I am attending a wedding in Charlotte in October and my date and I want to check out some of the ‘uptown’ nightlife on a Friday night. We are in our early 30’s, from NYC, and would love to ‘kick it’ at a place that is not full of college kids – and dare I say it – country music. Any suggestions where we could dance and get few cocktails that may be on the swankier side?

Go to Blue- excellent martinis, swanky feel, jazz music... it's on College and 5th. Also, a new sports bar (with a kind of swanky feel) just opened up in the Epicentre (College and Trade): Black Finn; also, you may want to hit Suite, also in the Epicentre. Right now, it's a cool crowd, a little bit older... but they are predicting on certain nights, there may be some younger runover from Whisky River (Dale Jr's bar that is kinda like a rock n roll honky tonk) later in the evenings. There's also Feast- on 5th and Church- definitely a different spot with a Euro-vibe that's worth checking out. My fiance and I also love the bar at Capital Grille (on Tryon)- Pauly and PeeDee are two of the best bartenders in town. It's very popular for after work drinks (lots of wheeling and dealing). If you want a cool Irish pub- not very swanky, but good beer and sometimes a nice change of pace, I'd go to Connelly's on 5th (between College and Tryon). Or, if you want to get out of uptown- hit the Southend. The same people who own Connelly's, own Tyber Creek. Even with $3 guiness all the time, it isn't overloaded with younger people. Also, Tutomundo's has fabulous Martini's- very eclectic, but they play club music. Very NYC in a way. It's also in the Southend.

Hope this helps!

I hope this gives you a good place to start!

WOW - fantastic thanks so much!

YOu are not going to be overrun with college kids in uptown Charlotte.

If you don't want to see College kids, just avoid Dixie's, Buckhead, Phil's, Grand Central, and BAR.

Attic and Brick and Barrel (Tryon at 5th)- are good bars (usually packed), but the age of the crowd varies on any given night. If you go to Brick and Barrel- head down the stairs on the right, there's a down stairs that a lot of people don't know about. Madison's is on 5th and there is a door that connects it to Attic- Madison's is darker, more of a speakeasy, if you will, but sometimes people figure out they can go from Attic to MAdison's just through a certain door and it gets overrun.

You mentioned you liked to dance earlier, FORUM, although not my scene, can be cool if you're in the mood for dancing. If you like a Latin flair, Latorre's has salsa dancing (and really good latin inspired food)- the dancing is upstairs and usually doesn't start until 10. Latorre's is next to Feast on 5th- near church. There's also Alley Cats- which is a hit or miss crowd- on College and 7th. Their patio is pretty chill for drinks and they often have live music.

I was just reading the Friday entertainment section. Closer to your wedding time, take a look at that online. This week there was a country music "thing". Lots going on for you youngsters!! Who knew!!

Thanks for all the info, some places look like they will be fun it hit. I have been reading a lot about the drinking laws in Charlotte and it looks likes many of these places (that only serve alcohol) need membership cards. It’s no big deal if I can sign up on line before we go, but do you think this is necessary? Do bouncers/ doorpeople make exceptions for “out of towners”?

It's pretty loosely enforced. I think any bar that doesn't serve food is required to operate as a private club, requiring memberships. And techically, I think you have to apply for the membership 3 days in advance.

But often what you'll find is a sign-up sheet where you register as a guest, or just go in with a member, or sometimes they don't even care at all.

As Brian said, it is very loosely enforced- if ever. The doorman/bouncer will usually have a sheet of paper- you can sign as a "guest" or to avoid the hassle, just sign in where it says "member"... the bouncer usually doesn't do too much "investigation" as to membership. However, do have your ID ready- all bars uptown will card no matter your age. My friend's parents were in town one weekend and his mom didn't bring her ID- she's in her mid-fifies and didn't think it would be an issue. The bouncer didn't want to let her in. We ended up sneeking her in through a backdoor! There will be no problem with out of state ID's- just have some type of photoID ready.

gaill3- let us know how your weekend turned out! Hope you enjoyed your time in Charlotte.

I couldn't even begin to name a place in CLT that HAS country music Uptown.

Only Whisky River- and it isn't even country all the time... it's still upscale. Even if they play some country music, it is far from a honky-tonk.