Lupie’s Cafe

We like coming to Lupe’s because of the great down home cooking. It had a wonderful ambiance with friendly staff. We especially like the covered nachos with Texas chili.

This dive of an eatery came highly recommended on a recent trip to Charlotte for a concert at Bojangles’ Coliseum. And unlike the concert venue, Lupie’s did NOT disappoint! Since this place already has tons of reviews, I’ll keep it short and sweet.
DECOR: This place is a dive, inside and out. But, that’s part of what makes it great. Just don’t judge a book by its cover.
FOOD: The nachos are killer (and huge) and the chilli mac is also great. Banana pudding is solid. I hear the Peach Kuchen is a must have dessert, but sadly we passed it up in favor of a free banana pudding. They have a decent beer selection, but could use more options.
SERVICE: Our waitress was great… very attentive. We were seated within minutes of walking in the door (I’m told there’s often a line out the door, so we lucked out). Our food took longer than expected to come out, to which our waitress apologized and without missing a beat, gave us a free dessert to make up for it. +1 for customer service!
My only gripe is they serve chips instead of french fries. This I just don’t get.
Finally in reply to one of the other reviews, yes, much of what you order here can easily be made at home. However, Lupie’s does not bill itself as a high-​end dining experience. There are definitely much better restaurants than Lupie’s, but among the «divey comfort food» type of restaurants, Lupie’s ranks highly. You don’t go here to be wined and dined. You go here because you’re hungry, are looking for a quick, comforting meal, and don’t feel like cooking and cleaning up after yourself (not because you cannot cook).

Best meatloaf around! Good service. Make sure you try the banana pudding. To die for! Different and relaxing atmosphere. Do not miss if you’re looking for good home cooking.

Lupus is an old Charlotte hole-​in-​the-​wall in the best possible way. Food is good & affordable. Crowd is diverse. Always comfortable.

I’v been going to this place for years, they already know me by name and know my food selection every time I come in. I’v gone to many restaurants for wings all over the US, but this is by far one of my favorite home-​cooking wings they make, staff is super friendly and very welcoming!

A great place to go in sweats, eat your weight in vegetarian chili Mac, and not be bothered. I love it.

This is a hidden gem in Charlotte. They have daily specials and amazing cobbler for dessert! I love the different kinds of chili they have and you can get chili over a bowl of Mac N Cheese!!! Only negative is the cleanliness of the restaurant because it is an older establishment.

I heard about Lupies from a friend and fellow business owner. Their chili and cornbread is excellent and even better with spaghetti or mac/​cheese.
I had the chili over spaghetti with cornbread with a glass of wine. Good and not too expensive. Old style but authentic and quality furnishings.
Stewart

Food is good. I am a regular customer. I come in today for takeout and for the first time ever the cook ask me if I want to leave a «tip for the kitchen». WTF? Aren’t kitchen staff paid hourly unlike wait staff? What a scam! All he did was scoop up my food and put in a to go container and put it in a bag and ring me up and I had to tip him for that. I’m sure he is pocketing all that extra money from other customers as well. Shame I will not be back because of one bad seed. I guess that banana pudding was worth $ 6.95 :-(

It took me a few years to discover this restaurant since they look a little sketchy from the outside. A coworker dragged me into Lupie’s 3 years ago and I have been a fan ever since. The only negative to this restaurant is that they are closed on Sundays. Just like with Chick Fil A, I always end up wanting Lupie’s on Sundays when I am working weekends.
I have had their burgers and their nachos and both are to die for. If you eat normal sized portions, you may want to share the nachos with a friend because they are enormous. I have never finished even half of my plate of nachos!
The service is speedy and the staff are always friendly. Parking can be a little touch and go if you come during a busy time.

With so many solid reviews I’m not sure what went wrong here? The service was great but the food wasn’t. I had the wings and mac and cheese. Both tasted like they were reheated leftovers from another day. I can’t see myself returning for the food.

This must be the place where Charlotteans who cannot cook go to eat. I cannot think of any other reason why this place is so highly reviewed. One of the reasons why I and millions of other people are willing to spend our hard-​earned money at a restaurant is for the experience– to be served something that would have taken me much longer to prepare at home or something that I could never have made. I absolutely abhor these homemade «restaurants» for that reason.
Literally everything at Lupie’s could have been made at home in a matter of minutes. Nothing is memorable or something that just has to be had at Lupie’s. I had a burger with chips on the side. The burger was dry, as was the bun. The chips? Straight from a store-​bought bag. Fries were not an option, nor was anything else homemade. They really should have taken the time to come up with some nice side, but instead opted for chips from a bag. That is even worse than those places that serve crinkle cut fries. If you want to do the homemade thing, at least do it right.
I will not be returning, but will remain confused and puzzled as to why people still frequent this place. Oh, well. That just means it will be easier to get reservations at proper restaurants.

Wings are awesome! Mac and cheese out of this world! Banana pudding is awesome! Quiche is really good just give you a very small portion. Oh my how could I forget those nachos??? They were to die for. Since this place is on the next street over from my house we eat here often. Very good place for family, business, or a table for one! A variety of things on the menu for the whole family. Please don’t let the location fool you! Must try if you’re in Charlotte

I have lived here (Charlotte area) all my life and after 33 years I finally visited Lupies. Dont ask me why Ive never been because honestly I dont have a good answer. But anyways, stopped in for lunch today and since the casserole was todays special, I went with the ‘cue since Im not a casserole fan. Food is very tasty, service was awesome and very friendly, and the server really recommended a lot of things on the menu. It may have been my first time but definitely not my last! Im coming back on a Monday for the meatloaf… MOMMMMM! MEATLOOOOAF!
PS The sweet tea here is perfection

Lupie’s Café is located on the southside of the Elizabeth neighborhood and is one of Charlotte’s most well known restaurants. You know you’re in a low down neighborhood dive when you drink water from ball mason jars. There is something quintessentially southern about ball mason jars and the many uses for them. With Q-Tip’s Renaissance Rap playing over head and hungry bellies ready to devour everything in sight, we patiently sat and waited while our dinner was prepared.
For Ella’s dinner she decided nothing would be better than a good ol’ fashioned BLT and a side of chips. The BLT was served on lightly toasted bread, with a generous amount of lettuce, tomato, and some of the crunchiest. thickest. juiciest bacon we’ve ever sunk our teeth into. We enjoyed the BLT to say the least. The plate came with two side options. Ella went with the Wavy Lays.
Being the burger lover I am, I couldn’t resist getting a Carolina Burger with chili, bacon, cole slaw, and… BACON!!! Served on a toasted onion roll, this burger was freaking delicious. The bacon was crispy, and the the chili, mustard, cole slaw was unmistakably southern. Despite getting cole slaw on the burger, I felt I still had some appetite left for a side of creamy cole slaw.
Lupie’s Café is the epitome of a neighborhood hangout. a hole in the wall. a dive. or whatever you want to call it. Either way the food rocks and the place transmits a vibe that’s pure and simple. If you’re in the area and looking for some simple food at a cheap price, you gotta check out Lupie’s Café.

Been there done that got the T shirt, many times over. This place is known for chili, nachos, and chili. Check it out if you are in the hood.
It is well worth it.

Not my cup of tea. Apparently it gets very busy, but I personally do not know why. It definitely is a hole in the wall that has been around a long time so I guess there’s something good about it that perhaps I haven’t discovered yet. I tried the nachos, they weren’t terrible. They are insanely big though, so plan to share. Others at the table tried various items but no one was very pleased with anything except maybe the mac n cheese and the green beans. The servers were pretty nice but don’t think I have any interest in going back.

I talked about this place to the husband for several months and yet we never made our way over here… until this past weekend! I was so excited to show him this fun little dive full of yummy chili, burgers, hotdogs and other southern soul food items.
He loves places like this so I was hopeful that this would be his new spot!
I am sad to report that we both left pretty disappointed. Maybe I hyped it up too much. I mean it has been about 15 years since I was last there but wow…
We stuck with the basics… I ordered the Cincinatti chili and it was just not good. Weird taste, no beans (although it says they are in there) and chopped up meat… like really chopped up. The raw onions and sprinkle of cheddar cheese were my favorite parts. The cornbread was drier than my grandma’s skin. Tasteless. I couldn’t even use it to dip in the chili because it was like a plastic, crumbly mess.
Husband ordered the chili dog and he was underwhelmed. The greasy chips that came on the side were okay I guess?
Service was okay – they seem to try to hard to have that «we’re a cool dive in Charlotte» vibe but it was okay. Plus they recently opened one in Huntersville so that automatically takes away from the novelty of the place.
Eh – wouldn’t feel compelled to come back but I’m sure there are other things on the menu that would make it worth the trip for others.
Price is right too.

This little hole in the wall is like a diamond in the rough! I’m very thankful to have been introduced to this Charlotte legacy.
With daily specials and down-​home southern hospitality, it’s a win all the way around. Everything is homemade «just like Grandma used to make it!» My goto comfort foods are the mac-​n-​cheese and the chicken and dumplings. They’re oh so good, but a word to the wise: the dumplings aren’t available everyday. Based on the specials calendar, you can expect to get you a good helping on Thursdays. Sometimes they will serve them up as a part of their Saturday rotation, but there are no guarantees.
I’ve also tried the chili, banana pudding, éclair pie (which is more like éclair pudding), quiche, green beans, etc. I’ve yet to be disappointed. This isn’t your high-​class, white tablecloth type of establishment, so lower your expectations. Keep it casual and go for the food. If you’re looking for glitz and glam, keep on keepin’ on.

My favorite thing about this place: it’s walking distance from my house and I can wear sweatpants there with no judgement. Or maybe they are judging me. Oh well.
My buddy Vijay and I swung by for dinner last Tuesday. I was super bummed when I saw that the special the night before was meatloaf. However, it was my lucky day. They still had meatloaf left! Hip, hip… hooray! No mashed potatoes, though. Sigh, guess I have no choice but to eat delicious mac n cheese.
When in Rome, you have to get the chili. We couldn’t decide which one to get. Our server suggested mixing two together. Brilliant. We went with Texas and Southern. Texas is on the spicy side. I liked the combo of the two. Vijay also got a burger. Holy. This thing was huge. I was shocked when he was able to eat the whole thing.
I have to get up here on a Thursday. Why? The special is chicken and dumplings. Sounds like the perfect meal on a chilly night. Not to be confused with chili…