Uptown scores new restaurants as other spots close

Uptown Charlotte grew its food offerings in September with the addition of new concepts, including two from a husband-and-wife duo well-known in the local restaurant scene.

South End adds upscale cocktail bar

Milkbread and Albertine are now both open in a new tower at 525 S. Tryon St. that also houses Duke Energy Corp.’s headquarters. Joe and Katy Kindred are behind the concepts, in addition to fine-dining restaurant Kindred in Davidson and lakefront spot Hello, Sailor in Cornelius. Milkbread is a casual, all-day café serving signature doughnuts, crispy chicken and other fare, while Albertine serves “contemporary cuisine inspired by the greater Mediterranean basin and a dynamic, evolving American South.”

Also in uptown, fast-casual salad chain Sweetgreen opened its first North Carolina location yesterday at One Independence Center, and Kimpton Tryon Park Hotel recently wrapped up a $1.5 million renovation of rooftop venue Merchant & Trade.

Among the closures, popular brunch restaurant Zada Jane’s in Plaza Midwood closed after 16 years and El Thrifty Social shuttered at Optimist Hall after a five-year run.

For more news from Charlotte’s dining and bar scene, check out CBJ’s latest installment of Restaurant Bites here .