Belmont Restaurants

As a Southern transplant from the Buckeye State, I've lived in North Carolina for more than a decade now and have assimilated quite nicely if I do say so myself. I request my tea sweet and will attach "ya'll" at the end of every sentence. There is one rite of passage that I have not undertaken however, a visit to the N.C. State Fair. This will fortunately change in a couple weeks when I venture to Raleigh to ride the Ferris wheel, cheer on the piglets in pig races, and of course indulge in the outrageous fair food of all things fried. Krispy Kreme cheeseburgers, anyone?

In preparation for my inaugural visit to the N.C. State Fair, I visited the String Bean Fresh Market and Deli, the only restaurant I knew with fried Oreos on their dessert menu.

This charming Belmont eatery houses an overwhelming array of beer and wine in addition to its deli and fully operational kitchen.

You can find sandwiches, flatbreads, salads and burgers on the menu. I only ate half of my tuna salad sandwich and sweet potato fries (another lunchtime staple I had not had the pleasure of before moving here) since I knew I needed to save room for dessert.

And what a dessert it was! Five double stuff Oreos are dipped in funnel cake batter and deep fried to golden perfection. The dollop of vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce provides extra decadence. You're a saint if you can share these sinful morsels of fried goodness.

These crunchy, creamy cookies should tide me over until I can get to the N.C. State Fair next month to partake of other innovative fried concoctions. If not, I take comfort in the fact that Belmont is only a 20 mile drive from Charlotte. With dishes like these in my backyard, there's no way I'd ever want to move back.