Neighborhood South End | Eat it Charlotte

Address: 1812 South Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28203 Once upon a time, during my first couple of years in this city, I came across a restaurant named The Liberty, which had a big sign boasting "The Best Burger In Charlotte". My party and I laughed at this ridiculous claim, until we tried the burgers. At this time, they were huge and flavorful, and given Charlotte's tiny burger scene at the time, they were in fact 'the best.' Since then, they have gone on to get a number of positive write ups, along with winning the Burger Bracket from the Charlotte Observer in 2011. It had been a while since I last visited The Liberty, although, I had an underwhelming experience with their take out..... Fast forward to last week, an out of town guest visited and we had a craving for burgers, so I pushed for the "Best Burger in Charlotte." This was a recommendation I have lived to regret, because it seems The Liberty is resting on chafed laurels... The burger, while acceptable, was not the best by any means. It may be due to the fact they are living on their past success or its possible I am just getting grumpy in my old age, but The Liberty is a shell of its former self. The Good: The meal began well enough, we started off with the Calamari Fries, which had a bold flavor and perfectly chewy texture, without being overly breaded. The Calimari was sliced into decadent rectangles instead of the typical rings, it was not overly fried, and they tasted nothing like your average calamari. I admit I am not the biggest fan of Calamari under normal circumstances, and while I love squid, I just hate the amount of breading that most places add. The Calamari Fries didn't suffer from that problem, the breading was not over powering and the texture was more of a Calimari steak. I can see how some might not like this take on Calamari, but I enjoyed it. In the past, I have also had their pretzels which I enjoyed at the time; the pretzels aren't all that different from what you would find on the streets of New York or in a stadium, but with better sauce options (both a cheddar fondue and a good mustard). OK, it was not ground breaking, but it is something you won't find on many menus. The burgers were not bad by any means, thus, I included them in the "good" category with some complaints. While they were tasty, their size seems to have changed, they look big, but the amount of lettuce on the burger made it seem grander than it was. I almost feel as if they were trying to hide something or trick me; that said, I did enjoy the flavor and left nothing on my plate. The service was pretty good, but for a Saturday night at 8PM with the restaurant being almost completely empty, I would expect it to be OK. The Bad: The worst part of the meal were the Skillet Smoked Mussels, an appetizer that one in my party ordered as a main course. There were two major problems with them: first, I felt like I was eating them straight off the beach; unfortunately, this was not due to their freshness, rather the amount of sand in the plate. The second issue was that more than half of the shells were empty...maybe they tasted themselves and got the hell out of there, but it was like we received half a dish. The price is another thing that really got me, three drinks, two burgers and two appetizers were around $100. When did they start stuffing the burgers with diamonds, because I always remember them being reasonable? If you are going to charge me a full entrée price for a burger it should be something special, The Liberty did not serve a special burger. Overall, the experience just wasn't worth the price and the burger while tasty, didn't live up to the hype in my own mind. Lastly, parking for this restaurant can be a challenge, especially at lunch; this is due to the fact they not only share a lot with the awful Tupelo Honey (I will get back here eventually, but I fear for my palate) but also the light rail station is nearby. The lack of parking creates a crowded mess, which given the average food, is not worth the frustration. The Ugly: I hate being wrong, I especially hate being wrong on food, and even more when I have a friendly disagreement with my wife......and have to I admit I was wrong. I was so wrong that I originally had The Liberty ranked the best burger in Charlotte on this blog (this has since been changed). The ranking was based on past experiences and I should have done more research. The Liberty has been doing what many Charlotte restaurants have done to me, skimped on quality once they became popular. The restaurant went from a burger I used to crave, to an average establishment with no compelling reason to visit. The Verdict (Casual Dining 5 out of 10): The restaurant gave me average food, so I gave it an average score. For the most part (unless you get the mussels) you aren't going to have a terrible meal at The Liberty. You may even find the burger is tasty, it is just that tasty burgers are a dime a dozen and The Liberty does nothing to outshine others. Once upon a time, the restaurant excelled, but if my last experience is a typical.. those days are long gone.