Imani’s Fusion Cafe

Charlotte, United States

3.8

Closed now

16 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards
Free Wi-Fi

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 704-365-0647
Website:
www.imanisfusioncafe.com
Address:
3535 Randolph Rd, Charlotte, NC, 28211
Elizabeth
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
1.9 miHawthorne & 5th
1.9 miElizabeth & Hawthorne
2.3 miCPCC
Categories:
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
Yes
Delivery
No
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Good For
Brunch
Parking
Private Lot
Bike Parking
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Noise Level
Quiet
Alcohol
No
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
Free
Has TV
Yes
Dogs Allowed
No
Waiter Service
Yes
Caters
Yes

Today

Today 7:00 am – 2:30 pm
Closed now
Local time (Charlotte) 19:47 Thursday, 5 June 2025

Business hours

Monday 7:00 am – 2:30 pm
Tuesday 7:00 am – 2:30 pm
Wednesday 7:00 am – 2:30 pm
Thursday 7:00 am – 2:30 pm
Friday 7:00 am – 2:30 pm
Saturday –
Sunday 10:00 am – 3:00 pm

Description

Specialties

Southern Food with a Twist: Jerk Shrimp with Fried Cheese Grits, Blackened Founder, Chicken & Waffles, Cornbread Collard Green Muffins, Fried Green Tomatoes, Butterscotch French Toast, Curry Chicken, Collard Greens, Mac & Cheese, and many more options for you to choose from.

History

Established in 2013.

Chef Imani resides in Charlotte, North Carolina. «My roots run deep in the south because of my heritage,» says the Chef. His interest in food comes from a family, known for their soulful dishes and decadent desserts. As a child, he lived for Sunday dinners and holiday feasts. Years later, he started improvising family recipes for his own soulful culinary creations. Presently, Chef Imani’s «fusion» style combines ethnic spices with soulful dishes.

After attending The Culinary Institute at USC, Chef Imani continued to create dishes with new combinations of herbs and spices in ways that excite the palate and soothe the soul. The Chef ‘s specialty dishes include bread pudding. His bread pudding, an old family favorite, includes a layer of pudding, sauce, and other spices not included in the original family recipe. An appreciation of foods from other cultures, Chef Imani expresses a style that is sure to win the affection of many food lovers. He sh

Meet the Business Owner

Imani C.

Business Owner

Chef Imani Colclough resides in Charlotte, North Carolina. «My roots run deep in the south because of my heritage,» says the Chef. His interest in food comes from a family, known for their soulful dishes and decadent desserts. As a child, he lived for Sunday dinners and holiday feasts. Years later, he started improvising family recipes for his own soulful culinary creations. Presently, Chef Imani’s «fusion» style combines ethnic spices with soulful dishes.

After attending The Culinary Institute at USC, Chef Imani continued to create dishes with new combinations of herbs and spices in ways that excite the palate and soothe the soul. The Chef’s specialty dishes include bread pudding. His bread pudding, an old family favorite, includes a layer of pudding, sauce, and other spices not included in the original family recipe. An appreciation of foods from other cultures, Chef Imani expresses a style that is sure to win the affection of many food lovers.

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Nearby

Near this location:
1
ft
Stockin Ken, DDS
3535 Randolph Rd
1
ft
Taub Neal S MD
3535 Randolph Rd
1
ft
Slane Elizabeth Lcsw
3535 Randolph Rd
1
ft
Lewis Daniel M MD
3535 Randolph Rd
1
ft
Ralph M Hoffmann, DMD
3535 Randolph Rd
1
ft
Miller R Bruce, DDS
3535 Randolph Rd Ste 100

16 reviews of Imani’s Fusion Cafe

No registration required
Place rating: 3
Charlotte, NC
I initially went here for chicken n waffles when they first opened and something happened with the waffle mix and ended up with wings only and bread pudding, a year or so later I return to try them again having the catfish strips, collard green cornbread, shrimp n grits ands a breakfast plate for my son. The catfish was pretty good, but everything else was pretty average. I really want to like this place so I will try once again to get that waffle…
Place rating: 5
Charlotte, NC
Hidden gem. Worth the hunt to find this place. Excellent service and delicious food. 5 star presentation yet caters to business park lunch clientele. Tried brunch and will be back as a regular.
Place rating: 5
Charlotte, NC
This food is great. Feels like some upscale homemade cookin and the servers are cool. I fux with Cha!!!
Place rating: 5
Charlotte, NC
They have the best cornbread collard green muffins, chicken &I red velvet cake waffle! I and the butterscotch French toast is amazing and huge!!! Everything tastes so good. It’s a hidden jewel!
Place rating: 4
Harrisburg, NC
Yes, the location is a little confusing but it’s worth the visit. This was a fantastic meal. I had the pork chops and a pineapple upside down martini. Very delicious! I’ll definitely be back.
Place rating: 5
Baton Rouge, LA
Came here for a Groupon for Sunday brunch and it was fantastic! Good soul food style. There were 5 of us and everyone greatly enjoyed their meals. Service was great. Imani’s is a hidden gem and we will definitely be back.
Place rating: 4
Charlotte, NC
I really like this place. It is a strange location, behind a some medical offices. You would have no idea that its there if you weren’t specifically looking for it.
The décor is certainly not going to grab you. But that’s not why I go to Imani’s. The food is fantastic! I have been very happy with everything that I have ordered. They do have some standard brunch fair, but I can’t imagine why anyone would order that when they have such great Caribbean dishes. On my last visit we ordered the chicken curry that a wonderful bright fruity flavor that blended very nicely with the richness of the curry. We also had the jerked shrimp which was also great.
This place has it’s own unique vibe with a definite ethnic feel to it. That’s part of what makes it interesting. The service is fast and friendly, and the prices are reasonable. I’ll definitely be going back.
Place rating: 4
Charlotte, NC
Good food, pleasant atmosphere, and pleasant professional staff. I had the best omelette I have ever had, and the swamp grits were awesome.
Check this place out. Really.
Place rating: 1
Charlotte, NC
Disappointed. Food was terrible. Had two different orders and both came out burnt. They even messed up my egg white omelette. How do you burn egg whites? Won’t return
Place rating: 2
Charlotte, NC
I’m struggling with this review. Let me break it down:
Service: 2 star
Food: Mixed bag, I think I was the one most pleased and I rated it a 3.5, the rest of my party probably rated it a 2.
Please note this restaurant is in the basement of a medical building. It does feature windows and OK décor, but still, in a office plaza. They do a decent job of updating signage though. I was never confused on where to go.
The service: The servers were very pleasant, but everything was so slow. We missed our movie thanks to Imani. I guess scheduling an hour for what is basically a cafeteria isn’t adequate. They were fully booked, and had three waitresses. I understand that the kitchen is small, the waitress told us as such, but that’s not an excuse for being slow on drinks, order taking, or getting the bill. They servers were quite nice, I’m not trying to slam them, but I call a spade a spade.
The Food: I had the red velvet waffle. Far superior to Terrace Café. Yes, I said it. The marshmallow fluff was awesome and the waffle was quite good. The chicken wings that came with it. Nothing special. The greens, probably the best thing on the menu. I enjoyed the cornbread muffins too, but I think I was the one who was most impressed with them. One of my dinning companions had the fried green tomatoes. She indicated they were good, the other companion had the curry chicken. It smelled good to me, but she said it was nothing spectacular and it was luke warm. Also weird is the fact that it was billed as a ‘special’ but was clearly available every day on the menu.
So to recap — I don’t wanna trash the place. My food was OK, but the negatives of the slow service just made me not want to come back. Sorry Chef Imani. Though I was encouraged to see the tables all booked, so hopefully this place will thrive and maybe work out the kinks.
Place rating: 3
Charlotte, NC
Pretty good. I had the buffalo chicken wrap without bacon and it was pretty good. The Mac and cheese is ugly but taste good. A little confusion upon walking in. You aren’t sure if you seat yourself, walk up to order, wait for a hostess, etc. Cozy environment. Excellent service. Not a hard location to find but can be tricky because you can’t see a sign from the road.
Place rating: 5
Waxhaw, NC
I was there again with the Ladies for Brunch Take Over. Oh my the first time visiting was good but the second was better. The Collard green muffins with the sweet potato whipped butter had me the first time. The second time well let’s just say I was hooked the first time. Shrimp and grits. Who knew? Who knew? I know so I’m spreading the word. Make your way to enjoy the food with his unique fusion. I shall be back. Did I mention the collard greens? So good they make you hurt yourself.
Place rating: 4
Dilworth, Charlotte, NC
This is 3.5 stars. Not to take away from the food, maybe to take a little from the atmosphere and location. It’s the kind of place you really have to stumble upon. It’s kind of like a hospital cafeteria, being that it’s at the bottom of a medical building. I’m not sure how I came across or heard about this place or how they advertise with such an odd location. I stopped in for lunch with a co-​worker on a Wednesday, not crowded at all. They offer sandwiches, soups, salads, breakfast (before 11 and they have a great breakfast selection), hot dogs, chicken tenders, and sides like fresh fruit (extra charge), mac and cheese, fried okra, french fries, and other things. The soup of the day was gumbo… not really. It was soup, that was just warm, with okra and sausage. It had good flavor but it was pale in color and had no rice. Not gumbo. I had the chicken tenders (like a kid) with a side of okra with a water for 7– almost $ 8. I hate to make these comparisons but, I can buy a whole bag of chicken tenders from Wal-​Mart for $ 7! I only got three tenders and a small cup of okra. O_​O For the type of place that Imani’s is I would expect more or I would like to pay less for what I got. To me, that was a $ 4.75-$ 5 plate of food. I could go right down the street to chic-​fil-​a and get three tenders, a side and a drink for less. In defense of the chicken, it was fresh (not frozen) and hand-​breaded. Just needed a little more seasoning. The very BEST thing we had was the AMAZING bread pudding. It is truly incredible. Everything bread pudding should be. Moist, great texture, great flavor, with a great sauce. A MUST have when dining at Imani’s. They do brunch on Sundays with live music. Not sure that this would be a brunch destination for myself, but I would go back to try the breakfast when in the area… and definitely to get some of that bread pudding!
Place rating: 2
Charlotte, NC
My staff and I have been ordering from this place since it started from park café and Nikki’s now to Imani’s fusion café and the menu has carried over with all the name changes, nothing new just different seasoning. The food is excellent Imani is a very tallented Chef and a very polite individual he and the other cooks are customer friendly. However the lady operating the register is very RUDE and has a nasty attitude not cutomer friendly over the phone and neither in person. It is very disheartening to have this happening to several people who come there and order from the surrounding area.
Place rating: 4
Charlotte, NC
I was impressed with the food. I am not crazy about the location. They definitely could use another staff person to seat the patrons.
Place rating: 4
Harrisburg, PA
Came down for CIAA 2013 weekend and discovered this hidden treasure. I loved the live jazz played during brunch and service was superb. From the coconut cake balls to the crab cake with mango sauce. Definitely can’t go wrong with this place