The Liberty - South End

New American "gastro pub"
Entree, app, water = $33.

This new restaurant is a nice not-too-fancy addition to south end. I went with some friends on Friday night and this place was hopping. Fortunately we made reservations so we didn't have to wait. The waitress wasn't the friendliest, so that's my first minor complaint. The focus is on the beer here with lots of options but no explanations so if you're not familiar with the names, you're a bit out of luck. The waitress tried to be helpful but wasn't great on descriptions so two of my three friends didn't like their beer choice. She didn't offer the beer taster until my last friend arrived late and that was of course the winner. All beer aside, the food is pretty good. The options are different and entrees run from $14 - $20. We ordered the soft pretzels as appetizers but apparently they only come in servings of two. Our waitress didn't mention that so the six of us each got a little bitty bite of a really good pretzel. My entree was the Lucky Gastro-Pig. It's a very random mix of bbq, crepes, pineapple, spicy peanuts, jalapenos and "lettuce cups". It's essentially gastro pub fajitas. There were some weird flavors going on, but I really liked it. Two ppl ordered the angus burger with parm fries, two ordered bacon-wrapped trout with mac & cheese, and then one shrimp and grits. Everyone liked their respective dinners and the mac & cheese was great (of course I had to try it for the blog). The fries were good, not great, but I'm a snob about good fries. The main note about this place was the food presentation was awesome. Nice touches all around with my bbq served in mini le creuset pot, the mac & chz served in it's own little cast iron looking thing, etc. I really enjoyed my meal and will definitely to go back. One thing I'll say is it's billed as a "cheaper" place to eat when it's not cheap. It's not McIntosh's (which is where the location is now) but it's not Harpers either. Either way I would definitely recommend it! Just know your beers before you get there.
http://www.thelibertycharlotte.com/home.html