Textile mill-turned-food hall Optimist Hall opens near uptown

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A turn-of-the-century textile mill located in Charlotte's Optimist Park neighborhood has been redeveloped into one of the city's most anticipated projects.

The new Optimist Hall, a food hall complemented by retail, restaurants and office space, opened Thursday.

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The building, located between uptown and NoDa at 1115 North Brevard Street, features many of the property's original elements, including hardwood floors, ceilings over 14 feet tall and brick and beam interiors.

The lineup of opening tenants includes Bao & Broth, Honeysuckle Gelato, Pet Wants, Zukku Sushi and Undercurrent Coffee. Spindle Bar will serve a limited selection of beer and wine until it officially opens later this month, when a cocktail menu will be offered, as well.

Additional tenants, including Archer Paper Goods, Ava Restaurant, Dumpling Lady, Papi Queso, Suarez Bakery and Barra, and Village Juice will open on a rolling basis in the following weeks.

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Other tenants expected to open this fall include Aix French Market, Billy Sunday, Botiwalla, El Thrifty Social Club, Felix's Empanadas, Velvet Taco and Fonta Flora Brewery.

The food hall will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Undercurrent Coffee, however, will open at 7 a.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. on weekends.

Getting there

There's plenty of parking with more than 600 parking spaces available. The LYNX Blue Line light rail also runs next to Optimist Hall, and the Parkwood Station sits at the northern edge of the property. Additionally, the Rail Trail for bicycles, scooters and pedestrians runs from uptown through the property.​

For more information, visit optimisthall.com.

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