Over 50 Charlotte: Plaza Shamrock

Plaza Shamrock · ethiopian

Abugida is a family-run Ethiopian room on Central Avenue that describes itself simply as a 'Family owned authentic Ethiopian restaurant'. The food is eaten the traditional way, scooped with injera rather than cutlery, and the kitchen keeps a wide range of vegan, vegetarian and gluten free dishes on the board because Ethiopian fasting cooking is built that way. The cafe also serves a full coffee ceremony, poured at the table with frankincense burning alongside it.

Plaza Shamrock · vietnamese, bubble tea

Central Tea House is the Vietnamese tea counter in the 3000 Central Avenue plaza, the same strip that holds a pho room and a Vietnamese noodle house, opposite the Ethiopian cafe.

Plaza Shamrock · salvadoran

Cuzcatlan opened in May 2008 on the corner of Central Avenue and Rosehaven Drive, the intersection Charlotte historian Tom Hanchett has called the most international in the city. Its own site says it has 'served the Charlotte area aiming to provide the best dining experience possible while serving both quality and classic dishes from the heartland of El Salvador'. It keeps long hours, nine in the morning to ten at night, every day of the week.

Plaza Shamrock · salvadoran

El Pulgarcito de America gives you plenty of ways to try Salvadoran cooking on Central Avenue. Start with pupusas filled with cheese, beans or pork, served with curtido and salsa. The restaurant’s own menu also lists chicken tamales, plantain empanadas and sopa de mondongo. Its online ordering page identifies the restaurant at 4816 A Central Avenue.

Plaza Shamrock · bosnian, balkan

Euro Grille & Cafe is a Bosnian market on Central Avenue with a small cafe attached, which is how Our State's international dining guide describes it: a Bosnian market with a tiny cafe on the side. Charlotte took in a large Bosnian community after the 1990s war, and this is where that community shops and eats.

Plaza Shamrock · greek, diner, american

The Landmark has been a Greek-run diner on Central Avenue since 1990, known for chicken souvlaki wraps and spanakopita sitting on the same menu as Southern plates, and it has been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. It is next door to Manolo's Latin bakery, and a Vietnamese restaurant opened alongside them both.

Plaza Shamrock · vietnamese

Lang Van has been cooking Vietnamese food on Shamrock Drive in east Charlotte since 1990, and in November 2025 it took the only Bib Gourmand in the city. Dan Nguyen has owned it since 2009, having taken it over from the original owner, and her husband Tuyen Tran does most of the cooking... the Charlotte Observer calls it immigrant-powered . The Bib Gourmand is MICHELIN's value designation, given for good cooking at a moderate price, and the Observer noted diners can eat here for twenty-five dollars or less. Axios Charlotte reported that after the award the line ran out the door and around the building, with regulars turning up carrying balloons and flowers.

Plaza Shamrock · honduran, salvadoran, mexican

Lempira is named for the Lenca chief on Honduras's currency and cooks Honduran, Salvadoran and Mexican food on the Central Avenue corridor: pupusas, baleadas, tamales and tacos, made from scratch daily. Its own site says the dishes are 'made fresh every day with locally sourced ingredients'. It opens at eight in the morning and runs to midnight, or one in the morning on Friday and Saturday, which makes it one of the few genuinely late kitchens on this stretch.

Open late. Go earlier if you want a calmer room.

Plaza Shamrock · honduran, salvadoran

Morazan cooks Honduran and Salvadoran food at the far eastern end of the Central Avenue restaurant run, past Rosehaven Drive. CharlotteEAST, the east Charlotte business district organisation, files it under Latin American.

Plaza Shamrock · vietnamese

Pho Quynh is a small Vietnamese room at the top of the Central Avenue international block, a few doors from Cuzcatlan and Queen Sheba. CLTure describes it as quaint with a vast and traditional menu.

Plaza Shamrock · ethiopian, eritrean

Queen Sheba brings Ethiopian cooking to the cluster of international restaurants along Central Avenue. Come for a meal built around richly seasoned stews and injera, the soft flatbread used to scoop up each bite. The restaurant also has a lounge, so there is more here than a quick takeout counter.

Plaza Shamrock · mexican

Tacos El Nevado is a small taqueria on Central Avenue that Our State's guide to the street calls a hole-in-the-wall taco joint with a vibrant interior.