Charlotte airport adds local flavor with the opening of popular barbecue restaurant
A popular Charlotte restaurant brings local flavor to travelers at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.
Midwood Smokehouse opened Thursday on Concourse B, according CLT’s food and beverage concessions partner HMSHost. The full-service restaurant offers a modified menu with favorites including pulled pork.
The restaurant has seating for 121 people with in the over 3,600-square-foot space, according to HMSHost.
Midwood Smokehouse by FS Food Group in Charlotte has six locations in the Carolinas.
The barbecue restaurant is among a growing list of new places to eat and drink at the airport, with a mix of local, regional and national options.
More places to eat and drink at CLT
Charlotte airport has had several restaurant openings this year, including Charlotte-based Sycamore Brewing in Concourse E, and Beatrix Market and Wow Bao in Concourse C.
Auntie Anne’s pretzels opened its third CLT spot at Concourse C, according to the airport’s website.
More openings and expansions are planned:
▪ Great Wagon Road Distilling Co., based in Charlotte, is open as The Broken Spoke on Concourse A with plans to expand next year and partner with an HMSHost restaurant. The distillery’s original location is in NoDa and second tasting room opened in September in Waxhaw.
▪ The Waterman Fish Bar will debut on Concourse C in fall 2024. The 3,000-square-foot space will be a full-service restaurant. The Waterman has two other restaurants in South End and Cornelius.
▪ OMB Biergarten will be open on Concourse D, replacing Carolina Beer, in late 2024. The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery is Charlotte’s oldest brewery, opening in 2009. The brewery is at 4150 Yancey Road in Lower South End after moving in 2015 from its original location at 215 Southside Drive. The brewery has plans to open several other locations in the Charlotte region, including Ballantyne, Cornelius and Mount Holly. OMB is sold at the airport, including Captain Jack’s Tavern on Concourse E.
▪ Panera Bread will open a second airport location at E rotunda. No timeframe for opening is listed online.
CLT airport expansion
More dining and bars are part of Charlotte airport’s multi-year, $608 million terminal expansion and renovation projects that started in 2019.
On Oct. 20, the iconic 15-foot-tall Queen Charlotte bronze statue will return with an unveiling in the center of the terminal lobby, according to the airport. The terminal lobby expansion will increase the current lobby space by 175,000 square feet and renovate another 191,000 square feet.
CLT is the seventh busiest airport in the world for arrivals and departures.
