Charlotte, NC | Is It Really a Food Desert? 🤔

Was in Charlotte for work this week—scrolled Xiaohongshu on the plane, and food posts were scarce. “Food desert” popped up everywhere—and fair, with a smaller Asian population, there aren’t tons of Asian spots. But after picking carefully, the places I tried were all solid! Sharing for anyone visiting: ✅ BaobaoThe only recommended Chinese spot I found north of Charlotte—total hidden gem! Their pan-fried pork buns (shengjianbao) are my new favorite: thin skin, juicy filling, crispy golden bottoms (even with that perfect “snowflake” crunch) ❤️. Also got braised eggplant—normal, sweet-savory flavor. ✅ Costa Chica TaqueriaA food truck outside a supermarket (also north)—super authentic tacos. Corn tortillas, all kinds of beef offal, no fancy add-ons—just pure meaty flavor. Highly recommend beef tongue, offal, and beef cheek—hard to find even at DMV taco spots 🌮. ✅ Ten SecondsReviews are mixed online, but I liked it! As a chain, it’s reliable. Got Sichuan peppercorn fish rice noodles and salt & pepper chicken—huge portions (couldn’t finish the chicken after the noodles). Noodles were good, toppings fresh, broth flavorful. The chicken? Crispy, sweet-savory, perfect 🍜. ✅ Malaya Kitchen Asian FusionMore Asian spots down south—this one’s hyped on Xiaohongshu. Tons of authentic Malaysian dishes. Tried the crowd-favorite Hainanese chicken and dry-fried beef ho fun. Hainanese chicken was great: tender, juicy, no fishy taste—half a chicken per serving, good value. Dry-fried beef ho fun? Miss—noodles were hard, bad texture 🥢. ❌ Pho VanComing from the DMV (where pho is amazing), this was so average—skip it! None of these were mind-blowing, but after a long workday, they hit the spot. Charlotte’s not that bad of a food desert after all! #CharlotteFood #FoodDiary #FoodReview #FoodieExploration #LocalFoodLove #Charlotte #CharlotteNC #CharlotteTravel #CharlotteEats #CharlotteChineseFood