The Philosophers Stone Tavern

My husband and I love coming here on a sunny Saturday. We’re vegetarians and love the portobello sandwich and vegi. burger with fries. Fries are so yummy. We’ve even caught live music here in the early evening on the weekends. Awesome place to chill, grab a beer, and a good bite to eat.

Classic example of a shitty place that people just go to bc it’s in a comvenient area.
Brunch:
Each time we ordered drinks it took about 20min to get to us.
Bloody Mary bar was out of almost everything and they didn’t refill the entire time we were there.
They were out of like ¼ of the menu items.
Here is the kicker. They didn’t have the decency to give us any comps.
Food was highly mediocre at best…

I have two questions.
Why haven’t I been frequenting this place that is so close to my home?
And why weren’t all the tables filled on a Saturday night?
My husband and I used to love coming here when Philosopher’s Stone was Bayou Kitchen. When the restaurant name changed, we visited once for lunch and never returned. Can’t remember why.
The décor is still roughly the same, and I am ok with that. It is located in a rustic old building that doesn’t need to be Charlotized.
I ordered the zucchini casserole, which was baked in a croissant crust. It came with two sides. I chose coleslaw and fries, because I was craving them. My husband ordered string cheese tortellini with blackened shrimp.
I was not prepared for the awesomeness that slid into my mouth. Genius idea to make the zucchini casserole into a fork and knife sandwich. The coleslaw was not overly mayonaised. And the fries? Perfectly seasoned and fever-​hot right out of the kitchen. My husband’s dish was good as well, but, I liked mine better.
So, the next time that we are looking for a nicely priced, delicious meal in the neighborhood, I am going to suggest Philosopher’s Stone. And, I am going to tell everybody that I know how good it is. Then, maybe those tables will be full on a Saturday night.

As a server i know how frustrating it can be for someone to walk in as the kitchen is closing but i would never force a table into closing out as soon as the food came out. I find it incredibly rude that my server not only made it clear she didnt want my service by sending my group into the bar but then the bartender forced the server to take a table that clearly ruined her plans by taking our table. I physically watched our server not bring our food out as it came out and acted like our table was less important than getting out of work. Its safe to say i wont return to a bar that felt that my business wasnt good enough.

A year ago, this place was 4 or 5 stars. We were here on a Wednesday night: the music was great outside on the patio, only reason I gave a 2^nd star. Our server Holly was great too, but clearly over extended. The burger that arrived barely resembled the description on the menu (see photo). Management, please get your shit together.

I stopped in at The Philosophers Stone Tavern two times on my last business trip to Charlotte — once for dinner, and once to get our booze on.
Dining Experience: 2.5 stars
Boozing Experience: 4 stars
Let’s start with the dinner. I had a chicken sandwich, which I know is a boring order to begin with, but I wanted something lighter. It was unfortunately as bland as it sounded. Our server, Mercedes (?), was friendly though and made sure our drinks were never empty. She also was on top of the local beer scene, which I appreciated since I was from out of town and interested in trying the local craft brews.
Three nights later we were back, but this time to play Cornhole and outdoor Ping Pong. 3 hours and many, many, MANY drinks later we called it a night. It was a blast.
Overall a solid A-​OK experience.

Wow, I am really giving away my age here, because I have not been to the building that now houses the P-​Stone since it was the Bayou Kitchen. (I used to hang out at Bayou Kitchen back in the days when Bill Noonan & Gigi had a regularly scheduled gig there.)
In any case, I found myself in the area recently on a Friday night after work and needed to kill a little time before going to an event, so I decided to stop in to have a beer. The outdoors have really changed since the Bayou days, now it has a huge deck area and lots of chairs & a little gazebo thingy. I understand they have live music at times and so this would be a great place to hang out when the weather is nice!
However, when I stepped inside, it was like stepping back in time! The place looks the same as I remember it! (Only difference was a better beer selection on tap!) The place is still dark and divey — with cool & funky people working behind the bar.
When I stopped in, the clientele was very mixed. There were a couple of young professionals hanging out, but most of the patrons were hippies, LBGTs, blue-​collar folks, college kids, and heavily tattooed bar/​restaurant worker types. So, definitely an eclectic mix as you would expect to find in this neighborhood.
If you are looking for a casual place to hang out with a laid-​back & unpretentious vibe, check out the P-​Stone.

This is a great place to get a beer, sit on the patio and listen to live music from local bands. Their menu is varied and the food is okay, nothing to write home about. On Thursdays there is a running group that meets at 6:30 through Meet-​up. It’s a nice way to meet people and a good excuse to drink a beer after working out.

Great place to go with a group of friends, or maybe your special someone, they have what most will say a great patio. I love the everything about this place. The food is actually really good for a bar. The scene most of the time will make you think you are in NoDa, nothing wrong with that though.
The only issue I hate with this place is A the parking, you might get lucky and find a spot behind the building, if not you get to pay at the dollar store across the street.
The bathrooms most of the time are insanely eww eww eww.

Love love love this place! I came here after work on a late weekday night. It was a cool crisp winter night and I sat outside with a friend. We waited a while for service, but it was okay because the weather was great and it was quite busy.
Our food was delicious. I ordered the fried pickles and it was divine. For the meal I ordered a burger and it was plump and cooked perfectly. Overall, this place is one of a kind with a very quaint cozy atmosphere. If you are in the area, you must check them out. You won’t regret it!

The food and the atmosphere were pretty good the one time we actually got service. We even went inside and asked a server if we could see ourselves outside.
We waited 12 minutes to even be acknowledged and given menu’s. the server said she’d be right back and scurried off Without even asking what we would like to drink. We waited an additional 7 minutes Before getting up and going somewhere else. It wasn’t busy enough to warrant such poor service. This is the 3^rd time this has happened. I doubt we’ll be going back.

Hmmm… let’s see… my experience here is a little tough to describe but I will try to break it down…
First of all, I’m glad I saw the patio first because the outdoor seating really drew me in. Had I gone inside FIRST I don’t think we would have stayed. The inside was dark, dingy, damp, old and likely moldy.
However, we opted to sit outside which was very laid back and perfect for people watching. I was definitely a little out of place because I think I was the only person there that didn’t have a tattoo sleeve but that’s ok. The vibe was very «chill» for the most part and everyone there seemed to be engulfed in deep, philosophical conversations. This place doesn’t have a warm and friendly vibe… it is more of a low key, don’t bother me kind of vibe.
We were told to seat ourselves on the patio so we did and we waited for a good 15 minutes before we were greeted or told who our server would be. I’m pretty sure our waitress didn’t crack a smile the entire time we were there. She did her job but she was slow, had a tendency to disappear and seemed bothered by our presence (maybe it was the lack of tattoos at our table… haha).
The food was ok. I tried the chicken lettuce wraps and it was basically sodium over iceburg lettuce… Clearly a frozen package of teriyaki veggies, thawed and served. I wasn’t impressed and I would never get them again.
We also tried the buffalo chicken wrap and that was pretty good, not too spicy and had a lot of flavor. It was served with some greasy chips that were actually pretty decent.
Overall, I wasn’t that impressed with Philosophers Stone. I LOVE the patio seating and the food is a step above average bar food but I just wasn’t loving the overall vibe this place puts out… just my opinion. I would not likely return unless forced against my will.

A Widespread Panic cover band plenty of outdoor seating and some cheap beers, yup that pretty much covers my awesome weekend experience at P-​stones! I’d say I’ve been a P-​stoner for the last five years now, I can always count on the great service and atmosphere here. Daily drink specials are always a plus and the food is pretty decent for bar fare.
If you are looking for a laid back place to grab a few drinks and sit outside P-stone’s would be on my top five list. Two outdoor patios, two bars inside, and another bar outside you won’t be thirsty here.

Never been here before & I picked an odd time… 330 on a Thursday. Definitely not the busiest time but I’m hungry before work & just picked the first place I saw.
It looks like the small bar inside has its regulars. They are playing some Southern rock Phish-​y kind of stuff. Nice patio outside for the smokers.
Interesting details décor which I like… love the wooden wine bottles trio on one wall. Some spring training NYM & WSH on the TVs… nice TVs! Ordered the knife n stone Burger w/​o the bun asparagus side & a coke.
Aside… y don’t more places in Charlotte serve Pepsi?
My server was very nice & brought my order promptly. I ordered the Knife & Stone burger, but I got it without the bun. It was really good & I would definitely get this again.

I’ve been here twice. The first time, I got a hard time for playing a song on the jukebox.
The second time, one of the owners was hammered drunk and acted like a frat boy and wanted to fight, but typical of that breed, was all talk. Come to find out later, this is a good place to buy drugs, if you like that kind of thing. So, this bald idiot owner grabbed me by the jacket, wanted me to come outside, came an inch within my face and wanted to fight me. He wanted to «teach me something about life.» I decided it was a good time to leave and tell the bartender I was never coming back. If you’re running a business, you better have a damn good reason for physically threatening a customer. And if you’re gonna posture like that, be a man and follow through. I’ve been a bartender and I never worked for anyone who so unprofessional and belligerent. I’m sure he wouldn’t have been such a tough guy if he hadn’t been in his own place.
This place should be closed down. Sooner or later, it’s the kind of place you’ll see on the news, b/​c someone got stabbed or b/​c of a drug bust.

From a neighborhood bar perspective, Philosophers Stone is definitely A-​OK. I wanted to check it out and so I went over for dinner and a glass of wine.
Knowing that I should probably not expect gourmet fare at a place like this, my expectations weren’t overly high. As I walked in I saw the special board offering meatloaf. I thought «ah, perfect» can’t mess up meatloaf…
My dinner started off with a salad — very fresh, cold, nothing fancy — just right. I thought — so far, so good. Then my dinner came which included asparagus, whipped potatoes, meatloaf and mushroom gravy. Not caring for mushroom gravy, I had asked for it on the side.
The asparagus was perfectly cooked. The potatoes were just fine and seasoned appropriately. But now we come to the meatloaf. Meatloaf is supposed to be really moist on its own without gravy. And guys — meatloaf should NOT have grill marks. There is absolutely no reason to put meatloaf on a grill or flat top. The huge portion (two big thick slices) of meatloaf was dry — so dry that I definitely had to dip pieces in the mushroom gravy (mainly flavored corn starch.) I ate approximately ¹⁄₃ of one of the pieces.
On a very positive note, there was an old time music trio playing. That made the trip worthwhile.
So, I will definitely go back to the PS for a drink, music and perhaps some food but I plan on staying away from the meatloaf.

Had my first visit here last night after joining some folks for a run in that neighborhood. I didn’t realize how small the actual inside was but that really kind of appeals to me. The place isn’t by any means state of the art or anything. It’s more like a Cheers kind of bar. No frills, just good beer and good service.
The patios here are where it’s at apparently. I didn’t see a sole inside, everyone really comes here to hang out, outside. This little area of 7^th street is cool with Kennedy’s and Jacks right there so if you are in the area just pop in and see for yourself.

In the heart of this summer heat wave we are experiencing in Charlotte, sometimes you need nothing more than a chill bar, with frigid drinks! Well, you have come to the right spot — P-​Stone.
I have now been to Philosophers Stone (aka P-​Stone) a handful of times now, with the most recent time being yesterday — the 4^th of July.
Yesterday, on the 4^th, they had plenty of live music to entertain the crowd of people outside enjoying the weather and eating lunch on the patio area. The patio here is certainly legit, and on par with other bars in the area such as Kennedy’s across the street. They had $ 2 bud lite bottles which my comrades and I eagerly took advantage of.
The service has been great every time I’ve been to P-​Stone. I can not exactly tell you when they do and don’t have live music, but I came here on Memorial Day and they had live music as well as on yesterday — the 4^th of July! The bands are always chill and seem to perfectly complement the ambiance of this place.
I’ll end by saying there is nothing I dislike about P-​Stone. Of course, parking can be a little tricky here, but its like that for all the establishments in the area. In the sake of full disclosure, I must admit I have never eaten at P-​Stone, but I am told that the food here is above par.
Cool bar, chill music, warm welcoming atmosphere.

I won’t say why my roommate and I ended up here at 1:15 am on a Monday in our pajamas, the point is, it happened.
I’ve been here several times before, but living right around the corner has really upped the appeal on this place. And it was pretty high to start with. It’s just a good bar with a relaxed atmosphere, usually a live band playing, a perfect patio. What else do you need in life? It’s also dog-​friendly. Excellent neighborhood bar!

With NorCal nutjob Crazy Hazel G. in town and tearing up the QC, we decided to have another impromptu UYE — this time at The Philosopher’s Stone Tavern. Annie W., Denise E., Hazel G., Wild Bill F. and myself gathered for a late-​afternoon session at the P-​Stone.
Mostly we just waited, as those in the know will understand — you wait to order, you (generally) get something, and you wait to order a refill, and you wait a while longer, and so on. At least we were there to keep each other company.
Because the weather outside was bordering on frightful, we hung out at a booth on the inside and noshed on a few eats that were generally somewhat tasty and just talked about the East Coast vs. West Coast.
When things cleared up headed outside for a game of Cornhole, to show the Hazelnut how to play, since she had no idea what it was about. Wild Bill schooled us all, though Hazel did manage to score, including one in the hole! Unfortunately, with everything so nasty outside, it involved a good deal of dirt on the hands in the process…
We never did see Pourina R., and at least a couple of the Charlotte bunch were across the state at an elite event, so it was just the five of us, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t worth it. Next time you should join us!
Oh yeah — #600 FTW!