Eight restaurants, bakeries and bars opened at The Commonwealth between January and September 2026. Seven of them came from brands founded outside Charlotte, in places like Miami, Austin, Los Angeles, New York, Connecticut and Phoenix. Over the same months, most of the new food on Central Avenue came from Charlotte restaurateurs moving into rooms the neighborhood already knew, like Club House's old space at 2308 Central and Deli St.'s at 2801 Central.
Plaza Midwood got a lot of new places to eat this year, and they came from two different kinds of businesses on two different streets. Knowing which is which helps when you decide where to go on a weeknight and what will open next.
The Commonwealth Filled Up in Opening Order
The Commonwealth is a Crosland Southeast and Nuveen Real Estate project at 1710 Commonwealth Ave. Its first phase includes 383 apartments, a 150,000-square-foot office building and about 100,000 square feet of retail. In May, Axios Charlotte called it "quickly becoming one of the city's biggest hubs for buzzy national restaurant and retail brands."
| Opened in 2026 | Business | Where it started |
|---|---|---|
| Jan. 2 | The Salty | Miami |
| March 3 | Harriet's Hamburgers | Charlotte, first at Optimist Hall |
| March 31 | Uchi | Austin |
| April 3 | Uchibā | Austin, sister bar to Uchi |
| April 21 | Sweetgreen, grand opening | Los Angeles |
| May 20 | Maman | New York |
| July 10 | PopUp Bagels | Connecticut |
| Sept. 21 | Postino WineCafe | Phoenix |
QC Nerve covered The Salty's January opening, and CharlotteFive covered Sweetgreen's in April. Uchi is at 1720 Commonwealth Ave. Maman and The Salty are at 1711 Commonwealth, and PopUp Bagels and Postino are at 1606 Commonwealth. According to Axios Charlotte, Maman had lines out the door after it opened.
The 2026 openings added to a base that was already there. Van Leeuwen, the Brooklyn ice cream shop, opened its first North Carolina scoop shop at 1711 Commonwealth on Sept. 4, 2025. Solidcore, Yonder Yoga and Lucchese Bootmaker had all opened by the end of July 2025. The developer's directory also lists Five Guys, South Block, ABC Spirits, Glo30, Remix Salon, SweatHouz and Warby Parker as open.
Harriet's Hamburgers is the one Charlotte-born name in the table. According to Axios Charlotte, it first opened at Optimist Hall in 2020. Most of the other brands had been proven in another city before they arrived. Postino, for example, first opened in Charlotte at The Bowl at Ballantyne in 2024, and Plaza Midwood is its second local location.
Central Avenue Grew by Reopening Familiar Rooms
Central Avenue's newest restaurants took over storefronts that already had a following, and the operators behind them are mostly Charlotte names.
Touché Restaurant & Lounge, 2308 Central Ave. Touché held its grand opening Aug. 21 in the space that used to be Club House Kitchen & Cocktails, CharlotteFive reported. The owners are Charlotte restaurateur Chet Desai and members of the teams behind Pinhouse, OneSixty Cocktails & Kitchen and PARA Charlotte. In a news release, the group said Touché was inspired by "our desire to bring together everything we love about hospitality." CharlotteFive also named the Branzino Riviera as a popular dish.
Taqueria Number 1, 2801 Central Ave. Deli St., the Plaza Midwood bistro known for breakfast and lunch sandwiches, has closed. Taqueria Number 1 moved into its space in September, according to the Charlotte Observer's running list of 2026 closures. In early August, owner Rubén Granados Martinez told CharlotteFive he planned to leave East Independence Boulevard for the Central Avenue address.
La Vecina, 1306 Central Ave. La Vecina is an outdoor Latino-fusion spot with a walk-up taco stand. Its owners are Moo & Brew co-owner Ken Thomas and Bocao Sushi owners Carlos Nuñez and Victor Abad. By August, Axios Charlotte reported that it had soft-opened.
All three are local operators, and two of them simply changed what was cooking at an address people already knew. In 2026, Central Avenue changed mostly by passing existing storefronts from one Charlotte operator to another. Over the same months, The Commonwealth added brand-new storefronts and filled them one after another.
For a walking route from these blocks to the neighborhood's coffee shops and bars, see our guide to living walkable in Plaza Midwood.
Bora Bora Is the Outside Brand on Central
Bora Bora Smoothie Cafe at 1226 Central Ave. breaks the pattern. It's a Michigan-based chain, and this is its first North Carolina location. Axios Charlotte reported it open on Nov. 6. It sits next door to Papi Ricko and near Haraz, the Yemeni-style coffee shop.
The chain is known for croffles, a croissant smashed into a waffle and served as a sandwich. The menu also has acai bowls, pancakes, crepes, sandwiches, smoothies, milkshakes and fresh-pressed juices. Its hours run early and late:
- Sunday: 6 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
- Monday through Thursday: 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.
- Friday and Saturday: 6 a.m. to 1 a.m.
Bora Bora took a single storefront in an existing row on Central, so it opened the way the local places did, even though the brand comes from out of state.
What's Next for The Commonwealth
The Commonwealth's next round of openings is already in its pipeline. The developer's directory lists Polished Nail Bar as coming soon and bartaco as coming in 2027.
FARE, a fast-casual restaurant from Chicago, opened its first location outside Chicago on Nov. 6 at Queensbridge Collective in South End. Its founder, Kasia Bednarz, told Axios Charlotte that a second Charlotte location is planned at The Commonwealth for late spring 2027. "The goal is national expansion," Bednarz told Axios. She also said the Charlotte market could support five to eight locations, with SouthPark and Matthews under consideration. The South End menu serves breakfast all day plus lunch and dinner, changes with the seasons and skips seed oils and refined sugars.
FARE is following the same path as most of The Commonwealth's 2026 openings. The brand is proven elsewhere, picks Charlotte as a market and then gives Plaza Midwood one of a handful of planned locations. Bartaco and FARE would extend that pattern into 2027.
Central Avenue's next changes will likely come the way this year's did, when an existing room closes and a local operator reopens it. That's how Touché ended up in Club House's old space and Taqueria Number 1 in Deli St.'s. For more on how small owners have reshaped single blocks here, our Plaza Midwood neighborhood page has more of the area's streets and history.
Living a short walk from both Postino and Taqueria Number 1 is part of what a Plaza Midwood address is worth. If you've wondered how a year like this shows up in your own home's value, The Sears Group can walk you through it street by street. Request a Free Valuation & Consultation, and we'll start with your block.
