🍽️ Charlotte NC – Is It Really a Food Desert? 🤔

I flew into Charlotte for work this week and scrolled through Xiaohongshu on the plane – barely any food posts! 🍜😅 The term “food desert” popped up a lot. Maybe it’s because of the relatively low Asian population here, but there really aren’t many Asian restaurants. Still, I managed to find a few spots that were actually pretty decent! Here’s my roundup for anyone looking for good eats: ✅ Baobao The only recommended Chinese spot in North Charlotte I could find – and it turned out to be a hidden gem! 🥟 Their shengjianbao (pan-fried pork buns) are TOP-TIER: thin skin, juicy filling, golden crispy bottom – even with that perfect lace-like crust! 😍 Also tried eggplant – standard sweet & sour flavor, but good. ✅ Costa Chica Taqueria A food truck outside a grocery store in North Charlotte – super authentic tacos! 🌮 No frills, just real deal: corn tortillas, beef offal, tongue, cheek… pure meat goodness. Highly recommend beef tongue and beef cheek – stuff I rarely find even in DMV taquerias! ✅ Ten Seconds Yunnan Rice Noodle Mixed reviews online, but I had a solid experience! 🍜 Ordered the Sichuan peppercorn fish rice noodles – generous portion, fresh ingredients, flavorful broth. The popcorn chicken was tasty too (sweet-salty, crispy), but I was too full to finish it! ✅ Malaya Kitchen Asian Fusion A popular Xiaohongshu rec in South Charlotte (where more Asian spots are). Their Hainanese chicken 🐔 was excellent – tender, juicy, no weird smell. Half-chicken portion is huge and affordable! But the dry-fried ho fun (beef hor fun) was a miss – noodles were too hard and chewy.☺️ ❌ Pho Van Maybe I’m spoiled by DMV pho spots, but this was just okay. Not recommended if you’ve had better! Verdict? Charlotte’s not a total food desert – you just have to look a little harder! 🌵🔍 None of these were mind-blowing, but after a long day of meetings, they definitely hit the spot. 😊 #CharlotteEats #FoodReview #CLTfood #AsianFoodCharlotte #NotAFoodDesert