J.J. Roberson works the grill at Char-Grill on opening day Tuesday. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

Char-Grill opened its doors to a big crowd at lunchtime Tuesday in the Harris Teeter shopping center off Griffith Street, becoming the Raleigh-based hamburger-chain’s first Charlotte-area location.

Some customers familiar with the popular college-town hangout drove from well beyond Davidson to sample the shop’s cooked-to-order hamburgers, chicken, fries, milkshakes and other fast food.

The 120-seat restaurant will be open for dining or takeout daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The Davidson Char-Grill is operated under a franchise agreement by Big Orange Foods LLC, a startup restaurant group whose primary investors include Austin B. Green of Charlotte and family members. He said Tuesday that Davidson seemed the right location to introduce Char-Grill to the Charlotte area.

Co-owner Austin Green of Charlotte. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

“We just like the community. It’s a family community, and you’ve got the college (Davidson College). The demographics were right for an upscale hamburger restaurant,” Mr. Green said. Meanwhile, he thinks the location is “phenomenal” – near the Harris Teeter, two schools and Davidson College, and visible from the traffic circle at Jetton and Griffith streets.

[Another feature that should make it hard to miss: the lighted sign facing the traffic circle. Such signs aren't allowed under the town's strict sign rules, but town officials granted an exception for the sign facing Jetton Street, Mr. Green said.]

Char-Grill was founded in 1960 as a walk-up restaurant with window-service only on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh, near N.C. State University. (That restaurant made a 2010 USA Today list of 51 great burger joints.)

It has been a favorite of generations of college students, many of whom have spread out around the state, including Charlotte. Today the chain’s founders Ryon Wilder and Mahlon Aycock own four stores in Raleigh, and franchised stores are in Cary, Durham, Garner and High Point, and now Davidson.

“It has a huge following,” Mr. Green said.

As in Char-Grill’s original locations, the Davidson restaurant’s dining room surrounds a glass-fronted kitchen, where flames leaping from the grill can light up the walls. “Everybody likes to see their food being cooked,” Mr. Green said.

The glass-enclosed kitchen sticks out into the dining room at Char-Grill Davidson. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

The menu includes the Char-Burger ($2.49), Double Char-Burger ($3.69), and Hamburger Steak Sandwich ($4.49) – a 1/2-lb. square burger on a bun. Burgers are fresh (not frozen) Angus beef flamed-grilled in the open kitchen.

They’ve also got grilled chicken sandwich ($4.59), chicken tenders (#3.69), BLT ($2.59) and grilled cheese sandwiches($1.59), hot dogs ($1.79) and salads. The drink specialty is a vanilla chocolate or strawberry milkshake.

Seating is at tables, at a bar-style counter in one corner, or at tables with red umbrellas outside, facing the traffic circle.

The new Char-Grill has 25 full- or part-time employees, including college students, local residents and veterans who have moved from other Char-Grill locations. Manager Ashlee Young moved to the Davidson store after working as a manager for years at the Cary location.

The Greens have signed a 10-year lease, with two 5-year renewals possible after that. “We’re here for the long term,” Mr. Green said.

Meanwhile, he and his fellow investors are scouting for additional locations in the Charlotte region, to open Char-Grills themselves or with partners, he said.

RELATED COVERAGE

Davidson Char-Grill hours and contact info in our Dining Guide, CLICK HERE»

Sept. 8, 2010, “Picnic at the farmer’s market; Char-Grill signs lease.”

Sept. 1, 2010, “Char-Grill leases space at Davidson Commons.”

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