A pair of sisters is opening a bistro inside one of NoDa's most frequently recycled storefronts, promising breakfast, brunch and dinner every day of the week starting in November. Too Chicks Bistro will take over 416 E. 36th St., directly across from the dive bar The Ugly, with a concept co-owners Thommy White and Brandy White call “fly dining.”
As reported by Axios, the sisters want to bring an elevated but playful dining experience to the neighborhood, blending fine-dining technique with a looser, more social vibe. Thommy White described the idea simply: fly dining combines fine dining with a little turn up. The restaurant's name is a nod to the two sisters themselves, and the bistro plans to be open from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, covering breakfast, brunch and dinner service under one roof.
A Menu Built for Morning and Night
Brunch at Too Chicks Bistro will lean into comfort-food staples done up a notch, with shrimp and grits, chicken and waffles, breakfast bowls and tacos on the menu, per the same Axios report. Once the sun goes down, the kitchen shifts gears toward dinner plates like braised sea bass and Tuscan chicken, with desserts rounding out the night. The bistro is still finalizing its cocktail program, though potential drink names already floated include Chick Please and Chick on the Side — and servers may greet tables by asking which chick do you prefer.
Moving Into a Storefront With a Short Memory
The 3,100-square-foot space Too Chicks Bistro is taking over has cycled through several concepts in just a few years. Chef Paul Verica's Italian restaurant Orto gave way to modern Italian spot Figo36, which ran from August 2022 to July 2024 after Raydal Hospitality acquired it in 2023, according to the Charlotte Business Journal. Figo36 was then rebranded into Dominican restaurant MaBí Cocina Tropical, which soft-opened under Raydal founder Dalton Espaillat in August 2024 before the business was listed for sale for $650,000 in October 2025 amid rising operational costs and staffing challenges, the business journal reported.
That turnover has unfolded in one of NoDa's busiest commercial pockets. The building sits right next to Wooden Robot Brewery's 5,700-square-foot taproom, The Chamber, which opened in June 2019 with a rooftop biergarten, and it's steps from the 36th Street Station on the CATS LYNX Blue Line, which opened in March 2018 as part of a 9.3-mile extension linking Uptown Charlotte to UNC Charlotte, per Wikipedia. The complex itself is part of 30Six NoDa, a transit-oriented development completed in 2018 on the former site of the Grinnell Manufacturing Company textile mill, according to NoDa.org.
Joining a Crowded, Fast-Growing Dining Row
Too Chicks Bistro's arrival adds to a wave of new food businesses that have landed in NoDa throughout 2026, including sit-down comfort spot Kulture NoDa on North Davidson Street and the Italian walk-up shop Olivelli Deli. Across the street, The Ugly has anchored the corner as a casual dive bar since opening in November 2023 under owner Vince Chirico, serving as a companion to the cocktail lounge Idlewild after Idlewild relocated next door, according to Country 103.7.
The neighborhood's growth hasn't come without friction between mobile vendors and brick-and-mortar owners. Charlotte ended a six-month street vending pilot in NoDa in February over sidewalk congestion and storefront complaints, imposing a $500 citation for unpermitted commercial vending along North Davidson and East 35th streets. For now, Too Chicks Bistro is betting that a full-service, all-day model — serving three meals in a single storefront — can succeed where several predecessors eventually moved on.
