The Mandrake

Great place with great food and service.
I’ve been to this place couple times.
The thing I like this place about is they always have something new in the menu! And most of time those new ones are great. They often host some cool events such as the première of the local artists, and those events make your dining experience very memorable.
I would say servers are well educate. One time, Michelle took care of our table, and her service and hospitality were great! If you have a chance to visit this restaurant, ask Michelle by name. You won’t regret that.

Menu has changed. I went for lunch and no options except sandwiches and salads. The waiter showed me the night/​dinner menu and the only thing different was roasted chicken and brisket (which they wouldn’t serve me)
2 star only because i didn’t eat so i cant give 1 but advertising as having tapas is pretty misleading.. At least have some shrimp on hand for those wanting some proteins!

Fantastic food, service and atmosphere. Great drink selection (wines, local craft beers, cool cocktails). Free parking uptown. Amazing value and you get to enjoy creations from a chef named Charlotte’s best (Donnie Simmons). What more could you ask for?

Our waitress was amazing! We went for Sunday brunch and bottomless Mamosa’s. There was a group of 6 of us and we had booked reservations, after about an hour and a half the manager asked us to hurry up and started clearing away our napkins, full waters, small plates and half consumed Mamosa’s! I have never felt more disrespected– our table spent $ 300 at brunch so to be asked to hurry up is completely insulting.
Again, our waitress was completely amazing, the food was great but my friends and I will not be returning because of our experience with the manager.
5+stars for the wait staff and food –1 star for the manager.

I wanted to love this place as the menu looks great and the ambiance is cozy and Romantic… But the bar is just lacking big time! The food was ok, and the service was amazing, but when you order a Hendricks and lime up, and the server comes back to ask what «up» means, you know you’re getting a hodge podge of a drink!
Would try again but not on another special occasion

Very good!!! I had the Brussels sprouts that many Unilocal people recommended which were delicious! Then I had the breakfast brisket which was a pleasant surprise! And mom had the pan seared salmon which was also very good! Nice random restaurant selection! Would definitely return!!!

I wasn’t going to write a review, but since the gentleman at the door specifically requested that I do so…
Stopped in on a Saturday night after being rained out of the baseball game. The place was quiet and seemed okay.
Waitresses were all in hot pants, while waiters were permitted to wear pants. WTF? The Hooters is (or rather, was) down the street. One star deleted.
Service was incredibly slow, but friendly. Sadly, the food was not worth the wait. The brussel sprouts were great. However, everything else we tried varied from okay to awful. The mac and cheese was okay, but gummy and not that flavorful. The lobster risotto balls — meh. The fried green tomatoes — three sad slices of tomato, coated in twice their weight in breading, fried, then left to soften to mush. Two stars deleted for bad food.
Then, there was the noise. An hour after we arrived, the bar crowd arrived. The noise level was so high we had to yell to hear each other.
So, in all, not a place I’d rush back to visit.

As my husband said: I’d give them ten stars if that was the choice. Food and service — outstanding;
We sampled:
Brussel sprouts — incredible and I hate Brussel sprouts; skrimp Mac and cheese — creamy yumminess with bacon; lobster risotto puppies — a delicate hush puppy filled with creamy lobster goodness; brisket rangoons– filled with tender brisket and cheddar habanero with an apple cider glaze, crunchy, beefy, spicy with sweetness; the special alligator stuffed crab cakes unique and full of flavor. All of these had unique and multi dimensional flavors. Hard to pick a favorite and yet we did: the poke roll. Imagine a Hawaiian version of a lobster roll done with generous bites of tuna, arugula and avocado. It was light, bright and full of flavor. We did make room for dessert and enjoyed a key lime pie like I haven’t tasted in forever.
All the while our server was attentive, knowledgeable and friendly yet allowed us to enjoy our date night too. The rest of the staff was attentive as well but not intrusive.
Chef Donnie has a gift for creating unique delicious food you want to eat more and more of, and see what he creates next. He is supported by an amazing staff in the kitchen. The love for what they do comes out in the food and everyone there is so friendly. Make this your next meal!

Horrible food, worse service – a blight on the Charlotte restaurant landscape. I have had to eat here many times, and it’s always the worst. Stale ingredients, slow service, and and overall sad place where they keep trying to be cool but never quite get there. Bonus: «Naked sushi» events are tacky as hell.
PS – The five-​star reviews all sound like they are written by friends.

Alright so the duck wings were what gave them a 4^th star. Really great flavor. Crab cakes were ok but maybe change the sauce. Pork shank was ok too.

Sooooo… I struggle with this one, new to the area and in love with the food but not the service. Visited twice, first time was at night at the bar — great drink, amazing Brussel sprouts, outstanding creativity and spice of the brisket Rangoon. Slow service but I drank and the bartender was nice.
2^nd time, weekday lunch time, maybe 4 – 6 tables occupied (one group of 6) and it was 12:40 when we ordered. Brussel sprouts and 2 salads, sprouts came at 1:20, and salads drenched in dressing at 130, and we needed to leave. Disappointing.
Now the Brussels — taste was fantastic! We couldn’t even eat the salads b/​c we had to leave.
So… I struggle with the star rating, I’d give ⁴⁄₅ for food and wine/​drink diversity and ambience… but ½ for service.

Their brunch hours are 11 – 4 and they have bottomless mimosas for $ 17. I believe they are also working on a Bloody Mary bar for you tomato juice fans. I had steak and eggs and the white chocolate French toast. The food came out quick and hot and the taste was amazing. This place is off the beaten path of the other restaurants and opened a little over a year ago. You can normally get a seat rather quickly, but it doesn’t hurt to call ahead.

Bite after bite, plate after plate, the food was so delicious! Chef Donnie is amazing at his craft. If you pass by this place and don’t stop in for the food, your missing out on more than you will ever know. I highly recommend the Oysters Rockefeller, a must have dish!

The only way i can describe this place is… One of the best restaurants I’ve ever been to in my entire life. There is 3 factors in a good restaurant that makes it successful. Customer service, Food and location. I must first start off with customer service as it is by far the most important. Not only did the chef come by and thank us for coming in but also explained to us his passion for food and entertainment. Then the GM came to us and personally thanked us for coming in. The waiter was as equally kind and treated us as family. And was very honest with the food that hes tried and has not tried and explained why some stuff was good for the occasion. The food was amazing, the chef was voted best in Charlotte, I don’t have to say anything else he is number one. Last but not least is location. Great location easy to get to and awesome amenities and other to do around. We will be back very soon already planned a trip next week. I really hope you go check it out totally worth it.

I wish I had more stars! This place is absolutely amazing! I have read about the Mandrake several times before actually visiting. I wish I had gone sooner!
My fiancé and I made reservations (which is encouraged) for a Valentine’s date night. Even on a busy night the staff was extremely attentive and friendly. Our server Eric was very helpful and offered us several suggestions on the menu. The manager stopped by the table to make sure everything was going smoothly. The chef Donnie even came out to meet a lot of the guests. He stopped at our table and recommended a few of his favorite menu items.
Okay so on to the food. The Mandrake is a tapas style restaurant (which we love) so you get to try a lot of different items. We ordered the brussel sprouts with prosciutto, lobster mac & cheese, risotto puppies and the special Oyster Rockefeller. The star of the night was the special. The oysters were the best oyster Rockefeller that I’ve had in a long time! But the presentation was crazy! They came to the table on fire! It was definitely s show stopper. My second favorite of the night was the lobster mac. You should definitely order this one.
I can’t wait to go back to this restaurant. The food is phenomenal. The service you receive here is exceptional as well.

Chef Donnie Simmons, The Mandrake, has an amazing talent to bring familiar yet creative flavors, with local North Carolina southern influences to The Mandrake restaurant located on 353 W. Trade Street, Charlotte, N.C.
Chef Simmons is serious about food… so serious he has a sleeve tattoo of vegetables on his right arm. While dining at the Mandrake I ask Chef Simmons about his tattoo sleeves, and he proudly stated, my right arm is vegetables. This is a true testament of Chef Simmons’s passion for food and his love of locally grown ingredients. His fusion style of cooking and creating unusual flavors bringing a little French, a little Italian, a little Southern, and a lot of love into his spectacular dishes.
Voted best Chef 2015, Chef Simmons is setting the culinary scene on fire at The Mandrake. Check out The Mandrake, and experience delightful Tapas, Appetizers and Entrée’s including Grilled Brussel Sprouts, Bologna Fries, Shrimp and Blue Grits, Southern Pork Wellington, 4 Hour Ribeye, N.C. Beer Poached Octopus and Braised New Zealand Lamb Shank. And the most unique experience is having the Chef always walking throughout the restaurant, sitting down with his patrons to talk about food, and his love of creating bold and unique dishes for all who visit The Mandrake.
Go to
or get to know Chef Simmons by checking out his Celebrity Chef Website at
. And be sure to «Like» him on his Facebook page, where you are sure to enjoy pictures of his fabulous food creations, and theme dinner specials and events.

We went for restaurant week and the items we got were pretty decent. However, after the appetizers, we waited close to two hours and instead of bringing out the main entrée, they brought out our desserts. Apparently our orders got mixed up and it never got put in and our waiter did not even apologize. We ended up not wanting the food anymore after two hours! No one even came to talk to us after all and expect us to come back next time! Poor service! Will probably not come back anymore!

Worst service I have ever received. Food was ok. Not worth a 2 hour wait for it though. Disappointing for my first night out away from my son.

Sweet baby Jesus, this place is the bomb. Died and gone to restuarant heaven. Came here for Queens feast and will be back. The food is outstanding. Had the pork belly crostini, lime pork tips, flank steak and the white chocolate mousse with candied bacon. OMG! It was super fantastic. I’m coming back cause their menu is unique and enticing. You enter the kingdom of flavors and tastes walking into this gem. Go here. You won’t be sorry.

I absolutely love this place. The ambiance is lovely, and good for every occasion. The drinks are great and with something to cater to every taste. Great wine selection! I highly recommend the Moscow mule there with a twist it has habanero bitters which make it spicy but not over powering and still refreshing! For the food… Man, where to start? I LOVE The bruschetta with the goat cheese and mushrooms so good! I also love the sushi with jalapeños super fresh fish and the chef knows what he is doing! I also really liked the lamb meatballs and the flatbreads! For dessert I recommend the chocolate cake and the red velvet cheesecake with Oreo crust! I mean is this real life, red velvet, Oreo crust and cheesecake all in one! Yes!!!

Being from the northeast, I’ve been accustomed to mediocre food in the area. Then I came here tonight and it was a wow. Chef Donnie is as good as any chef in the best restaurants in New York City. I had a few things. The salmon on risotto was incredible. The pork belly was like butter and the sushi was as fresher than a live fish. And if you had room left the cheesecake pumpkin pie was simply out of this world. If you want the best food in the area come here. If not, go anywhere else. It is incredible!!!

Great new hot spot in Charlotte! We had requested a special tasting menu for friends from out of town. There were 8 of us and it was an amazing experience! The owner, manger and chef greeted us at the door and it was just incredible from then on!
The food was an experience like none other! We had amazing service through out and our own table side sushi chef!
Chef Don put together our whole event from apps to pairing cocktails to meal to desert!
Check out the Mandrake and go with an empty stomach! You will not be disappointed!

I wanted to love The Mandrake, I truly did. But there were enough negatives to make me only like it, and probably not go back.
1) Décor was lovely — intimate lighting, good layout, friendly vibe. The only negative: Our table had a slightly intimidating plant next to it that hung over my head while we ate. Also, for a place that has tapas, I think they need bigger tables for tables of 2. Our table had not an inch to spare once our four dishes arrived to the table.
2) Staff was decent — our waitress was nice but seemed kind of out of it. We asked what dish she recommended and it took her a couple minutes to come up with something. My husband thought maybe she was new and didn’t know the menu that well. She was attentive to our drinks and kept my water glass full, which I appreciated since…
3) The lobster mac and cheese was like eating a salt lick. WAY too salty. To the point of being unenjoyable. We finally just dug out all the lobster and left the pasta behind because the salt quotient was much less on the lobster, but extremely high on the mac and cheese.
4) The lamb meatballs were a big disappointment. We actually thought they had brought the wrong thing to our table, and checked with the waitress. She confirmed it was the meatballs, and my husband said, «It tastes more like a falafel than a lamb meatball.» As a big fan of lamb, I can attest to the fact it tasted NOTHING like lamb. And nothing like meat. She went into the kitchen and confirmed with the chef that it was lamb meatballs (I’m sure he loved that).
5) The other dishes we got were great — we got the duck, which was delicious. And the starch served with the duck was outstanding — easily the best dish we had that night. We also got the pork bellies which were more like mini ribs than real pork bellies, but were delicious nonetheless. I got the French onion soup which was great.
6) Drink prices were good on the night we went — my husband got two beers for the same price as my one cocktail because they were running a special on the beer tap.
Overall, it’s not a place I’d recommend, and it’s not a place I’d return to, but it was a decent (but not great) meal during our night out.

THE MANDRAKE has certainly upped the ante with the welcoming of Chef Donnie Simmons to its kitchen crew. Dubbed the city’s Best Chef of 2015 by Creative Loafing Charlotte, Don is expectedly presenting dynamic takes on both tried-​and-​true and entirely new tapas. The casually classy Uptown restaurant not only benefits from a now revived and entirely overhauled menu, but a refreshed dining atmosphere with a reawakened food audience. Located conveniently between Center City’s culinary Third Ward and residential Fourth Ward — i.e. a couple blocks from BB&T Ballpark and The VUE apartments from either side — Mandrake also has the benefit of relatively more accessible parking (e.g. surface lots directly across the street), not to mention a significantly larger ratio of local repeats to once-​in-​a-​while passersby and QC visitors.
Food. Without a doubt, the total and utter freshness of each of the five items brought to my table was what validated an automatic 4 stars from me. The Buffalo Chicken Dip was one of the most SATISFYING [and filling] appetizers I’ve ever had. (Perfectly house-​made thick-​cut pita chips.) Their golden beet & praline salad over orange sherry vinaigrette was also notable. I then opted for the night’s special, per Don’s recommendation — a delicate, extremely succulent offering featuring their catch-​of-​the-​day. Execution was decent, albeit too minimal in overall dish complexity for my taste. This was followed strongly by my favorite plate (s) of the evening… custom-​crafted sushi that were nicely augmented variants on their ‘Mandrake,’ ‘Clear Water’ and ‘333’ specialty rolls. (I’d return over and again if but only for Mandrake’s sushi.) Lastly, Don’s dessert truffles. Served poptruffle/​trufflepop style, the chilled confections were as velvety and dense as they come. (Again, I’d return even just to grab a to-​go truffle order.)
Drinks. Mixologist interaction was fantastic, and though any of Mandrake’s cocktails will win you over, all are simply revitalized [and well-​planned] twists on established recipes. Personal favorites… ‘Smoking the Green’ (tequila, cilantro, lime, agave nectar, burnt lava salt) and ‘Wall Flower’ (gin, lemon, lavender syrup, Chartreuse, Angostura, optional egg white), well as the offered handshaken default of the season, e.g. rum + muddied ingredients. The restaurant also boasts a rather exhaustive — yet admittedly costly — selection of red, white, blended, sparkling and dessert wines. While $ 8 will grant you a glass of dark-​spirited Argentinian Malbec, a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon can set you back $ 110.
Value. In all honesty, the only potential limitation for a patron here is price. By and large, the menu’s price points are on par with any of the other establishments’ on CLT’s restaurant row; however, let not Mandrake’s «small plates + wine» sub-​moniker deter you from giving them your business. Customers spoke, they listened, and dish sizes have been made more substantial with absolutely no compromise in taste nor quality. $ 10 – 20 will fix any and all hunger pangs, the higher end of said range providing you Mandrake’s classics like their Cheese & Charcuterie Board ($ 15), seared duck w/​salted caramel sauce ($ 17), and oversized scallops atop pecan butter broth & creamed corn ($ 18). I cannot emphasize enough the freshness of their food — this alone justifies multiple visits a week for those who live nearby.
Rating specifics (i.e. 1 – 5, low-​high)…
— Overall recommendation = 4.5
— Food taste and quality = 4.25
— Portion size = 4.5
— Price = 4.75
— Atmosphere = 5 (EXCELLENT vibes… everyone, whether staff or patron, seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves… abundant outdoor dining too…)
— General service = 5+ (my fifth star… chatting w/​exec. chef Don, the mixologist, the itamae, plus Mandrake’s owner at different points throughout the meal provided great insight into their respective passions…)
— Waitstaff = 4.25
— Location = 4

Was here earlier for a meetup and networking event. Place was pretty empty for a Wednesday night.
Place was a bit pricey. Inquired about any bar bites or drink special and waitress had no idea. Headed over to the bar area and found out about their buy one get one sushi as for bar bites their menu just changed.
Decided to get drinks first and ordered the «Mi Amor” — St. German Elderflower, Prosecco with a Candied Hibiscus Flower. Which was good.

I’ve always been told, start with the good, tell the bad and then end good when giving negative feedback, so let’s try it…
The good, ambience and location…
The bad, where to even begin. Guess to start, trying to make a reservation for six. Even though they say they use OpenTable, their availability is non existent on there, no matter what day you choose. On a Saturday night we thought, well let’s just risk going, well the lack of availability sure was not because they were busy, there were about 12 people, most at the outdoor tables.
Next, getting seated, of course they ask if we have reservations, which I responded, no, but the return of attitude was glaring, almost if I had inconvenienced the hostess from her ever too important conversation with a coworker.
Getting seated we glanced at the drink menu and started to look through the plates (it is Tapas after all). Then came the delay… after about 15 minutes we were re-​greeted and drinks were ordered. More downtime to study… and practically memorize the menu.
Drinks finally start to come about 15 minute after that… but emphasize start, one… at…a…time, at a duration span of about 10 minutes. After everyone got there drinks we felt maybe we crossed the hump and well on our way for some plates…
We order, 11 plates in all to share from the well memorized menu at this point, 4 cold and 7 hot; figuring the cold would be quick and we could start sharing after a long intro to the meal. The first dish came out about 10 minutes later, the smallest plate of tuna tartare that I’ve ever seen. Yes, it’s tapas, but it was almost insulting to see the delivery, it was not destined for sharing like tapas, it was destined for one small mouthful.
Unfortunately the first dish was only the start of underwhelming dishes that came out in spans of about 10 minutes a piece. Again, understanding tapas is about sharing and enjoying dishes together, the pace was not just inconvenient it was profoundly disappointing.
The dishes, included the likes of a bit too over dressed beet salad, mussels which lacked depth (highlight was the coconut milk), a bowl of hummus with a small handful of chips that in no normal society would be enough to even finish half of its accompaniment and lobster mac and cheese which fell flat and a ginger duck which had no ginger flavor and was served over a rather bland, pile of muck or was it risotto, couldn’t tell.
The best dishes, well at least in comparison to all the rest of lack luster dishes, were the surf and turf sushi roll and the calamari. Neither of which were above the ranks of local restaurants that pride themselves in inspiring dining.
Unfortunately the dishes and utter waste of 3 hours of my life didn’t end the disappointment. The night concluded with the bill, of which everything except the alcohol was double charged. Up to this point the poor service might be passed to a poor performing kitchen or bar area (or both in this case) but any server could have spotted this quickly. The bill was over $ 350 for six people with 9 drinks and 11 dishes that were all on average $ 12 a piece (20×12 = $ 240). Any server should have caught that quickly but it took a conversation and a 10 minute wait to get it corrected.
Thinking at this point the payment would be quick now that we had a good bill, the bill stood lonely on our table with three credit cards in it waiting to be taken for 10 minutes… finally we felt sorry for it and brought it to the hostess stand.
I am one to understand that all restaurants have an off night with something, but this was close to an overall disaster. And leaving we may have finally caught a glimpse at why… the servers were all relaxing and enjoying some food.
As promised, always end with a good, I’m glad that I got to spend three hours with my friends, despite the poor performance of the restaurant, the time spent and the memories formed (I mean I doubt we will ever forget this experience) outweigh everything else, so with that, thank you to Mandrake for giving us a venue that was close to the condo to have this evening with each other.

We came here for a birthday dinner and the service was sooooo bad. About half of the orders were wrong or out of something. Drink specials were extremely misleading and food was just eh decent. So disappointed. Won’t ever come back to this place. Waitress really wasn’t good at all and was a huge problem the whole night. Very very disappointed after spending so much money

My cousin and I went to this place on Friday. I had a $ 25 off coupon on a $ 50 bill that I got from
— which I am so grateful I had. The atmosphere was great, they have an outside patio where they have live music and ample amounts of comfortable seating. We ordered the crab cakes, steak and frites (that’s spelled correctly btw), egg rolls and mushroom crostini.

A group of 8 friends and I went to The Mandrake for Girls Night Out. This was an excellent choice for a large group! Our waiter was Paul and he was awesome! He had a great personality, he kept us laughing, which made the night even more enjoyable. Actually when I think about it all of the staff were super nice and accomodating. We even had the chef send out a few dishes on the house, mainly because we literally order everything from there Mandrake Tapas menu and some 2 and 3 times. The brussel sprouts were as good as everyone said they were, the Lob Mac and Cheese was so good I think we order 3 of them for the table. The Honey Sriracha wings were slap your mama good, as well as the fried cheesecake had the whole table saying Mmmmm!!!
So needless to say I give The Mandrake and the friendly staff 5 stars! I will be back!

We were excited to find a new Uptown restaurant on
and went here for date night to try it out. The experience was a little mixed.
We were promptly seated with my chair under a plant that had a dangling leaf that hit me every time I got up or sat down. I should have asked to move places since the majority of the restaurant was open but that seemed like a hassle after I had already sat down. For a wine bar this place had a very limited wine menu but the pinot noir I settled on was decent. There was a good beer selection for my dining companion.
We decided on the following for our meal — lobster mac and cheese, mushroom truffle flatbread, seared salmon pomegranate and the surf and turf roll. The lobster mac and cheese was a complete disappointment with the mac and cheese component being sadly reminiscent of Kraft boxed mac and cheese. The mushroom truffle flatbread was good with plenty of cheese and obviously straight out of the oven. The surf and turf roll was delicious. The salmon was amazing! Unfortunately all the food came out at once so we didn’t have time to linger over each one as it was presented which is part of the fun at a tapas restaurant.
I will probably return if the coupons stay on
and get the salmon again. The portions were pretty large for a tapas style meal so we didn’t need to order as much as we did.

My wife and I ate here on Saturday June 6^th to celebrate our 12^th wedding anniversary. We used a groupon which helped offset the cost a little bit. I’ll break it down
We arrived on time for our reservation and were promptly seated at a nice table next to a window. The server greeted us immediately and introduced himself and told us about the restaurant. We decided to go with a molly dooker (sp) blue eyed boy shiraz wine to go with our meal, we enjoyed the wine and I think it was a fair value and went well with what we had to eat.
We started with the pretzels and beer cheese and the duck confit rolls. Both of these items were really well put together with the rolls winning of the two. For main course we tried the bone marrow (never had this before but it was good, wish there had been more though) and the dragon wings, hot. I would say that the dragon wings were the least favorite, the sauce just kind of felt tossed on, the wings were good, cooked well and very meaty though.
For desert we had the deep fried oreos, holy cow these were a hit! Not too greasy and very good, I never thought goat cheese would have worked here but it did! All told this was a fun place and very enjoyable, we will go back to try a few more of the dishes hopefully soon.

Stopped here for lunch and ordered takeout. The staff was extremely nice while I waited and chatted it up as it wasn’t very busy. Ordered the dragon wings with sesame miso glaze. The wings were undercooked and had no flavor to the extent that I ended up not going past the first wing and chalking the meal up as a loss. The glaze was cold and tossed on after the wings were completely removed. There was an additional container of glaze on the side and the glaze is delicious. I’ll give this place another chance despite the short comings.