excited to hear that Charlotte was finally getting a New Orleans style restaurant that played live jazz and blues. I was even more delighted to hear that the head chef would be from now closed, Bite Your Tongue. Needless to say, I was highly disappointed in the food and service (or should I say lack thereof) from Blunotes.
After seeing the article in the Charlotte Observer, we decided to go for Sundays brunch. I’m not a fan of breakfast food, so we purposely went during lunch hours so I can order from the lunch menu, while my boyfriend was looking forward to their signature chicken and waffles, listed on the brunch menu. There was so many things that had gone wrong with my experience, I decided to bullet point them below:
· Upon arrival, there was tons of staff at the entrance to greet you, but not enough waitresses or cooks.
· The menus had colored dots next to everything they did NOT have on the menu. They ONLY had omelets and crab cake benedict. They offer a full menu but ONLY had 2 items available during lunch/​brunch time.
· No beignets?! Would’ve been nice to munch on during our long wait… More on that later…
· I asked for a hot tea with lemon, the waitress brought me a cup of HOT sweet tea. I was expecting a cup of hot water and a tea bag. You know, tea!
· When I asked when they start serving lunch, the waitress had to check and told us that they start serving «around 3», when the menu clearly states they serve lunch daily from 11−3…
· We waited… and waited and waited… It took over an hour and a half to for us to receive our food. Meanwhile tons of people were leaving the restaurant upon hearing there was limited food options available.
· I guess it was the manager that approached us and asked if we were «okay». We told him we’ve been waiting over an hour and a half for our food. He mumbled something… never apologized and we never saw him again.
· When I finally received my omelet, (oh they didn’t have green peppers) the onions and red peppers were NOT cooked and they apparently only used 1 egg. I never received my biscuit as advertised.
· The thing that turned us off the most was they use plastic everything. Cups plates… No real silverware. I’ve never seen a restaurant serve hot grits in a cookout plastic bowl.
Who goes to a New Orleans style restaurant for an omelet? I expected some hiccups as it was opening weekend, however I was not expecting the service we received nor the lack of advertised menu options. I will not be going back. There’s absolutely no reason to.

The new kid on the block resides in Davis Lake and if you remember the restaurant Bite Your Tongue, the menu will look very familiar to you as those owners are now affiliated with this restaurant. I decided to avoid the crowd and stopped by for lunch with my son and was very impressed with the quick service and reasonably priced options. I ordered a kid’s meal of fried shrimp, fries and a drink for $ 6.99 and an order of red beans and rice at $ 5.99. Their signature drink is called ‘Strango’ a blend of strawberry lemonade and mango tea and it is very tasty! The shrimp were huge for a kids meal and seasoned to perfection and the red beans and rice were excellent as well. I must admit I was pleasantly surprised that we were in and out in about 45 minutes so lunch it is for me. We decided to return for brunch after church to try the chicken and sweet potato waffles but we were told they didn’t have them today so we left and hopefully they will have them next Sunday. Also, they have live music almost daily including brunch so check them out if you’re in the area.