A onetime taco restaurant in South Charlotte has been reborn as a 6,500-square-foot wine destination, complete with hand-blown stained glass, a curved vaulted ceiling and a layout built around connected rooms rather than one open floor. Napa Bistro & Wine Bar Stonecrest sits at 7708 Rea Road in the StoneCrest at Piper Glen shopping center, where it replaced the former taco spot entirely rather than simply remodeling around it.
The redesign came from FictionWorks, with In Situ Studio handling the architecture, according to Design Milk. As freeyork also reports, the project reworked a flat, open layout into a warmer space meant to evoke a Napa farmhouse, breaking the old taco restaurant's footprint into a series of interconnected rooms, each with its own distinct identity. The whole renovation, per Design Milk, was completed in under nine months.
French Bistro Meets Napa Valley Farmhouse
The concept blends the charm of a French bistro with the elegance of a Napa Valley farmhouse, and the design team has said it draws inspiration from the 1976 Paris Wine Tasting, the competition widely credited with reshaping global perceptions of California wine. That framing shows up throughout the finished space: deep greens and warm wood tones are accented by shades of amber and bronze, the same palette Design Milk describes as anchoring the dining room.
Overhead, a curved, vaulted ceiling houses an acoustic system from Baswa Acoustics designed to soften the usual clatter of a busy dining room. Custom lighting and carefully crafted millwork round out the build-out, investments the design team treated as high-impact pieces rather than afterthoughts.
Stained Glass and a Nod to the 1970s
One of the space's signature touches is its stained-glass installation, crafted from hand-blown rondels that echo both 1970s glasswork and the shape of wine bottles. The same stained-glass concept is reportedly being incorporated into a second restaurant location currently under development in Raleigh, according to mydesignkc.com.
Curated lighting and artwork throughout the restaurant are meant to tie the space back to its local roots, part of a broader push to make the venue feel equally suited to a casual weeknight dinner and a special-occasion celebration.
Part of a Growing Charlotte Wine-Bar Portfolio
Stonecrest isn't a standalone project. The Charlotte Observer reported that the location opened at StoneCrest at Piper Glen on Nov. 25, 2024, as the third Napa-branded restaurant in the Charlotte area, with a rotating selection of more than 100 hand-curated wines sourced from Napa Valley and beyond. The opening menu featured seared scallops, wild mushroom ravioli and beef bourguignon, the paper noted at the time.
The restaurant traces back to Jeff and Paula Conway, who opened their first concept, Napa on Providence, in 2012 before expanding the brand, the scoopcharlotte.com piece explains. Since then the pair added Napa at Kingsley, Napa Bistro & Wine Bar Stonecrest and Napa Bistro & Wine Bar Glenwood to the lineup, bringing the Napa Restaurant Group to four locations overall, according to WBTV's QC Life. At Stonecrest specifically, Scott Daniel serves as general manager and Kevin Barrow as executive chef, per the same station's reporting.
Earlier this year, the team behind the brand described focus as its guiding word for 2026, a framing that Scoop Charlotte tied to the group's continued expansion across the region. Between the millwork, the stained glass and the acoustic ceiling, Stonecrest's renovation reflects that same instinct to sweat the details in a space that used to serve tacos and now pours Napa Valley cabernet instead.
