Beyond burgers at Charlotte’s LDR Char Pit

I’d long thought of the venerable LDR Char Pit — on Lake
Avenue in Charlotte since 1945 and named after the original owner’s children
(Linda, Donald, and Richard) — as a classic beach-side burger joint. While I
wouldn’t dismiss that appellation, LDR also fits squarely in CITY’s ongoing
series exploring local diner institutions. Is it friendly? Check. Legions of
regulars? You bet. Long-time servers? Indeed — some have been there for
decades. Convivial? Yup. Basic, home-cooked, fresh food, for good value? For
sure. Rice pudding as a dessert option? It’s there. Breakfast, not only on the
menu, but served all day? That’s a clincher.

Through
years of burger-binging, I can attest to the deliciousness of those at LDR,
which are first cooked over charcoal (putting the “Char” in Char Pit), then
finished on the flat-top grill. This method augments LDR’s commitment to
cutting and grinding its own beef, as the sign on the front of the building
prominently and proudly proclaims. But my visits for this story needed to go
beyond burgers.

Once inside
LDR you immediately encounter a long counter with about 20 stools, and beyond
the counter is an assortment of tables and booths. Everything is surrounded by
walls festooned with a collection of vintage Charlotte artifacts including
black-and-white photos of landmarks, maps, lighthouse blueprints, and framed
newspaper articles. Sitting at the counter affords diners a look at two large
menu boards — one for breakfast items, one for everything else — along with a
view of the entire cooking area and the opportunity to take in the repartee
between servers and cooks.

No matter
where you sit, all ordering and payment takes place at the counter, except for
a Friday-night tradition of table service (and fish frys). At each end of the counter is a condiment bar
with mustard, ketchup, relish, both dill and sweet pickles, sliced banana
peppers, chopped onion, and a meaty homemade Rochester-style hot sauce (kept
warm) that I found delightfully tangier and spicier than many.

On the first
visit, I ordered one of LDR’s signature menu items: the steak bomber ($9.75):
LDR’s “famous” ribeye steak (chopped) on a grilled Di Paolo hoagie roll, topped
with finely chopped bacon, mushrooms, and mozzarella, with a side of French
fries, to which I added a side of gravy for dipping delight. Requiring a bevy
of napkins, this sandwich is a hot, mouthwatering mess. My girlfriend, Molly,
had a Rochester Turkey Reuben ($7.95). LDR roasts its own turkey, which is
thickly-sliced and browned for this sandwich, and assembled with Swiss cheese,
coleslaw, and Thousand Island dressing on expertly-browned rye bread, creating
a Reuben that is on par with any in our fair city. The “Famous Homemade” onion
rings ($4.15) she ordered are “famous” for good reason and among the best I’ve had
anywhere. Large in diameter, thickly hand-cut, and made with LDR’s own batter,
they are crisp, hot, and importantly, when bitten the batter and onion come
away in equal proportion.

On an
ensuing breakfast visit, Molly had raisin French toast ($5.45), and the cook
staff agreeably accommodated her request for well-done toast. She declared the
dish “nicely eggy and light.” LDR uses real, fresh-cracked eggs, rather than
the eggs from a carton used by others. I opted for the homemade corned beef
hash ($7.55), which comes with two eggs, home fries, and toast. With my
over-easy eggs served on top of the pleasantly salty and finely-ground hash,
next to chunky home fries, my meal resembled a breakfast-y garbage plate.

Our third
visit included Molly’s daughters. LDR offers seven versions of Rochester
“Plates,” and the Red Plate ($8.05) was perfect for Jocelyn, who likes her hot
dogs sans-bun. She chose French fries and baked beans for her two sides, and called
the restaurant “cozy and lively.” Norah savored a grilled cheese sandwich
($4.15), with French fries ($3.05) on the side, which she described as “crisp
and delicate.”

Seeing as it
was Memorial Day (and that I was seriously hungry), I opted for the Red, White
& Blue Plate ($10.75), which features a Ground (LDR’s parlance for burger),
a Zweigle’s Texas (red) hot, and a Zweigle’s white hot, and I chose the traditional home fries
and mac salad to complement my meats. This was a heaping helping of food, with
nicely charred hots. The only quibble I had was that the plate home fries are the
same as the breakfast home fries — big and chunky, not the more familiar small,
crisp dice. Unique to the Rochester Plate scene, the plates at LDR come
unadorned; the typical mustard, ketchup, onions, and hot sauce are all applied
at will at the condiment bars.

Manager
Darcy Pusey believes that people have been coming back to the Char Pit for more
than 70 years for the hand-cut steaks for sandwiches, the freshly
cut-and-ground mix of top round and ribeye for burgers, the specially spiced
batter for onion rings, the all-day breakfast service, and the friendly faces.
The location by the beach doesn’t hurt, either, at least during the warmer
months. But business drops by more than 50 percent in the winter, and it’s the
regulars (whose orders many of the servers know by heart) who keep things
afloat during the bleaker months. Combine a visit this summer with a day at the
beach, and head back in the winter when the pace slows down. Each time, you’ll
enjoy both a familiar comfort and a tasty meal at a good value. And don’t
forget the onion rings.

This article appears in Jun 20-26, 2018.