CO — Restaurant in Charlotte

Atmosphere: 5 Food: 4 Service: 2.5

I was looking for a place to take my boyfriend for a celebration dinner, and this place had such a cool vibe on the pictures online and we love Asian food. The location is at a strip mall, so there's plenty of parking, and I promise the inside looks nicer than the outside. The inside is cool and modern, and the pictures of the lady on the wall look like my mom when she younger lol.

We came on a Wednesday evening and there was plenty of seating indoor, and at the bar, but we opted for outdoor seating since it was so nice out. I also saw a sign for a great happy hour deal, so I'll have to come back one day.

Let's start with the food. We ordered the Golden roll, and the pork belly buns, and both were delicious! For my entree, I had a Thai noodle dish that was extremely flavorful, while my boyfriend got the Korean rice bowl, which was not bad but not quite to the standard of the other dishes in our opinion.

Our service was not fantastic and was the only downside of our meal. Although our server was ok, she was a little crass and borderline curt, something that I would expect from a local dive bar, but not a nicer place like this. At first I chalked it up to her being young and similar in age to us so she might have been more informal to be relatable, but at the end when we asked for the check, I wasn't sure if I had finished my meal enough to need a box. She said that she was either bring a box now or not coming back, which I thought was a little rude and out of nowhere. Of course she never came back to check on us after that either even though we were still dining for another 20 minutes. It was just a sour way to end an otherwise nice dinner for a special occasion.

I was also shocked and a little offended to see a 30% tip option. Tipping has gone out of control and the guilt of selecting a more reasonable tip amount puts customers in an uncomfortable place, especially when the service was not great.

I'd love to come back to try more of the menu because we had a nice experience in terms of the food and atmosphere, but I would hope to have a different server if I were...

Title: Great Menu and Phenomenal Drinks, But Service Needs Improvement

I recently dined at CO Charlotte and had a generally good experience despite some service issues. We arrived an hour before closing, which may have contributed to the lackluster service, so I'm willing to give some grace for that.

The menu is excellent, with a wide range of options. My sister is vegan, and she was pleased to find several choices available to her.

Drinks: The lemongrass lychee sake infusion was phenomenal! It's made with Gekkeikan traditional, elderflower liqueur, lychee, lemongrass, and lemon, and it was absolutely delicious. However, the pineapple sake tasted like medicine and I could've done without it. Lemongrass Lychee Sake Infusion ·· $12 Pineapple Sake Infusion ·· $10

Starters: The mango summer rolls were super fresh, though I recommend ensuring quality control on the mangoes, as some bites weren't as great as others. The Malaysian chili wings were okay—not spectacular but good. Mango Summer Rolls ·· $10.5 Malaysian Chili Wings ·· $13

Main Course: I initially ordered the curry laksa, and the broth was phenomenal. However, it is not pork-free, and I do not eat pork. Thankfully, the bartender overheard a conversation between my sister and me and informed us that the broth is pork-based, which caused me to send it back to avoid getting sick. The menu does not state that the dish is pork-based, so please be aware of this. I then ordered a Thai rice dish, which was filling but not as flavorful as the curry laksa. Curry Laksa ·· $22

Overall, CO Charlotte has a great menu and phenomenal drinks, but the service could use improvement. If you have dietary restrictions, be sure to double-check the ingredients with the staff. Despite the hiccups, I would return for the delicious options available, especially the lemongrass lychee...

Unbelievably poor experience with the branch manager, Zach, tonight. As a vegetarian, I am accustomed to specifically clarifying my order to emphasize dietary restrictions that are defined by "vegetarian". I placed an order for 3 entree items, and for each item, I emphasized vegetarian and was told the chicken would be subbed out for tofu and made vegetarian. Not once was I told it contained shrimp paste until I came to pick up my order. At this point the manager proceeded to argue with me about what vegetarianism is and how vegetarians can eat shrimp paste and if they can't, then they're actually vegans. I asked him what was in the shrimp paste and he said dried shrimp products and still arguing back that I am wrong for not ordering from the vegan part of the menu although the staff confirmed all the dishes I ordered could be made vegetarian when the order was placed. I am not vegan (that would be no dairy, no meat/fish). I am vegetarian (can do dairy and specified I could, but no meat/fish). Vegans and vegetarians know the differences. And those who run restaurants should know the differences as their area of expertise is food. And the manager should develop the maturity to understand not to argue with a vegetarian about what a vegetarian diet is if he doesn't know (which he continued to do even after I paid for the food). Questionable if he even should be a manager with his lack of knowledge of these fundamentals, inflexibility to learn, poor customer service and interpersonal communication skills. So with that, vegans and vegetarians beware. The food is good but the lack of quality customer service and condescending attitude is not worth it. Please consider supporting other local restaurants in this pandemic, who WILL respect dietary restrictions enough to educate...