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Nightlife
Eden of Plaza Is an Alluring New Nightlife Spot in Plaza Midwood
In a dimly lit nook beyond the second-floor bar at Eden of Plaza, on an eerily quiet night for Midwood’s newest addition, the Queen City’s latest visitor looked oddly at home on a swing that hung in front of a neon sign that read “Guilty pleasures.” The glow of the…
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Columns
Haylo Healing Arts Lounge Takes Me Down The Rabbit Hole
As an only child often misread as extroverted, I often relish in the fact that I’ve always found comfort in the solitude of being a “strange bird, black sheep, free spirit, or non-conformist” throughout the many phases of my life. And yet, gathering at the margins with a larger group…
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Columns
A Nighttime Visit to Morningside Pub in Plaza Midwood
Heading away from Uptown on Central Avenue, you may remember a restaurant called Krazy Fish. Located on the corner of Club Road between Skylark Social Club and Three Amigos, the name and branding alone conjured a mental picture somewhere between Rainforest Cafe and Ariel’s secret grotto in The Little Mermaid.…
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Columns
Learning to Do-Si-Do at Coyote Joe’s
“Dancing tonight? I’m (100 emoji) going with a couple of girls. Feel free to join! 7:15-9:15.” Insert the “It was at this moment, she knew she fucked up” sound effect and you have my reaction to that particular Hump Day text. For weeks, I’d been talking up the possibility of…
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Columns
Pinhouse and Cutting Board Serve What’s Needed on a Spring Day
“They’ve got transfusions,” my girlfriend said in a seemingly calm voice. I looked up to see the mischievous grin spreading across her face and knew her tone was hiding her genuine excitement. She let out a tiny squeal and I immediately went to texting the boo, convincing him that the…
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Columns
Change Please Coffee Opens in Charlotte’s Belmont Neighborhood
“I was homeless,” a new acquaintance shared mid-sentence while having dinner at La Belle Helene last week. We were chatting about the challenges he’s faced trying to fulfill his purpose of delivering LGBTQ-focused nightlife destinations that also give back to the larger community (i.e. employing those without work) when the…
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Columns
Disco Night at Town Brewing Gets Groovy, Baby
On one Saturday in mid-February, I donned not one, but two funky tie-dye shirts, a leather jacket that would rival Sandy’s in Grease, green retro sunnies, and black flares that upon a mirror “fit check” were beyond prepared to shake their groove thang down a soul train line. Damn, I…
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Columns
New Seoul Food Meat Company Location Has Big Space Energy
Picture it: The stage is ready, the setlist picked, the lights dim and the hush that falls over your chatty fans turns into a gentle roar as you get ready to belt out the first note of yet another sold-out show. That’s pretty much how my first karaoke duet went…
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Columns
No Cheese Please, Gimme Cav With My Cab at Bar à Vins
Call me insane, but I think charcuterie boards are overrated. If I must be the one to face a public lashing for saying it, I volunteer as tribute. *insert three finger salute* And as for wine, it has yet to satisfy this inexperienced palate unless I’m ready to slip into…
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Columns
Broken Promises Delivers on Heartthrob Tuesdays for LGBTQIA+ Night
When we laid our heads down on a recent Saturday night, none of us could have predicted that our Sunday morning wake-up call would be the news of yet another mass shooting. I’m aware that sentence alone conjures a collective sigh because, sadly, it is becoming so commonplace that we…
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Columns
A Night With Tim DePeugh Never Disappoints, Even in South End
When Timothy DePeugh, Queen City Nerve’s very own food writer and restaurant critic (BKA @TimTimTokyo in my contact list) texts you a proverbial, “Let’s jump…,” it never ceases to amaze me how astonishingly quick I am to say, “How high?” A little over a year ago, in a bold fangirl…
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Columns
Alt-Country Singer John Moreland Offers a Lesson in Judgement
“I’m so excited not to have plans tomorrow,” I lamented to my boyfriend after a long weekend of self-imposed overindulgence, followed by two “school night” commitments. “Well, we’ve got tickets to a show at Visulite tomorrow,” he responded. News to me, I thought to myself and proceeded to have a…
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Aerin It Out
A Funky, Rainy Saturday Funday in NoDa
Normally, a rainy Saturday is my ultimate excuse to put on my biggest sweats, curl up on the couch and binge-rewatch the Harry Potter movies. But one recent such Saturday in early September required me to tuck away the only child in me and prepare for socialization, which landed me…
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Columns
New Bar Humbug Is a Refuge Within a Refuge
Sitting on the cozy patio of Humbug nestled inside Refuge, a “five-room limited engagement hotel” at the corner of Central Avenue and Heath Court, drinking a well-crafted cocktail, I’m reminded of the quirky nature of Plaza Midwood. Or should I say, the Plaza Midwood area. See, Refuge sits at that…
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Columns
DJ Fannie Mae Is Onto Something With Sainted
“This is a church kid’s dream where you can shake yo‘ ass and shake yo‘ feet and shake the devil off!” touted beloved QC innovator, creator, motivator, and percolator DJ Fannie Mae in an Instagram reel with renowned songwriter, recording artist, and entertainer Dennis Reed, Jr. The video ends with…
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Columns
My First Visit to Bazal Ends in the Bathroom
“God it’s hot,” I thought to myself as I plopped down in a vacant bathroom stall. Weary and worn down from standing in a 45-minute line at Bazal, I slowly leaned to one side to pull a couple of thin squares of toilet paper off a roll. I dabbed the…
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