New West Charlotte restaurant offers takeout soul food, made by a familiar local chef
Strangers, old friends and everyone in between are getting a warm welcome at the new Londa’s To-Go in West Charlotte, where takeout orders for fried chicken, smothered pork chops, cabbage and candied yams are flying out the door.
Its namesake co-owner, Yolanda Crowder, beams from behind the counter as folks pack in the cozy quarters inside. Outside, a crowd of damp customers waiting their turn gathers near the door at the City West Commons spot — undaunted by the afternoon rain. As one customer finishes putting in a dinner order for his wife and himself, complete with sweet potato cobbler for dessert, he steps out and another customer steps in.
If you remember the Koffee Kup on West Boulevard or have been a fan of Londa’s Place, those are the soul food flavors you’ll once again find at Londa’s To-Go. The takeout-only restaurant recently opened in the shopping center, next door to Catch 21 Seafood.
It’s a return to the area where it all started for Yolanda Crowder and her husband, Anthony. They cut their teeth in the community’s restaurant industry as owners of the Koffee Kup.
After a few years, they shifted to open Londa’s Place on Mount Holly-Huntersville Road and ran it for six years, building a sizable following that attracted notable customers such as singer Anthony Hamilton and basketball player Kadeem Allen side by side with shift workers, retired folks and others who live in the area the Crowders call home, too.
But like many restaurant owners, the couple found themselves struggling with staffing and creating work-life balance amid the competing needs of customers and Anthony Crowder’s work as a pastor. They closed the doors at Londa’s Place at the end of January with plans to regroup.
It was a “great experience, but it was time to change the business model,” Yolanda Crowder told CharlotteFive.
Now, their food is finding new life at Londa’s To-Go.
“This gives me the opportunity to maintain my customer service,” said Crowder, who engages at some length with everyone she greets.
“It was a difficult choice, but after three weeks, i thought we should have done this a long time ago,” Crowder said. “It’s changed a lot — the industry has changed a lot — so we’re pivoting and changing with the times.”
In a few weeks, Londa’s To-Go will also open a second location on South Tryon. With a little help from Crowder’s brother, that restaurant will handle corporate catering requests like the one Londa’s To-Go recently handled for Amazon.
“He cooks,” she said lightheartedly.
At City West Commons, where there’s a much smaller kitchen to work with, the restaurant’s menu changes daily. Online ordering is available, but you can still call in or walk in and order at the counter.
“I have seniors who don’t have the Internet and want to make sure I can still serve them,” Crowder explained.
Just a few minutes later, an elderly gentleman walked in, asking, “Y’all got pigs feet back there?” He put in his dinner order, then stepped outside to let another man in — a customer Crowder recognized from her previous location.
“You found us!” she shouted joyfully.
And he wasn’t the only one. Another longtime customer wedged into the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd in ordering space, which holds four people, tops. They chitchatted about the restaurant’s move and their family members while her order of fried pork chops, cabbage and cornbread was being prepared.
“We have really felt the love,” Crowder said.
Londa’s To-Go
Location: City West Commons, 1540 West Blvd Suite 102, Charlotte, NC 28208
Cuisine: Soul food
Instagram: @londas_place
