South 21 Drive In

This is some of the best fried chicken in Charlotte. This awesome drive in is a spot we hit sometimes coming back from golf. The prices are so low i can scrounge change out of my seat and pay for chicken that IMO is better than Price’s. South 21 you gained a piece of my heart.

The idea of this drive thru is fun. It reminds me of a place in my hometown in Ohio which I loved. The food was very disappointing! I have been to the other location in Matthews and it tasted much better. I was sad because this place is closer to me. Will not be back.

Great food for great food. Fun atmosphere. When my brother comes to town he always wants to go to South 21 for fried chicken. We really enjoy the food there and it is always fresh and delicious.

I have been eating here since I was a kid. This is by far the best Drive-​In. There’s nothing better than a trout dinner with onion rings & a coke. If you are in Charlotte, or even close, you need to experience this at least once.

Of course, like many, I saw this place on Diners, Drive-​Ins, and Dives so I gave it a try because the food looked amazing! I really wanted a good, juicy, run down your arm, dripping with goodness BURGER!
Now let’s talk about this burger. My mouth was watering for this SUPER BOY Burger, how the juices was going to flow when I bit into it, how the bun was going to be super soft, how i was going to taste the crisp coolness of the lettuce, onions, and tomatoes and how the mayo was going to be the right amount to make the juices flow down my arm because you know that’s what I saw on TV, lol.
NOT! BIG disappointment, my bun was over cooked in my case, actually it was toasted so hard I dang near couldn’t bite it. The burger was so dry and tasteless I needed a sip of my drink after every bite. There was no Mayo or onions. It was topped with the most disgusting pickle I’ve seen in life! Just a gross, shriveled up, dry pickle. I also ordered the fries which were mediocre regular fries.
My husband had the double fish sandwich and the famous onion rings. He said both were okay, it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t the best he’s ever tasted. I agreed about the onion rings but i was so disappointed with the burger, I didn’t dare taste the fish. He did however like the Tarter sauce.
Now the dessert, lol. yes, it was laughable. We had the Boston Cream Pie. I cannot believe they would actually call it Pie. It was a crumbly yellow cake with vanilla pudding filling topped with chocolate icing
I’m giving it 2 stars only because my husband like the Tartar sauce, the food was hot, and the servers were really pleasant, NOT the person taking the order, she was rude, a bit rushed and very short tempered.

I, like the majority of others on here, learned about this place from Diners, Drive ins and Dives. On a recent night we were going out for drinks with friends and decided to stop here for dinner. It was good, but not awesome.
I got the SuperBoy with onion rings. I liked the fresh grilled taste of the burger, but it lacked seasoning. The onion rings were underwhelming and they only gave me a few. They were pretty thin and I prefer a thick onion ring.
My boyfriend got a jumbo cheeseburger and fries. He thought it was tasty but would add bacon the next time. He liked the fries.
We shared a slice of apple pie. It was okay.
The biggest positive of this place were the friendly employees. The gentleman who brought our food out stood at our window and chatted for awhile. We really enjoyed his company

I’m 31 and I grew up going here. It was a real treat. My mother herself had also grown up coming here. It’s delicious. The onion rings are amazing. The burgers are also excellent. Despite the surrounding area having gone to crap due to the conversion of independence blvd to an expressway, and the changing demographics… if you look at the people who come here… it’s obvious they drive out of their way to frequent the location. That’s a great indication of the quality of an establishment.

This is a great place to eat. I work in the area and often order the trout plate to carry out on Friday for lunch. It’s not changed in 30 yrs, always great, the onion rings are fantastic. They have the best Taurter sauce in town with out exception. They also have good burgers.

If you’re in the Charlotte area, this is the closest to a classic Drive-​In that you can get, and it is amazing! I have been to South 21 so many times with my family it is incredible! And since this place has been in business for almost 60 years, that should definitely be a testament to how good it is!
They have great service and fantastic food! I definitely recommend the burgers and you have to try the onion rings! You just get to drive up, press a button, and order whatever you’d like off of their tasty menu. After that, you will receive service with a smile and a delicious meal!
South 21 is definitely a no-​brainer if you are looking for good Drive-​In food!

Errands around town and driving past this place and always wanting to try it out, quickly led to me pulling in.
I pulled up to a car space and decided to order from my car. We ordered fairly easy and our food was out pretty quickly. My interaction with employees was fast, polite and straightforward.
The parking lot left a lot to be desired. It was pretty messy. The trash bins were full, and items on the ground. It wasn’t busy so I didn’t understand the messiness of it at all. One employee did pick up a few items and place them in the full trash but when they blew away and out of out the trash, he did not retrieve items and instead left on the ground.
The food was good. It was hot and fresh and definitely what you expect from a drive in. I ordered a cheeseburger for my son and was definitely surprised by how big it was. It was more than enough. The chicken tenders were tasty as well. My ribeye sandwich plate was not bad, not the greatest but A-​Okay.
I would return to South 21, just probably not this particular location.

Absolutely the best onion rings that I’ve ever had. Old school diner with excellent burgers, and fish. Iconic restaurant in Charlotte.

This is the original location as far as I’m concerned. The others are great, too — and each has its charm… but Independence Blvd is where the onion rings are always hot and perfect, and the full menu is always available. Wonderfully sweet people.

Ok. So I saw this place on Diners Drive ins and Dives. I thought when we’re up in Charlotte we would swing by and give it a shot. I’m glad we went but I really can’t say I was that impressed. Yes. The onion rings are good but the hamburgers are just average as was everything else. It was packed when we were there but I don’t think we would go again.

I enjoyed the onion rings and burgers. Like someone below said an employee was smoking in front of my car, but they were far enough away and I didn’t think it took away at all. Also the tables swivel.

Nostalgically delicious. Aside from the employees smoking directly in front of my car, everything was great. Quick service, and quality of food is comparable to what i was expecting for the price. If you want a soda-​shop style burger, sandwich, or dog on a budget, this is the place. And who doesn’t love crushed ice? Extremely affordable, and even though it’s right off 77, nice and quiet under the eaves. French fries could use some seasoning, and the hot dog was a little bland, but the chili, grilled onions, mustard, and pickles that came on it gave it some flavor. The burger was great, thin, but great. Sesame bun, lettuce, and nice red tomatoes. Fun place to hit up after a day at the pool with kids or a casual Friday night before a movie. I’ll go back.

Yummmmmmmmyyyyyyyy. Seen on Triple D and since we’re new to Columbia we decided to drive over for the day. I am so glad we did! The onion rings are slammin!!! If you get nothing else make sure it’s those rings! With a side of their ridiculously good tarter sauce!!! Ohhhh my! Burgers were solid too. Service was fast and friendly! Did I say yummy!!!

My cousin used to work here when I was around 7 years old. He would always bring home some food. This place is dear to my heart. South 21 has some of the best burgers and a great grilled chicken sandwich. But, by far, south 21 has the best onion rings ever. I go to school out of state now and whenever I come back home to Charlotte, I make stopping here a must.

Not sure whether to give this place 2 or 3 stars. The food is not bad, but nothing special. Maybe my expectations were too high. The drive-​in itself was cool though.
My boyfriend and I recently moved to Charlotte and decided to drive a little out of the way for South 21 based on Diners, Drive-​Ins and Dives and Unilocal reviews. We got the Super Boy, a hamburger, 2x fries, cole slaw, Coke, and water. My boyfriend loves onion rings and cole slaw, they are almost more important to him than the burger. I could have sworn I ordered the onion rings instead of fries for him, but we received fries for both orders. I know I ordered a large Coke but received a Coke the same size of his water. There wasn’t a long wait, but we had to be home to meet someone so we overlooked the Coke size and onion rings to head home.
Upon getting home, I took a few pics and we dug in. I like sweet cole slaw, but don’t like cole slaw enough to get a full side of it. I asked my boyfriend if I could have some of his (they gave us a full to go burger tray of it) to try. We both ate and there wasn’t much commentary. Neither of us wanted to admit it was a let down from what we expected. We agreed the burger was not bad, it was OK, but it tasted like a Sonic burger which we could have gotten from the $ 1 menu. The slaw was not sweet and while it may be someone else’s fave, we ended up tossing it. The fries were just regular fries. The food wasn’t bad, but nothing unique, no wow factor. We felt we paid a little too much for meals we could have gotten elsewhere cheaper and been more satisfied.
We might come back for him to try the onion rings and maybe we’ll try something else on the menu, but we won’t make any special trips.
EDIT ³⁄₂₉: I found the receipt, which confirms we did order onion rings and a large coke, we just didn’t receive them.

This place has been open for a very long time, and there is a reason to it.
Despite being on 74 the way it is, South 21 is by far one of my favorite places to go. I love most of the things on the menu, from the chicken, jumbo cheeseburger to even the hot dogs. I hope one day I can bring my kids here like how my parents brought me here growing up.

The first week of living in Charlotte I drove by this place and made a mental note of it. I actually thought it was closed down though because it seemed like every time I drove by there were no cars there. I even told myself how much of a shame it’d be if it were no longer open and I’d have to investigate it to see.
Well after I found my job, I was driving past it every day, and finally starting to see cars on my way home from work. I ran inside my house to let my boyfriend know, and he had no idea what place I was talking about. I’m the foodie in our house for sure… haha
Well finally after being here for 2 months, we went to check it out. Cars ride your bumper here and turning in was a bit of a feat, but we made it. We pulled up to a speaker box, and sat there for a few pondering over what food we wanted to fill our tummies with. I ordered the BBQ which came with fries, coleslaw and a roll. He ordered the rib eye sandwich which came with fries, onion rings and a salad. We got all that food and two drinks for $ 16.00. That was crazy!
Honestly, the food, was just ok to me, but it was more about the experience. I ate some of my honey’s onion rings though, and holy crap were they good! I seriously think they may have been the best onion rings I’ve ever had! I would go back in a second just for some of those things.
There are definitely a few things I’d like to try off the menu, so I’ll go back soon, and when I do onion rings are at the top of my list to cram in my face. This place is also different as a drive in to me, because they give you free refills! It’s sort of a feat to get a refill, but good to know it’s an option.
Word to the wise, be careful turning out of this place. I never took that into account and I had a heck of a time trying to turn onto the mini highway here. Sheesh… good thing I’ve got a lead foot. Go speed racer goooooo!