CHARLOTTE, NC (FOX 46 CHARLOTTE) – A new brewery and food hall in Charlotte’s South End is bringing new and old together inside a historic Queen City landmark.
Trolley Barn Fermentory and Food Hall opened up in the old Atherton Mill this past week.
While Charlotte’s beer industry is hot, Trolley Barn is taking what you already love about breweries and making it even cooler.
CEO and Owner Phil Buchy said he was on board from the minute the option was presented to him.
“I was like ‘Man that’s awesome, we’d love to do a spot here, I know exactly what we’re going to do,’” he said.
Buchy said it was important to them in the design and building process to pay homage to Charlotte’s old electric trolley system, down to every detail.
“We’re going to save the crane, we’re going to put the bar right in the middle and make it like the crane is holding up the tanks,” he said, “We’re going to treat it like Grand Central Station, we have the railroad tracks coming right through the middle of the building. We’re going to take inspiration from that to be like you came up to a food hall and had all these different stalls at Grand Central Station.”
The food at Trolley Barn is as much the focus as the beer and cocktails.
The space boasts three different food stalls: Brand & Steel, Green Works, and Daily Shift Food.
The menus range from high-end roasted fish and octopus to grain bowls and street food.
Buchy, who is also the proud owner of Charlotte’s favorite, Legion Brewing said that they wanted to step outside their usual beers and get creative.
He said, “It’s our think tank you know? Really get to experiment with new ingredients that we haven’t used before, and new techniques that we haven’t used before, and really just to get to play and have fun with it.”
Like so many in the restaurant biz, Trolley Barn is battling a labor shortage.
“We’ve hired 100 people over the past month, so it’s gone really well, however, we still need more people,” said Buchy.
The place has been packed since the day it opened and Buchy is grateful that it doesn’t look like their Trolley Barn will be empty anytime soon.
He said, “To be able to open this up in ‘21 and to see our team’s hard work come to fruition is just so gratifying and heartwarming. We are really appreciative.”
Trolley Barn is open 7 days a week is located at 2104 South Blvd.
