Friday, November 14, 2008

Another uptown bar closing its doors

Grand Central Deli & Spirits is closing after five years -- but the uptown bar promises to go out with a bang.


It's hosting a "Last Bash" party next Thursday starting at 6 p.m. and drink specials ($1 beer, $2 well drinks, etc.) will be offered throughout the night. Is that kind of like the equivalent of a clearance sale at a furniture store?

No word on what's behind the closing. 

What do you guys think? The EpiCentre? The economy? The shooting outside the bar awhile back? All of the above?

I for one have never trusted places that are delis by day, beer-soaked clubs by night.

31 comments:

Rich G said...

Partly because it's tucked away in such a tiny little nook of the Independence Bldg, I always ended up in the Starbucks next door trying to find it, and they would NEVER serve beer, either day OR night.

Also, I think you're right on the money, College Street area is really exploding, it will be interesting to see how the fallout affects the local businesses just outside the blossoming party perimeter....

Anonymous said...

They tried to serve hot sandwiches for lunch without a kitchen. They just had a bunch of steam tables, microwaves, and toaster ovens.

The Independence Center is a weird place for food and a bar. Gold Pepper Grill was packed every day for lunch, but they didn't catch on at night. Nothing has ever gone in there again either.

Why not put in some street side retail instead of Grand Central? Put a small Staples in there and they'd make a mint.

Anonymous said...

One of the best lunch spots in Uptown. This location will be missed.

Anonymous said...

I heard Tommy Jamison is going to buy the place and turn it inot a freak show bar.

Anonymous said...

The scene at Grand Central:

Young BM with no cash to spend. Just hangin' about. That's not how a business thrives. I called its closing 2 months ago as I was walking by and saw the new clientele.

HOM will follow the same path.

SSDD

Anonymous said...

Just a couple years ago it was the spot for most of the people I know. Not sure what changed but after awhile it just wasn't a place we liked anymore. With all of the new bars opening up a street over I think the foot traffic really pulled people away.

Anonymous said...

At least this will end the confusion with the *first* Grand Central - the one on Central Ave. with a great big band for swing dancing on Mondays. I got tired of explaining to people that no, it's not the uptown dive with the airhead bankers and snotty DJs, it's the former Swing 1000 location.

I do think that EpiCentre is the "it" place of the month for Charlotte's chronically ADD social scene... the "one-stop-shopping" aspect of it are certainly a draw, although I wonder if the only people related to banking who will be able to afford Suite's $150 Belvedere vodka bottles are those who shorted Wachovia at 55.

Carp said...

Partly because people get shot at outside of it...

Anonymous said...

They catered to the wrong crowd. I'm glad they're forced to fold the tent. When you bring sh*t to the community...you reap what you sow.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure it had nothing to do with the latest clientele...

Anonymous said...

... And?

Anonymous said...

I've hated that place ever since I went to a Chippendales show there that was SUPPOSED to start at 7:00 and didn't actually start until almost 10:00, and I left shortly thereafter. When I e-mailed the next day asking for my money back, I got no response. Good riddance, crappy club! Karma bug bit ya in the butt, didn't it?

Anonymous said...

Somehow I knew it would be closing very soon. It starting attracting a different crowd that kept it it packeddd on the wknd ( just to build up capital) and then it closes. GO FIGURE

Anonymous said...

Well, you call Grand Central a bar, but it was really only a restaurant initially, and then later, like many restaurants in Uptown who began to see all the new traffic on the weekends, it decided to flip into a bar at night. So let’s look at what it was supposed to be, a restaurant. This place was a terrible restaurant. The sandwiches were like something you make at your house with groceries from Food Lion. Terrible. Coupled with the opening of places like Jason’s Deli and Jimmie Johns and its not surprising at all they closed. I think one of the biggest downfalls of some Charlotte restaurants is they lose sight of the fact that first and foremost their food must be good. And some of those restaurants Uptown have lost sight that first and foremost they are restaurants, not clubs (for example Zink, another very terrible spot).

Anonymous said...

I don't mind the deli by day part, but lunch there wasn't any good either. I never went out there, but if the bar business was failing they were 0 for 2.

Anonymous said...

That's funny you say that... because I don't trust anyone who writes nightlife columns, doesn't party and lives at Cans.

Anonymous said...

Sad that a great place with swing dancing on Mondays, jazz music and other events with a different atmosphere has to close its doors. One can only hope it's not because of that clusterf*ck called Epicenter. Overpriced parking fees and cover charges for the same thing you get at just about every other generic club in town. Epicenter still has a lot to prove that it's not all about making money and will actually offer something different.

Anonymous said...

The brief section below your picture lists you as the Observer's pop culture writer, but your blogs are always about the same thing: bars. Seems reall limited and one sided. How about something different, like the local live music scene (or lack thereof)?

Anonymous said...

The last probably 5 times i went to Grand Central, I walked right out. The music was terrible and the bartenders were not nice, plus the bathroom situations were always horrible.

Anonymous said...

Of course I know my comments will be declared "racist", but a club when a club "goes black" it's only a matter of months before they close. Same thing happened at TIME Lounge.

Anonymous said...

Nikki - Really? We're back to this again? When Sarah wrote two weeks ago that she went to Cans for the first time in months?

Anonymous said...

Great food, excellent service, and a awesome place to party. GC will be missed.

Anonymous said...

Really do not know what everyone is talking about. That bar was great and many of us had lots of fun times there. It was one of my first hang outs in Charlotte and always had a blast!

Anonymous said...

People do not get shot there.Read the article in the paper a few months ago, the location of the shooting was at 5th and Tryon. Not Grand Central, and no one was shot, a gun was pulled and shots were fired in the air. Lets get the facts straight.

Anonymous said...

Hey Anon November 14, 2008 4:20 PM

The fight DID start at Grand Central and spewed out onto the street. As far as shots being fired into the "air" goes, I have a big problem with that since I live up in the air at the Avenue condos.

Glad to see that dump finally close and hopefully their clientele goes back to Freedom Drive where they came from.

crives26 said...

Sarah and negative bloggers, take it easy! Grand Central was a staple of the Charlotte nightlife for many years in the ever fickle city of "$30,000 millionaires". Rocked Charlottte for 5 years to be exact, can you Sarah say you rocked anything for 5 years??? I didn't think so.

Grand Central holds many fabulous memories for me and many of my friends and family.

And I'm not going to get in the Racial card...

Grand Central will be severely missed.

Anonymous said...

The amount of drugs that went thru that place, hell, I thought it was a Mexican restaurant...surprised the ALE, POLICE, or DEA have not shut it down before now. I loved the place!!!

Anonymous said...

I have alot of great memories from GC, but it took a turn for the worse with all the new bars and lost it's identity.

Next on the list...Alley Cat and Tilt.

Anonymous said...

Surprisingly enough, there are a lot of experts writing comments that have no clue what so ever. So the bar went to a different clientelle......it wouldnt have changed if the would be partiers stuck with what they used to do. Instead, this city is a bunch of let me see who can see me party goers. Can anyone honestly say that someone got shot? The fight started in the club? Were you there!!!! Probably not. The fight actually started from another establishment near by. Get you facts straight. The big thing is that a great story only sounds good when there is violence and racial themes tied to it. How many fights happen at the Epicentre, Cans and other establishments??? Guess the wanna be partiers are just crooked rednecks!!! This bar has a great history and actually re-identified itself and continued to thrive. The crowd had nothing to do with it. Maybe Wachovia being sold was because of race issues and no parking at the base of the building!!! Unless you know the whole story, try to find out.....you might be surprised!!!

Anonymous said...

I enjoy reading these postings from afar. As a successful young black male I snicker at the negative light cast upon my brethren. Grand Central wasn't a victim of broke black men that spray shots in the air. It probably was a victim of a clutter nightlife scene that was a last resort for most party goers. Not to mention the horrible shape this economy as a whole is in.

I lived in Charlotte for 10 years and as a party-goer Grand Central lacked most of the amenities that keeps successful Clubs thriving. Those amenities include multiple bars, comfortable seating, an attractive landscape, GOOD MUSIC and attractive women. Grand Central lacked all of the above.

Anonymous said...

Time to bring back The Hut!

Now there's a place that is missed.