These Triangle restaurants have special menus to fill the fair food void in your life
Like a wild stallion running free, a deep fryer at the North Carolina State Fair has touched the edge of what is possible.
This year, though, the fryers of the state fair are largely quiet, with the state’s largest annual event postponed for 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
What is typically a sensory onslaught of smokey and sweet, of meals served on sticks, of belt-busting decadence, is instead this year a gathering of 22 North Carolina fair food vendors, serving up deep-fired Oreos and turkey legs from Oct. 15-25. The fairgrounds will be open from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. each day.
Because of this year’s unusual circumstances, restaurants around the Triangle have picked up the fair food gauntlet and created their own caloric powder kegs, running menus stuffed with their own versions of funnel cakes, corn dogs and all manner of fried things.
Here is our list of nearly 20 restaurants where fair food fans may want to venture to, some creating all new menus and dishes, some whose regular menu includes foods worthy of the fair.
▪ Alley Twenty-Six: This downtown Durham alley is proving to be the biggest party in town. From now until Oct. 18, this popular cocktail bar is serving up a “midway menu,” including giant smoked turkey legs, a Krispy Kreme bacon cheeseburger, bacon-on-a-stick and fried pickle chips.
▪ Big C’s Waffles: This south Durham chicken and waffles stand serves up state-fair worthy waffles. Some are made with bacon and cheese, some with doughnut batter, but perhaps the most fair-eligible, rosy red velvet waffles, all served with fried chicken wings.
▪ Boricua Soul: What began as a food truck years ago has been the heart and soul of Durham’s American Tobacco Campus since the pandemic began. Husband and wife-owned Boricua Soul is known for world class collards and empanadas, but they have a fair-worthy fixture on their regular menu, mixing some of their most popular dishes: Pernil, a Puerto Rican roast pork dish, mixed with mac and cheese, all on top of beer-battered fries.
▪ Cloo’s Coney Island: This three-decade Raleigh favorite is keeping the fair alive from Oct. 19-23, serving up turkey legs, corn dogs and deep fried candy bars.
▪ Coronato: This Carrboro pizzeria specializes in cracker-thin Roman-style pizzas. To celebrate this would-be fair week, Coronato is frying up a doughnut special for the first time, coating some with cinnamon sugar and giving others a crown of icing and rainbow sprinkles.
▪ Cracker Barrel: Hear us out on this one. There’s not much out of the ordinary about this breakfast-all-day, biscuits or corn muffins, off-the-interstate Southern chain. But when they take their cheesy hashbrown casserole and fry it into tater tots, we take notice. Maybe you should, too.
▪ Ex-Voto: Situated in the Durham Food Hall, the team that brought you the fancy Crunchwrap Supreme has something special for the state fair. Starting this week, they’re rolling out Taki-lote, the Mexican street corn, coated in bright red Takis snacks.
▪ Il Palio: The worlds of fine dining and fair food collide at this Chapel Hill Italian restaurant. In honor of the fair, they’re frying up balls of arancini stuffed with pimento cheese and serving a spicy Italian poutine, with fries, Amatriciana sauce and mozzarella cheese curds.
▪ Kanki: This popular Triangle teppanyaki restaurant is getting into the fair food spirit, serving up fried sushi on a stick.
▪ ko.an: Since the beginning of the pandemic, this Cary restaurant has been pivoting and innovating. For state fair week, they’ve rolled out a Korean-inspired corn dog, with gochujang ketchup, honey mustard and pickled onion.
▪ Kokyu: At the state fair, mac and cheese is just a blank melty canvas on which to create. This south Durham sandwich shop has Flamin’ Hot Mac & Cheetos on the menu, taking curly cavatappi pasta, cheddar cheese sauce, chili sauce and topping it with Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.
▪ La Farm: This accomplished French bakery in Cary always delivers when the state fair rolls around. This year they’ll reprise their house-made s’mores, taking chocolate-dipped graham crackers, toasted marshmallow and graham cracker crumbs.
▪ St. Roch Fine Oysters & Bar: This Raleigh oyster bar has been hustling throughout the pandemic. Tucked amid raw and roasted oysters, gumbo and po’boys is a Sloppy Joe born for the state fair spotlight. Ladled onto a sesame seed bun is rich pork bolognese, pickled jalapenos and french fries. Think of it as a hand-held poutine.
▪ STIR: This North Hills restaurant, famous for having an ice chef, is serving up last year’s state fair favorite, turning a pineapple Dole Whip into a cocktail.
▪ Sup Dogs: There’s a lot of adventure on the menu of this UNC-Chapel Hill hot dog bar, but state fair fans should look for the funnel cake sticks, fried dough dusted with cinnamon sugar, with a side of syrup for dipping.
▪ Tonbo Ramen: This isn’t your dorm room ramen. This Raleigh noodle shop on Wilmington Street is taking on the fair with deep fried ramen mac and cheese, served with Japanese karaage fried chicken.
▪ Two Roosters: Scooping up what has been called the best ice cream in North Carolina, Two Roosters rolls out new special flavors every month. In honor of the fair, look for Mexican Street Corn ice cream, with a base of buttered cream corn, cotija cheese and chili spice; “Budder Beer,” a butterscotch ice cream inspired by a world of witchcraft and wizardry; and a decadent take on s’mores, with a cookie butter base, chocolate fudge and burned marshmallows.
▪ Whiskey Kitchen: This downtown Raleigh restaurant will check a lot of boxes for fair food fans. They’re serving up a brined and smoked turkey leg, glazed with that sweet North Carolina nectar: Cheerwine. For the sweet side, they’re dipping frozen strawberries in funnel cake batter and tossing them in the deep fryer, served with a coating of powdered sugar.
▪ Zweli’s: Best-known as possibly the only restaurant in the country specializing in Zimbabwean food, this Durham restaurant would likely draw a crowd at the state fair. On their regular menu, they have fried bites of pimento mac and cheese, as well as sweet or savory Magwinyas, bite size doughnuts on a stick.
This story was originally published October 15, 2020 at 8:00 AM.
