Culinary Dropout — a popular restaurant chain with locations in Arizona, Texas and Colorado — is debuting its first North Carolina location in South End.

It opens in the Vantage South End building on Wednesday, Oct. 11.

Why it matters: The highly anticipated restaurant opening is the brainchild of Sam Fox, the James Beard-nominated restaurateur behind popular neighborhood spots like North Italia and Flowerchild.

“Since opening other restaurants in the Charlotte market a few years ago, we’ve seen South End’s growth firsthand and are looking forward to adding Culinary Dropout to the mix,” Fox said in a press release.