Miguel's: Authentic Vibes Among Shifting Tides
Among the setting sun and the soft highway sounds, this is where I felt like I was finally back home.
The wandering feelings from college and my time in New York slowly slid into the background as I pulled onto the sloping gravel parking lot; friendly faces smiling through the cut out windows, ushering me to a totally new feeling of welcome and camaraderie.
Serving as a not-so-lowkey venue of choice for seasons worth of USNWC raft guides, Miguel’s has been a highlight of my time back in Charlotte.
With all of the change that’s happening across the neighborhoods of the Queen City, making the familiar loop off of I-85 under the muffled sounds of the Charlotte-Douglas flight pattern, the worn white walls of the Miguel’s patio serve as a beacon of hope among the lingering heat of the North Carolina summer. The breezy outdoor booths, the white board specials just inside the front door, these are part of the subtle constants that make Miguel’s so special among the explosion of growth around the city.
Tables of drinks, chips and scratch-made salsa, these are the “to-be-expected” features of any Mexican-American restaurant… but Miguel’s is so much more.
Tables of drinks, chips and scratch-made salsa, these are the “to-be-expected” features of any Mexican-American restaurant… but Miguel’s is so much more.
Sure, my undeniable craving for another order of scream cheese is reason enough for me to keep coming back, but it’s conversations that drift as the summer heat fades, the natural light as it pours into the open patio; avoiding the typical hype and flash of all the new openings is what truly solidifies this seemingly hidden gem as a staple in my Charlotte lineup.
Picturing soft summer sunsets combined with the sizzling skillets of Miguel’s Fajitas, my mouth is literally watering as I look to everything the summer promises to offer. With the North Carolina heat on the way and the days slowly getting a little bit longer, I invite all of you to explore Miguel’s, to soak up the unique ambiance of this highway hole-in-the-wall that has changed the way I look at Charlotte.
Who knows, you may even find The Heritage Blend team sitting in one of those open windows, extending the same warm welcome each of us felt on our first time pulling into that gravel parking lot.
Location:
Just off Little Rock Road and I-85, Miguel’s can be found at 4252 Business Center Drive, Charlotte.
Written by: Jeff Wilber, @jgwilb | Photos by: Paige Hogan Wilber, @paigewilhog