This edition of Excited about Eating takes us to a local Charlotte eatery that cooks their meats on the Big Green Egg using hickory wood and lump charcoal. Welcome to Urban Cookhouse. This “Farm to Fire to Table” restaurant offers a variety of salads, wraps, sandwiches and entrees to meet the taste buds of anyone in your family.

Sorry for the light streak!

Dora here. With a beautiful shady patio, we debated sitting inside or out, but opted for inside. Spacious and roomy, and we had the place practically to ourselves since everybody else chose outside. lol. This is an order-from-the-counter restaurant, but they bring your food to the table and refill your drinks.

Spacious and roomy, order from the counter and they bring the food out to your table. 

For my lunch, I chose the Wood-Fired Shrimp Kebab. Instead of the rice that comes with the kebab, I opted for roasted veggies. The perfectly grilled shrimp had a strong smoky flavor and a touch of spicy heat which also transferred to the veg’s on the kebab. The housemade ranch dressing raised a standard salad to great.

Wood-Fired Shrimp Kebab with grilled veggies instead of rice pilaf. Perfectly grilled shrimp with a strong smoky flavor and a touch of heat!

Dora here. Doesn’t this Chicken Salad and Fruit Plate look like a perfect summer dish? Believe me, it was exactly what I was looking for on this blazing hot afternoon. Wowza, that’s a ton of fresh fruit, and miracle of miracles, not a single honeydew. Yay! And there’s a good-sized mound of lettuce under the chicken salad, which was good and creamy, too smooth for me if not for the added texture of all the fruit. The citrus vinaigrette paired well with this dish, so light and fresh and not overly citrusy. I wanted to bottle it up and bring it home. But the star on this plate was definitely the warm orange roll. Oh. My. Word! Firmer than what I expected, with a hint of citrus, and not overly sweet. Happy sigh…Next time here I might have to convince Ernie to buy a bag of these goodies to bring home. And with so many appealing menu options, we’ll definitely be back!

Chicken Salad and Fruit Plate. Wowza, look at all that fresh fruit! And there’s lettuce down there somewhere. Happy sigh…

What about you? What dish jazzed up your taste buds this week?

We rate this order-from-the-counter restaurant 4 forks out of 5 for a family friendly restaurant serving outstanding food.