If you can swing it Cabo Fish Taco in NODA is solid. Not your typical Mexican food. Also a lot of good breweries around town if you are into craft brew. Most of the above posts got it right. As bad as the Bobcats are at basketball tickets are cheap. Time it up right and you may see one good NBA team play. Same goes for the Panthers. If you really get a wild hair Jake's Good Eats is one of the best "hole in the wall" places I've eaten. It's a bit of a drive from uptown though.