TRAVEL TIPS | FOOD ON VACATION
North Carolina — The Bar Which Will Bring Back Cheerful Childhood Memories
Cereal. Cartoons. Between the walls of this restaurant, you will relive the bliss of Saturday mornings…
For the month of September, Globetrotters is giving special attention to any travel stories centered around food. October is nearly upon us and I haven’t submitted a story yet based on this theme!
My first three stories in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky happened in chronological order. To share an experience-oriented about food, I’m leaping ahead to the nineteenth state I visited — North Carolina!
Up to this point, the Day & Night Cereal Bar in uptown Charlotte, North Carolina is the most creative and fun restaurant I’ve had the pleasure to dine at. Fong’s Pizza — a Chinese and Italian fusion restaurant in downtown Des Moines, Iowa — is a damn close second.
I like when quirky restaurants are a bit challenging to find. You won’t spot this place in a business strip right off a busy street — though, this place is rather close to one. If you are exploring uptown Charlotte, chances are you’re on S Tryon St. Walk one block over until you are on S Church St. Make sure you are in between 3rd St and W Martin Luther King Jr Blvd. You will spot a narrow alley. Walk down the alley to the end and on your right will be Day & Night Cereal Bar!
As its charming name suggests, the bar only serves breakfast cereal. Once you enter through the door, you are surrounded by boxes of cereal — several of those you’ve never seen sold in a store! Look up into the corner of the bar and you’ll see a television playing cartoons. Here comes the double serving of nostalgia! You’ll simultaneously flashback to your first time in the cereal aisle at the grocery store and the unencumbered joy of waking up early on Saturday morning.
You can either order your cereal in a bowl or… in milkshake form! I bet you’ve never had a cereal milkshake before! I sure hadn’t — and I wanted to try it. It takes your experience to a whole new level. I ordered a milkshake comprised of Red, White, & Blue Cap’n Crunch!
Day & Night Cereal Bar serves far from your standard Golden Grahams or Cheerios. The business imports flavors and brands from all over the globe!
The owner, Greg, is very friendly and down-to-earth. It’d be tough imagining a guy who owns a cereal restaurant behaving otherwise. We chatted extensively for about 10–15 minutes. I inquired what motivated him to start his business. He told me how he and his best friend simply adored cereal when they were children and thought it’d be cool to own a cereal business. It was more than talk between these two; as adults, they put their childhood dream into action. Inspiring!
Should you find yourself in Charlotte in the near future, treat yourself to a fun bite-to-eat at Day & Night Cereal Bar.
My recollection of North Carolina does not end here. I will write a second installment highlighting all of the art Charlotte has to offer — and even a story about a date I went on!
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