Charlotte Elite Event: Around The World @ Fran’s Filling Station

Thank you Fran’s Filling Station! Not only was this event a huge blast to attend, everything was so delicious and wonderful!
Since I don’t eat pork, I *heard* the carnitas were awesome, but my favorite was the salmon! It had this wonderful spicy kick to it, and there were 2 different sauces to try with it (my pick was the cucumber one)!! I also really enjoyed the warm, friendly service of the staff and how everyone kept shoving food/​drinks in my face!
The Belle of the ball, however, was that BREAD PUDDING! Sweet Holy Grail! First, it wins because it didn’t have raisins (they are SO NASTY). Second, it was ooey and gooey! Third, they topped it off with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, 2 caramel sauces, and mixed berries. Let’s just say I had more than my fair share that night (I wonder if they bought the mustache?)
Anyway, this event was even more fun because my best friend was in from out of town and she’s an Elite from Los Angeles! She had an amazing time and really was impressed, so thumbs up all around for Fran’s! I WILL BE BACK *said in key of Arnold*

So many great reviews of Fran’s! Love it! What a great event. The amount of food and «love» put into all the dishes was phenoninal. This is a great local biz to support and the care and attention that Fran puts into all her food and customer experiences is evident. She changes the menu up from time to time to keep things fresh and is always sending out info on Facebook to the daily specials… I wish I could eat all that food daily!
Thanks to Nicole for another awesome event. I’m always impressed at how much bigger the attendance gets at the events… kudo’s to the organization and planning as well as the venue! I can’t get that bread budding or the meatballs and polenta out of my mind… so GOOD!
I look forward to seeing you all at the next event!

Awesome event!
Fran’s Filling Station provided some outstanding food and I left extremely full and overly satisfied. Traveling around the world and trying all of the different types of food was an added fun touch that one can only get from a Unilocal event. It was a fantastic idea!
My favorite foods were the burger and french fries and bacon wrapped sweet potato tater tots! They were finger lickin’ good. The beer and wine provided were superb as well.

What a wonderful event! Unilocal/​Nicole have truly done it again. I have been utterly impressed with all the events and advantages that Unilocal has to offer. After reading the stellar reviews for Fran’s Filling Station, I knew that we had to give a try. The reviews stood strong and lived up to everything that people have been writing. The pulled pork, sliders, seared tuna, meatballs, bacon wrapped tater tots, and the bread pudding. Oh my! I had sweet sweet dreams about the bacon wrapped sweet potato tater tots. We are definitely going back here for dinner in the near future. Thanks Fran, Nicole, Todd. Wonderful job! Enjoy!
Ps I think I got us two more Unilocalers. They were so impressed.
–Ian M.

Fran’s Filling Station was definitely filling and each station brought something new and exciting to the experience. For example, I had never even thought about wrapping bacon around tots before and Fran’s Filling Station has not just one but two versions of this creation. Your traditional (a new tradition), a bacon wrapped tot w/​maple glaze and a not so traditional (cause they kicked it up a notch), bacon wrapped jalapeño sweet potato tot w/​Tabasco honey glaze. I guess when you’re the King (in this case Queen) of CLT fries you can’t sit idly on your throne. You invent!
While not inventing Fran is busy being a gracious host. I believe I overheard her saying ‘it’s the Italian in me’ when someone commented on the quantity present at this event. Well, if she did not say it she certainly treated us like my Italian relatives do… lots of everything. There were tasty mini-​burgers, perfect eggplant parm, yummy bread pudding, my gosh meatballs… and I could go on as everything was just that delectable.
This event was complemented greatly with the presence of Olde Mecklenburg Brewery (OMB), Tryon Distributing, and of course Poprock Photography.
It was great seeing everyone again and thanks to Nicole for organizing another excellent event.

Been around the world and I-​i-​i—
I can fo’ sho’ say-​yay
I don’t know when I’ve been more stuffed
With beer, eggplant parm and fry-yays…my baby… uh…
Yeeeaah, that’s for missing karaōke the other night.
Another killer event, another pampering of CLTELTS by a superafantastico, indy business. Methinks we’re getting spoiled.
Highlight for moi was by farrrr the eggplant parm. Gooey, bready, oily, cheesy. Friggin’ awesome. Had to cut myself off at plate three (they were those small hors d’vours plates, don’t give me that look). Latin Wedge? Hilarious and awesome, but had a lemming-​like wish to jump off the plate and plummet to it’s death on the hard, concrete floor.
Kinda had tater tot envy but the fries almost made up for it. And then the lovely selection of wines did, for sure.
Thanks to Fran, and OMB, and Tryon Distro, and Nicole, and the super-​rad staff that made last night ultimate-​comfy. Magnifique!

What a fun event… I haven’t eaten this much since Thanksgiving and I was completely blown away. I wish I could have saved some more room in my tummy to try everything — but I admit it I pretty much made it around the world.
Some of my favorites of the night included — eggplant parm — bacon wrapped tater tots (yes everything is better wrapped in bacon)
sliders and the best french fries in charlotte — and I must mention the
bread pudding I wish I could have took some home with me.
Fran was an amazing host and was extremely generous — you know if an Italian is in charge you are in for not only a lot of food but really good food.
Thanks to OMB and Tryon for my awesome prosseco. Fran’s is truly a unique restaurant and a great addition to the Charlotte restaurant scene.

felt berets, exquisite food and free booze, how could this not be an awesome event?
I was able to wine-​snob it up with Larry from Tryon who was serving up a couple wines (a prosecco, torrontes and a red blend). I scoured the tables for vegan-​friendly foodstuffs (which Nicole was nice enough to figure out stuff for me!) and managed to snag a couple awesome wedge salads. Then, I wandered on to Asia where I was able to have some excellent lentils and lastly grabbed some berries from Antarctica (which I wasn’t aware they could have berries in Antarctica). Fran outdid herself! There was so much food and from what I could see when I was heading out, lots of leftovers too! The food’s presentation was really impressive also (even though I don’t eat the meat-​y stuff, I was looking!), especially for a cocktail-​hour-​style event like this.
Sweet swag, friendly faces, and great conversation. Nice to see everyone and meet some more Unilocalers in person!

Bacon-​wrapped jalapeño sweet potato tots with tabasco honey glaze for $ 2000, Alex. I cannot even mention them without salivating. Even among all the other food, these gems, hidden in the back, alongside the seemingly similar maple rosemary black pepper glazed potato tots stood out, and that is saying something.
If these gastronomic marvels did not do it for you, you could choose from eggplant, meatballs, polenta, lettuce wedges, carnitas, salmon, tuna, mini-​burgers, fries, bread pudding, ice cream and even fresh berries. Something for everyone, and plenty of travel-​themed schwag to go with. Fran, can we have an illicit sweet potato tot affair when no one is looking?
Nicole, you rock. Best. Event. Yet.

You really have to be impressed with the quality and uniqueness of events that Nicole comes up with. Around the world was not only creative and delicious but it was a whole lot of fun!
Fran’s filling Station is officially on my list for great Italian food! (among other things! Their staff was beyond friendly– and all were super knowledgeable.
Some of my favorites included:
Eggplant parm dish — I dont even like eggplant but this certainly changed my mind. I would order this in a heartbeat!
Tuna– Fresh, cooked perfectly and tasted GREAT in a buffet setting !
Bacon Wrapped Tater tots– enough said.
Didn’t participate in alcohol festivities but I heard great things… and how can you go wrong with OMB.
I look forward to the next event!

Soooooooo this was my first Unilocal event. I honestly had no idea what to expect. It was top of the line, legitimate big dog, what’s really good status. Nicole did an awesome job planning this out. The food was awesome and the beers/​wine were first class.
I can’t wait for the next event!

GUSH! Fran really outdid herself. What a blast! Of course, it was awesome to see Larry from Tryon with his lovely wife, Jean, pouring up the The Other Red, usually $ 12 at your closest Harris Teeter. What fun. There was more food than you could shake a stick. A stick with tator tots wrapped in bacon, sent straight from the Gods.
Nicole, muchas smooches, fabulous event and nice ‘stache.
Fun to see everyone, new faces and a few old ones! Yes, Kevin, I’m talkin’ to you!

Holy moly batman! Nicole, you’ve outdone yourself, again! Awesome event. Fran’s was amazing for providing a boatload of food from all continents (even Antarctica!). OMB kept the beer flowing. Tryon Dist poppin’ those bottles of wine. And my fellow Unilocalers provided a fine time.
Eggplant lasagna was delish with super creamy polenta. Seared tuna was yummy. Fries were awesome, just like the server said they’d be. And bread pudding… well, if I lived any closer to Fran’s I’d be there every day just for that bread pudding with a triple chin. NOM
I feel like a real world traveler after tonight. I hope they’ll let me use the passport you guys provided!

My neighbors had to be staring at the wife and I as we got into the car complete with flower-​print shirts, big hats, and clam diggers with flip-​flops all in the month of February, but we so tasted our way around the world with Fran, her wonderful staff, Old Meck Brewery, Tryon Distributing, and our fellow Unilocalers!
There was some serious cuisine on the menu, and the shear quantity of food was outstanding. Can you say tater-​tots wrapped in bacon with a maple syrup glaze? I can say: to die for. How about some pork carnitas with pickled onion and a south-​western themed wedge salad? I say: Hola amigo. Seared tuna with lentils and raita? Namaste!
Not to be left out: the fries were awesome and the bread pudding with apple-​flavored caramel was the greatest for finishing off the meal.
I made my notes in my Unilocalpy passport and I am coming back for dinner soon. I also found on a OMB beer that will be on my summer drinking list. Big props to our community manager, Nicole W. for making it all happen.
Good crowd and good eats, it really does not get better. Let’s do it again soon!

KO event for sure! I arrived ready for a vacation and I ate my way from one continent to another with my passport in hand.
This was a great way for me to be introduced to Fran’s Filling Station. The interior was spacious and their staff were super friendly! The food was yummy… I could have hovered over bread pudding/​ice cream table all night long. Their fries were seasoned perfectly and I didn’t even use ketchup. The wines were perfectly selected!
The decorations were super fun and I walked away fanning myself with an Asian fan and shakin’ maracas! Great to visit with everyone! Super fun and these Elite events keep getting better… Nicole, you know how to get a party together!

Not only do I love Elite events for the reason that I get to catch up with a bunch of people at one time but also because they introduce me to places I’ve never been to-​like Fran’s and other continents! There were stations set up representing the different continents and some tasty grub to accompany them like tandori salmon, eggplant parm, carnitas, seared tuna, mini burgers, fries and banana pudding. However, the one I didn’t mention along with that was the bacon wrapped tater tots.
Yep, Fran’s went there and it was everything I dreamed it would be and more. Bacon and tater tots living together in harmony? Some had a sweet maple syrup glazed, others had a jalapeño glaze with just the right amount of spice to make your tastebuds come alive. And the Fran’s employee told me they have bacon wrapped sweet potato tots on their menu so yeah, I knew where I was going to be parked the rest of the night!
Big props to Olde Mecklenburg Brewery for providing their classic brews-​Copper and Mecklenburger along with the wine people as well, it’s a shame I didn’t taste any! I love all the fun party favors at each continent such as berets, mustaches, Unilocal gloves, boomerangs (because really, who knows when you will need a boomerang?), paper fans and more! Muchos gracias to Nicole for putting together yet another fantastic Elite event – cmon – have any of them been a let down? Hell to the no! Thanks Fran’s for showing us what you’re made of and hospitality to us Unilocalers. Bacon wrapped tots, we shall meet again…

Well hello Unilocal Charlotte!
I just happened to be out visiting my bestie while they were going to have this Unilocal Elite event.
Nicole W. — Thank you for your hospitality. I had a great time.
now to the food — Fran’s Filling Station had some knockouts! The fries — apparently award winning! — were so AWESOME! and the bread pudding. OMG. I don’t even like bread pudding, but this was so good. I wanted more. A bit of bread pudding, vanilla ice cream, mixed berries, and some caramel sauce plus whipped cream. There was also some eggplant parmesan and meatballs at one station. Another station had carnitas and a «spanish» wedge salad. My friend said that salmon and tuna was awesome. There were also mini burgers t (to go with the fries!) and tater tots wrapped in bacon on a stick o round out the North American table.