Brittney Cason After Dark

Return of the G… Back by popular demand (and by dbraun Promotions) is Video DJ Roonie G. The G returns this Saturday to Mez slash EpiCentre Theaters.

They are converting the larger theater into a full on night club equip with a dance floor and bars. Big screen… big party.

Wanna go? First two people that e-mail me at brittney.cason@creativeloafing.com get a pair of tickets to the theater … for the party. Ready, set, send!

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Sushi, sake bombs, and a taste of the Big Apple
By Megan White

With the opening of more than three new sushi bars in the Uptown area — Fiji, Room 112, and Enso — in the past few months, one can safely assume that sushi rolls whose names no one can pronounce and sake bombs are the new trend. According to Cy, one of the owner’s and executive chefs of Cyros Sushi Bar, the new sushi spot opening in the SouthPark area, his place is bringing a new flavor and different flair to the menu of Charlotte’s sushi spots.

Unlike Enso and Fiji, Cyros won’t be concentrating on the nightlife and entertainment aspect of promoting their sushi. Sorry guys: No half-naked girls lying in front of you covered in barely there leaf loin cloths with strategically placed raw fish on them. It’s all about the rolls, rice … and sake at Cyros.
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Apparently, someone took a can opener to Cans and its Canteen because the lid has reopened, according to owner/operator Jay Runnfeldt … for now.

Cans closed quietly, right before last weekend’s Panthers home game nonetheless — which seemed suspect to me as that didn’t really sound like standard procedure for Cans … especially the quiet part.

So, they’re re-opening tonight for the Panthers game … and so they can go out with a bang. The lid will remain open until the Panthers’ final game on Jan. 3 (because obviously our cats aren’t making the playoffs).

Cans will only be open Thursday, Friday, Saturday (nights) and Sundays when the Panthers play. And their big finale will be their New Year’s Eve party and the Panthers’ last home game.

Come say farewell and drink a can for Cans!

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I would like to take the liberty of saying that I am happy that The Liberty Gastropub has replaced McIntosh’s on South Boulvard.

I went for lunch this week and upon approaching the table the waiter greeted us and offered us a beer … at 12:30 in the afternoon? I like this place already.

Makes sense because said place not only has a beer monopolized menu, but it’s even decorated with beer. Literally. Even in the dining room there’s a beer mural that kinda–sorta looks like a fish tank, which inspired me to come up with the genius idea of having an actual beer filled aquarium (which I accidently turned into an outside thought).

My friend’s response: “Right Britt, then we’ll also have beer coming out of the sink, too. This is a restaurant, not Willy Wonka’s Beer Factory.” Oh, but I beg to differ. The columns are made of kegs (now that’s what I call a keg stand). Wheat grass is used as floral decoration with kegs serving as vases, and the chandelier is made from beer glasses.

Meanwhile, the bar is lined with 20 beers on tap … and another 60 in bottles. They even have PBR on tap… and Jewish Brew He’Brew and Big Hoppy Monster … and the apricot-flavored beer I ordered on my lunch meeting. The Liberty’s beer selection rivals that of Revolution in NoDa and Mac’s BBQ right down the street.

They even rotate their beer selection … Read the rest of this entry »

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According to owner/operator Jay Runnfeldt, Cans has closed its doors. This is not a rumor, the lid on the can is officially closed. I wish a can opener would open it back up though because Cans has been a staple of Charlotte nightlife for the past few years, and we will miss it more than MC Hammer misses money and David Spade misses Chris Farley.

But when one door closes another one opens. Such as …

• Dandelion Market …
A small plate party place brought to us by the management team of Madison’s, Connoley’s, Tyber Creek Pub and The Attic. Opening in mid-December in the old Latorres restaurant location between Fiji and Basil, Dandelion Market will have 2 levels, 2 full bars, 24 craft style beers on tap, and 30 menu items ranging from $4-$15. Oh, and a coffee shop.

• The Wooden Vine is coming soon to a bar near you … as in Zink on Tryon.

• Speaking of wines and vines, The Grape at Northlake Mall is now Forte and they offer live jazz every Wednesday.

• Cyros Sushi and Sake Bar is opening soon in South Park.

• Twenty-Two in Plaza Midwood and The Liberty on South Boulevard both recently opened, too, which you can read about on Creative Loafing’s new comprehensive nightlife blog @LARGE

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My girlfriends joke that their periods last longer than my relationships … so I’m not really inclined to celebrate anniversaries. But I do tend to celebrate a lot of bar anniversaries. That, or there are just a lot of them this month.

From oldest to youngest …

• Cosmos Cafe is turning 12, and they’re celebrating all week. Do you remember turning 12? Boy, were those years awkward and adolescent. I wonder if Cosmos is going to start their period this year … because that’s about the only thing I remember about turning 12.

• Dixie’s Tavern is turning 11, and they’re celebrating this Friday with a free buffet from 8 p.m.-10 p.m. with all new menu items – which you can wash down with drinks so cheap it’ll almost feel like open bar.

• On the Roxx at the Lake is turning 5, and they’re celebrating next Saturday, Nov. 21 with live music from The Pursey Kerns Band, free food courtesy of Matt’s Chicago Dog, UFC 106 Pay Per View and a special guest DJ TBD. (As in To Be Announced … that’s not his DJ name. Just clarifying because that’s totally what I thought upon first read.) And … it’s a charity cover. $5 Donation Benefiting Huntington’s Disease Society of America

PS- There’s also an On the Roxx AND Cosmos in Ballantyne as well.

• Wild Wing Café in University is turning 1 … not to be confused with its red-headed stepsister in the EpiCentre. And they’re celebrating this Friday and Saturday with live music with The Brent Cates Band on Friday and The Aristocrats on Saturday. There is a picture of a cupcake in the ad, and I think they should give out those as well … just saying.

Whenever you see the words “Anniversary” next to a bar’s ad, you can already assume that there will be good deals and a good time. It is their birthday party after all!

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Why don’t I just tell you what I’m doing this weekend and you can join me if you like …

Thursday:
I’ll probably work out after work just so I can justify going to Cosmos Uptown and gorging myself in a 3-course meal for $12 to celebrate their 12 year anniversary. After I eat myself into a coma, I’m going to migrate south to South Charlotte for the Ballantyne aloft and wxyz bar’s grand, grand opening party. And I may go check out Cosmos in Ballantyne while I’m at it for their inaugural ’90s night … and maybe even eat some more.

Friday:
Debate over which outfit I’m going to wear for entirely way too long for as much as it matters, and then show up late to meet my friends, who thankfully are probably running late, too. You know, I wish Virginia Tech offered Time Management 101 courses because I am pretty much late for life.

We’ll probably start at Kashmir for the Debauchery party hosted by my homeboy Mike Palladino. We’ll then mosey on over to Madisons to bid adieu to my fellow paid partier, Charlotte Observer’s Paid to Party Sarah Aarthun who has taken a job with CNN in Atlanta. And then we’ll, as inevitably and always, end up at the EpiCentre … this time for ELEVATE Lifestyle Magazine’s 6th anniversary party at Suite. (I write for them too, you know).

Saturday:
Leave Uptown and really going out on the town …
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A while back I wrote a column entitled Tales from the ladies’ restroom, which, in summation, indicated that females tend to flock together like birds of the same feather when in the ladies’ room. But not too long ago, on a weeknight in Suite’s bathroom, I found myself having to bond a little more than I ever bargained for.

As I eagerly scurried my impatient bladder into the ladies’ room, I was greeted by a girl passed out up against the wall. People were just walking by her — no one seemed to know nor notice her. Apparently, I have motherly instincts because I felt inclined to make sure she was OK. I alerted the bathroom attendant, who was busy soaping and drying girls’ non-tipping hands, that there was a girl passed out in the back of her bathroom. She hadn’t noticed her come in and was thus unable to provide any clues to the mystery. So we questioned some of the girls coming and going … “She belong to you?” But no one claimed her.

At that point, I found myself wishing there was a lost-and-found for humans that I could drop her off at — because clearly I couldn’t just leave her with a clear conscience. So, I tried to wake her up. I spoke to her, I nudged her, I shouted to her, I shook her … nothing. She just laid limp soaking in a vat of her own vile. As I reached for my phone to call 911, the bathroom attendant came over with some water for her, which I proceeded to splash in her face. That woke her up. Read the rest of this entry »

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My Saint Sarah has graduated from her internship with me, but has left me with her collegiate colleague, Megan White.

Megan will be my eyes and ears at the bars — and behind the bar as she works in the service industry. And she has nightlife vision goggles, too, might I add. She writes about what it’s like to go behind bars in Charlotte bars.

Introducing Megan White …

Tales From Behind the Bar
By Megan White

On any given weekend night, you can always find your typical types roaming around the EpiCentre in Uptown: the drunk girls who are in hot pursuit of cheaper shot specials, the middle-aged party of bachelors who are making way too many unnecessary Ric Flair hoots from the bar, and you can’t forget the clique of college students who will probably be laughing hysterically all night at each other … or until one of them passes out in the nearest bathroom stall. And then there’s me … the person behind the bar that has a front row, and sober, view of all of it. Read the rest of this entry »

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According to Jay-Z, “after the party it’s the hotel lobby” … or, you can just have the party at the hotel bar.

BLT in the Ritz Carlton just opened, and pretty much the entire hotel lobby is a lounge. It stands for Bistro Laurent Tourondel — not bacon, lettuce and tomato. In fact, a BLT in that joint would probably cost you $15, for lunch.

It’s not cheap… it is at the Ritz after all and the lounge is well, rather ritzy. And their organic cocktails and premium wine list of the lobby-lounge correspond with the price range of a steak house.

It’s been open a few weeks and since then has been the hot spot for N.Y. Knicks and pretty much every celebrity that comes through Charlotte. Read the rest of this entry »

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