Urban Sip

Not too many people know about this spot, so let’s hit a few keyword searches for the Unilocal community to get a feel for the place: First date, intimate, nice view, wine, cheese, good conversation and Ritz Carlton. Oh, don’t get me wrong — when I came here, it was hardly a first date, let alone ending at the Ritz Carlton. Keywords for me would be more along these lines: First date, no-​show, wait too long, too much wine, really too much wine, early night, boxed wine, and Netflix. I keeps it classy, yo.
But seriously folks, this is a neat little place if you’re feeling a bit fancy, me thinks. Came here for a work-​related function and they closed it out for it. It’s difficult to get a sense of how Urban Sip is during regular hours, but they did a fine job when we were there. The service passed the test — friendly, attentive, and accurate. The wines and appetizers that was served was fine… writing this review about three months after is my forte — reflect and think about what’s memorable. Perhaps I don’t have glowing remarks for the food and service, but that’s better than knocking them down some.
The ambiance really steals the show though. US is located on the 15^th floor of the Ritz Carlton, which is accessed through the main lobby elevators. Once you walk into the place, the ceiling-​to-​floor windows give you an intimate view of Center City — there are some seats that don’t have the greatest view, but it’s neat looking outside anyways. It feels like US is surrounded by many high-​rise buildings (more than Charlotte has) and reminds me of Chicago. Or a soaring hawk in the midst of a huge city. I wish I had taken pictures, but it was a work function, so I had to play it cool… check out the ones posted — there’s a picture of the interior and it really captures what this place is all about.
The name of the place really captures this place, now that I think about it. For better or worse, stepping into the Ritz, taking the elevator to 15, and having a couple of drinks and small bites while taking in the ambiance, it doesn’t feel like a Charlotte place. It’s a bit more sleek and hip than expected.
Look forward to coming back here for a regular night out… maybe even a date?! (I’m ready for it — Franzia chillin’ in the fridge and terrible Netflix movies queued up back at the condo). Hah.
dmo out.

On the 15^th floor of the Ritz we found some excellent live music… there was a guy playing a duo guitar who had a great voice, along with an awesome gal singer who also played keyboard. For a long time we were almost the only ones. Meanwhile we were enjoying our drinks… wine for me (yes you can find something reasonably priced as well as incredibly expensive… your choice)…and Husband had a very grenadine-​laden Manhattan. Both accompanied by lime chile nuts.
We watched this calm, peaceful place, come very much alive after 10pm. People-​watching is quite interesting at times. Like for instance, when a guy disappeared into the one small bathroom that they have with the cute gal who was hanging out with him. Uh, REALLY guy? You don’t have a room here somewhere? Fortunately, two-​minute man didn’t clog up the bathroom long.
LOVED the music! These musicians were seriously talented. Just wish more of us noticed and appreciated them. We did our best.

The Ritz is pretty swanky (probably too much so for the likes of me, in fact). So hopping in the elevator to head up to Urban Sip, you feel like you’re going to be even more impressed. Unfortunately, it’s not really the case.
Sure, when you get off the elevator, it looks pretty nice. If it’s a little dim, it looks even better. The staff is relatively nice even. But there just isn’t anything to it. If you’ve ever been on a concierge level at a decent hotel, you’ve seen it. And to make matters worse, you’re looking at the roof of the Epicentre. I know they can’t control it, but it is what it is — the view just isn’t that grand.
As has been said, the vibe of the downstairs lobby is way better if you’re going to do more than grab a single drink.

This is a great place for friends to visit. It’s an even better date spot. Urban Sip is located inside the Ritz Carlton on the 15^th Floor. It’s a popular night spot in the Uptown area. The view of the city is great. You can see many of Charlotte’s buildings and a great view into the Epicenter. The waitress was friendly and we had a decent sized crowd, which she handled well. Everyone tried a drink outside their usual. I typically get something with Tequila, but I had a Mojito. While we all stuck to cocktails, Urban Sip has an impressive selection of wines.
There is also a food menu, which offers cheese and charcuterie plates. They also have light desserts. I’ll have to try the dessert next time. This is a cool place with events each weekend. They have LIVE entertainment in the lobby lounge, which also draws a large crowd. A jazz band was there on Friday night when we arrived along with a large crowd. I plan to arrive earlier to enjoy the music next time. A go-​to place for Charlotte’s adult crowd.

I’ve been here on a previous occasion and it was great with a nice selection of wine and a few wine flights available for sampling. I liked the idea that they had great selection of wines by the glass that are normally available on most wine lists. However, based on the last experience I will not be back as a patron to this place sadly. After a 15 minute wait from a rather rude and inattentive hostess I was refused service based on the fact that my drivers license was a bit frayed on the side. We were both clearly of age with ID and after waiting all that time they refused to serve us drinks. We asked why and the waitress gave some excuse. Honestly I think they were just profiling and didn’t want us in there despite being well dressed.

I have been here a few times and would recommend as a nice place to get drinks after a dinner date. I really like the cheese plate; the honey is harvested from the rooftop of the Ritz if I am correct. There are, also, beautiful views of the city.

This review is for the Holiday Tea at Urban Sip.
The Holiday Tea at Urban Sip in The Ritz-​Carlton has to be one of the nicest teas in Charlotte. It’s located on the 15^th floor where you get amazing views of the city.
The Tea:
Our server brought a tea box around and explained each of the available teas and letting us smell each one. It was so hard to decide! I ended up with a pot of the green tea. But there was 5 of us, so we ended up sampling each of teas. They were all fragrant and delicious.
The Food:
The food is quite good. The Tea Sandwiches consisted of traditional egg salad, smoked salmon, Maine lobster (amazing!), marinated mozzarella and chicken salad. Each one perfectly made and beautiful. We also had warm white chocolate and orange scones with house-​made raspberry preserves and Devonshire cream. And the desserts were mini-​bites of a salted peanut caramel tart (my favorite), opera cake, a Linzer cookie, pumpkin bread and their signature Bar Cocoa.
The Service:
The service is top notch and what you expect from The Ritz-​Carlton. Our server was very attentive even though it was a very busy Saturday. The service was also a little different from other afternoon teas I’ve experienced. Images of beautiful tiered serving platters come to mind when I think of afternoon tea, but here, the service was set up as more of a multicourse dinner. The tiered serving platters was something I missed but it certainly didn’t lessen the experience.
I would definitely recommend the tea at Urban Sip/​Ritz-​Carlton. I can’t wait to do it again!

We went to the Urban Sip after having a fantastic meal at BLT. My friends had been talking this place up, and I wasn’t disappointed.
There are a ton of really fantastic glasses of wine on the menu. Whether you want an 80 dollar glass of Opus One or a 12 dollar glass of Washington Riesling, the wine menu has something for everyone.
Try the wine flights. They have some really fantastic options on the flights. We tried the Chardonnay and Pinot flights and each of the wines were unique and were excellent choices.
Cakebread Chard by the glass isn’t cheap (25 bucks) but is worth a splurge. This place is so cool that we might go back tonight!

For Mother’s Day I treated my mom to afternoon tea at the Ritz-​Carlton Charlotte’s Urban Sip. I am a sucker for traditional teas, especially when they include such thoughtfully presented nibbles and such delightful service. My favorite items were the lobster roll and the egg salad as well as the scone and the chocolate and salted caramel tart — the tart was so good we bought a larger one to take to my grandmother! We also had the opportunity to try several different loose leaf teas. Urban Sip is located on the 15^th floor of Charlotte’s Ritz-​Carlton. It is primarily used as an evening lounge/​bar, offering many wine and scotch selections, a full bar and light fare.

As with most sky/​roof/​hotel bars, you’re really paying a premium to be up really high. Not to say the wine list wasn’t impressive or the cheese and charcuterie not of high quality, but you’re probably going 40% over cost to see things from on up high.
Sadly I’m just not that in to that and I’ve yet to go to one of these sorts of places and be convinced otherwise.

This is a lovely & quiet place to have some sweet talk while enjoying a nice wine and some light bites. Fabiola was our lovely hostess & we enjoyed a nice window table with the Chocolate Pâté’ which was delish with the Fonseca 10yr Tawny Port.

I would have never known there’s a place on the 15^th floor of the Ritz if it wasn’t for our friend suggesting Urban Sip for a post-​dinner drink (or as it turned out, drinks). We came here for a friend’s birthday celebration (guess whose? hehe). While this may not be the best place to bring a large group of people (we had 8 in the party) who were all ready to ramble, I have to say I really enjoyed the place. As much as we were not their typical clientele, the server was quick to accomodate us. We got ourselves the center round table with added chairs and I didn’t feel crowded. It’s a quieter kind of place, but they were playing pretty decent upbeat tunes, just not in a deafening manner. It’s actually nice to be able to carry on a conversation with my friends.
The drink menu is impressive. The varieties of wine being offered by the glass is insane. Yes, some of them have quite a sticker shock factor, but on the other hand they have a flight of international red for $ 11. And by the way, West Coast Red flight is highly recommended by «Big Dog.»
And for our friend’s birthday, they even brought out a decorated plate with homemade salty caramel… and omg, they were a bowl of delicious buttery goodness!
I think Urban Sip is a quaint little place in the middle of uptown. It offers a different hangout option. The service was excellent. The view is different (ok, so it’s not the best view I’ve seen, but it’s a view nonetheless). And gentlemen, I think you should keep this place in mind for that special evening out with your special someone :)

Ok, I love a nice romantic location for a good glass of wine just like the next guy. Here’s my problem with this particular location though, you are essentially sitting in a room with a handful of other people when you could be having the same drinks downstairs in the lobby that is way more populated and has live music to boot.
The service was spot on and the drinks were great, the atmosphere just wasn’t for me.

This is fine for an intimate party, it is so small and romantic. I was here with a rowdy group and would NOT recommend it. It is just so tiny. The waitress was sweet and always checking on us and the wine selection was outstanding. Nice view of uptown… just wouldnt repeat with a group.

What a let down! By the marketing and signs that I saw for Urban Sip I was expecting something swanky, hip and trendy but found out it is nothing but a glorified concierge lounge that used to be used for the business travelers.
There is no bar but instead just lounge service. I would rather sit at home in my living room with a nice bottle and cheese that I bought at store. The seating is limited when it comes to a window view and just overall sucky. I would suggest The Wooden Vine on Tryon if you’re truly looking for a wine and cheese experience in Uptown Charlotte.

So for NYE in the Ritz, my GF and I discovered that the Ritz has a little place on the 15^th floor where you can get drinks and a few nibbles and watch the city.
Previously a place for only hotel guests or private events, it recently opened to the public and the staff is professional, knowledgeable, and friendly.
Recommendations on wine and even on the cheese for the cheese plate made this a great little place to kill some time before the festivities started later that evening.
Their menu reminds me of the Lobby bar downstairs with a little bit of everything you could want or desire from drinks to food to desserts.
So if you want to really impress that date, this is one of the few places in the center city to do it in my opinion.

Urban Sip is in my opinion, Spot On. Fantastic elegant seating near the window gives you a great view of the City. The servers impressed me with a wine list that left nothing out. It was huge and it almost made it tough to decide. However, the wait staff is very on top of offering selections of wine most to your liking.
But, the cheese selections… well, that’s where they blew me away. How on earth do they remember each cheese and be able to articulate it’s flavor in every variety. I needed some help creating our cheese delight. So, our waitress offered up some great selections, one goat, one sheep, one beef. All amazing. They had some sweet compliments to go with it like marmalade and a salad confetti.
I really enjoyed the wonderful experience. That’s what dining is all about. The experience. Well done!

The wines were an interesting selection, and I was pleased that they came in 2.5 oz or 6 oz servings, enabling me to sample a few interesting things. The service was also quite friendly and cheerful. But I’m not entirely sure I understand the point of this place– does downtown Charlotte need a dark wine bar with the décor of a hotel room and a view of a couple of big skyscrapers across the street?
The concierge who recommended it and the hostesses who seated me both described it as a place with a wide selection of wines, scotches, and bourbons. Two out of three of those claims are true. There seemed to be about a hundred wines by the glass, and lots of scotches. There were five bourbons, none particularly adventurous. That’s fine– they’re the same five bourbons that many fancy restaurants and bars have, but if you hear somebody talking up the bourbons to you, you should ignore them.
Fine for what it is; and maybe Charlotte needed something like this. I don’t really know.

We were excited to hear about this new bar specializing in wine and scotch. We decided to go on opening day and headed for the 15^th floor of the Ritz Carlton. We were promptly seated by the window and began going through the extensive list of wines and scotch. We had to wait quite a while for service which we chalked up to a opening day rough spot. Our server was friendly and knowledgeable as she guided us in selecting cheese and salami for a great cheese plate. I had a flight of Shiraz and my husband enjoyed an irish whiskey. The glassware is awesome! The Reider glasses enhance the enjoyment of the drink. The cheese plate was a fabulous 3 tiered work of art. We had a delightful time sampling the many flavor combinations. Favorites included the wild boar and salami piccante and the layered goats cheese from California. The plates need to be rethought. They have a cool handmade look, but wobble on the table in an annoying fashion.
With wonderful seating, a beautiful view of Charlotte, and delicious food and drink, we will return to the Ritz carlton living room. We expect to have the service kinks worked out.