Some flight attendants plan their Charlotte layovers around Meatloaf Monday at Lupie's Cafe. Owner Lupie Duran says so herself, and the specials haven't changed in decades.
Lupie opened the cafe in 1987 as a single mom with a one-year-old daughter, Larkin, after years of working restaurant kitchens and waiting tables. At first she rented only the upper half of the building on Monroe Road, and the lower half was a nightclub. Today she owns the whole thing. The core menu is the one she wrote in 1987. Larkin grew up in the dining room and now runs day-to-day operations, and Lupie still bakes.
The chili comes four ways: Texas, Cincinnati, vegetarian, and Southern. It's best over nachos or mac and cheese, with cornbread on the side. There are burgers and soups, and homemade desserts like banana pudding, chocolate eclair pie, and a German peach kuchen. Kermit the Frog and bicycles hang from the ceiling, vinyl records line the walls, and a red rooster sign marks the bend in Monroe Road. Cars have flown off that curve and hit the building twice. The 2015 crash closed the cafe for 11 days, and it's still there.
Regulars have been coming for decades, and they bring their kids.
Meatloaf Monday. Same as it's been since 1987.
