Signman,
Highly recommended is McDonalds’s Cafeteria in Charlotte, on (I think it is) Rozells Ferry Road (or is it Beaties Ford Road? I always confuse them!) hard by I-85. It’s whichever one intersects: that’s easy. It may be N. C. 18.
You might also want to wander out Central Avenue in East Charlotte to the HUGE new Harris-Teeter out there. On a bit farther out Central, you will run across the Landmark Diner, which is always open.
You can then take Sharon-Amity (I think it is) back towards UNCC, which will put you on N. C. 49 to Asheboro, thence U. S. 64 through Siler City (several GREAT taquerias!) to Pittsboro, thence U. S. 501 to Chapel Hill.
There are two good brewpubs in Chapel Hill, both on Franklin Street downtown, and well within walking/stumbling distance.
Let us know what you find. Bon appetit!
Reportingly, Ort. Carlton in Athens, Georgia.
P. S. If you hit Anderson, S. C. at hungry-time, check out Pete’s On Concord, located on Concord Road just east off North Main Street (U. S. 29) just into town from the mall.
Anderson has literally dozens of mom-and-pop eateries, most of which I’ve never made a trip to. Pete’s onion rings are extraordinary. (There are several other various Pete’s places in and about Anderson, by the way; all appear somehow – cousinally, I suppose – interconnected.)