Ayesha Curry’s Sweet July Café is officially checking into Uptown. The all-day spot opens Monday, July 20, in a lobby-level nook of The Ritz-Carlton at 201 E. Trade St., bringing coffee, matcha, smoothies and bakery treats alongside Caribbean-influenced breakfast and lunch to one of Charlotte’s priciest corners. It is the first in a slate of new restaurant and bar concepts tied to the Currys and The MINA Group rolling out across the hotel’s refreshed public spaces this year.
According to Axios Charlotte, Sweet July will pour from 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends. On the menu: coconut chia seed pudding, overnight oats and house-made pastries like a strawberry shortcake croissant and crème brûlée danish. Lunch runs more savory, with pita-foldies, smash burgers and Jamaican beef patties, while dessert leans playful with fruit-topped soft-serve sundaes and house-made chocolate treats.
Per the Charlotte Observer, the café lands at the Ritz-Carlton through a partnership between Ayesha Curry and The MINA Group. Hotel general manager Karen Ayad told the paper the new concepts “are super exciting for Charlotte as a whole,” a view echoed by local food folks who see the project as a lift for Uptown’s dining profile, not just a perk for hotel guests.
What’s next at the Ritz?
Michael Mina’s Bourbon Steak is slated to open in the hotel in 2026, according to Bourbon Steak, and Steph Curry’s bourbon-focused lounge The Eighth Rule is targeting a late-winter debut, per reporting from WhatNow Charlotte. Those higher-end spots will join Sweet July in a reimagined lobby and public space lineup that hotel leaders have billed as a “complete transformation.”
From Sweet July’s roots to a hotel strategy
Sweet July started life as a lifestyle brand and has steadily moved into hotel partnerships. The Regent Santa Monica site’s Sweet July Café listing shows a menu and a Santa Monica location that opened earlier this year. Before that pivot, the brand ran a standalone storefront in Oakland that closed in early 2025, as reported when it closed its Oakland storefront, underscoring how tough the indie café business can be and why teaming with hotels is an appealing route for national growth.
For Charlotte, the latest chapter lands right on Trade Street. Sweet July sits at 201 E. Trade St. on the Ritz-Carlton’s lobby level and is open to both hotel guests and anyone wandering in from Uptown during posted hours. For a broader look at the property and its full dining roster, visit The Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte.
