The Best South American Restaurants in Charlotte

Here in Charlotte, South American neighbors have gifted the local culinary scene with delicious rotisserie chicken, empanadas, baked pastries and seafood creations. A continent’s worth of flavor is across the Queen City, and these local staples are where you need to start.

Brasas Arepas

Neighborhood: Lower South End

Brasas Arepas is an authentic Venezuelan restaurant. Find a wide selection of dishes with corn flour dough as a central ingredient, including cachapas, a Venezuelan pancake-like dish wrapped with meats and toppings, and arepas, a hybrid dish featuring dough with meats and toppings stuffed inside.

Calle Sol Latin Café & Cevicheria

Neighborhood: Plaza Midwood, SouthPark

Calle Sol’s menu is inspired by the chefs’ extensive training in Tampa and Miami, which means you’ll find Cuban-style pressed sandwiches alongside Peruvian ceviche and Chino-Latino classics like chaufa and lomo saltado. Pair your dish with one of the rum cocktails to complete your coastal retreat.

El Sombrero Bakery

Area: Gastonia

There are plenty of great baked goods at El Sombrero Bakery like the pan de bono fresh baked bread. If you’re there in the morning, order the arepa con todo with grilled beef, pork crackling, sausage, rice, beans and plantains. For lunch or dinner, the bakery’s take on bandeja paisa is the way to go.

Felix Handmade Empanadas

Neighborhood: Uptown, Optimist Park

If you’re looking for crafted empanadas, Felix Handmade Empanadas is the place to go. There’s a little bit of everything here ranging from classics like beef and chicken to more experimental choices like cheeseburger, shepherd’s pie and lobster empanadas.

Hello Chicken

Area: Pineville

Hello Chicken is a Colombian rotisserie chicken restaurant that shares the same shopping center with Las Americas. Besides the chicken, you’ll discover highly sought after empanadas, pork ribs and an extensive vegan menu with options like a wrap, soup, salad, and rice bowls.

La Caseta

Neighborhood: Camp North End

Camp North End’s La Caseta is another mix of Latin American staples. La Caseta has crafted tacos, empanadas, arepas and pupusas — a griddle cake dish from El Salvador and Honduras — from recipes that have been passed down for generations. It’s the perfect treat after a day exploring all that Camp North End has to offer.

Las Americas

Area: Pineville

Las Americas has everything you could want from a Colombian restaurant. Alongside classic beef dishes like churrasco, saltado, bistec a caballo and carne asada are a variety of scrambled egg plates for breakfast, pork and fish dishes for lunch and dinner, and specialty items like empanadas and baked goods to take home for later.

Los Paisas

Area: Pineville

Los Paisas serves authentic Colombian cuisine just like mom or dad used to make. The menu has traditional dishes like bandeja paisa and chuleta de cerdo which is a breaded pork loin with rice, beans and plantains, along with other popular selections like skirt steak and jumbo shrimp served several different ways.

Machu Picchu

Area: Pineville

Named after Peru’s most famous attraction, Machu Picchu brings the same type of iconic recognition to the traditional Peruvian fare. Every one of their 50 dishes, including the rotisserie chicken and ají de gallina — a creamy Peruvian stew — is made with fresh ingredients and features imported Peruvian spices for the most authentic flavors possible. 

Mi Tierra

Area: East Charlotte, South Charlotte

With a few locations spread around Charlotte, Mi Tierra is another one of the more popular Colombian restaurants. Each one is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with daily lunch specials you won’t want to miss.

Pio Pio

Neighborhoods: Dilworth, Ballantyne

This unassuming spot promises plates filled with flavor, keeping regulars coming back for more. Pio Pio offers many Peruvian favorites like rotisserie chicken, carne asada and arroz chaufa alongside traditional sides, sauces and dessert offerings. Stop by for lunch or dinner.

Sabor Latin Street Grill

Neighborhood: Uptown, Elizabeth, NoDa, South End, SouthPark, Steele Creek, University City, Ballantyne, Pineville, Huntersville, Davidson, Matthews, Fort Mill, S.C.

Sabor Latin Street Grill is another local powerhouse of South American cuisine, specifically Colombia and Venezuela. Drawing inspiration from many Latin American countries, you’ll find a little bit of everything on the menu including, tacos, burritos, quesadillas, arepas and plenty of popular street food.

Viva Chicken

Neighborhoods: Elizabeth, Montford, Ballantyne, South Charlotte, Concord, Huntersville, Gastonia

Chefs Bruno Macciavello and Randy Garcia have grown their Peruvian fast-casual concept from a small shop in Elizabeth to a multi-state empire. The name of the game here is pollo a la brasa, a specialty Peruvian-style rotisserie chicken that comes with fresh sides and colorful dipping sauces.

Yunta Nikkei

Neighborhood: South End

From Viva Chicken chefs Bruno Macciavello and Randy Garcia comes Yunta Nikkei, a Peruvian-Japanese fusion concept that features vibrant dishes crafted from precise techniques. Alongside the food menu is a unique cocktail program that includes Peru’s national liquor, pisco — a brandy made from grapes.

Article originally written by Charlie Leonard. Updates by Arielle Patterson in August 2025.