Y’all, this is our favorite story of the year.

CharlotteFive covers our city’s restaurant scene all year long, so our minds are constantly on food: We write about restaurant openings and closings. We feature chefs doing things — fun things, famous things, unusual things — in the kitchen. We cover Classic Eats that have been serving up the staples for decades and new places experimenting with menus.

And at the end of the year, we tell you our favorite meal of the year from a local restaurant. This is not an easy choice to make — we eat a lot of terrific meals!

But before you peek at our list of favorites, we want to know your best meal of the year at a local restaurant, too…

Now that you’ve done that, here are the 21 best meals we ate in the Charlotte area in 2024…

 

El Puro Cuban Restaurant

Location: 5033 South Blvd, Charlotte NC 28217

Writer: Denise Casalez

What I ate: Ropa Veija, shredded brisket in a creole sauce with a side of congri rice and sweet plantain.

Price: $30

One thing that I admire about Charlotte is its diverse ray of Latin dishes across the city. Whether you’re in the mood for Mexican, Colombian, Cuban – Charlotte has it. One of my favorite dishes can be found here: El Puro Cuban Restaurant.

The menu has some of your Cuban classics but something about the Ropa Vieja brings me back everytime; pair it with a piña colada ($16) and it’s like a match made in heaven. The environment plus the live music makes it seem like you teleported to one of Miami’s hottest Cuban places.

The soft brisket paired with this fresh tomato sauce (with a nice kick of heat) just melts in your mouth – I’m a cook but there’s just some dishes I can’t even master myself. Then you have the Cuban beans, rice and sweet plantains that make the perfect side dishes.

 

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE ORIGINAL PUBLICATION VIA CHARLOTTE FIVE.