This edition of Excited about Eating takes us to the base of Sugar Mountain and to the Painted Fish Café & Beer Bar in Banner Elk, NC. This casual local restaurant serves salads, sandwiches, and a variety of entrees to satisfy everybody. Dora here. I’m bummed that it was too chilly to sit outside. Can’t beat those views!

Can’t beat those views!

You know how some restaurants try to cram in as many people by squishing the tables close together? Not here. We appreciated the generous space between tables and the private booths.

Appreciated the generous space between tables and the private booths.

For my lunch, I started with the soup of the day, a crab chowder. This chowder was great, loaded with potatoes and crabmeat in a creamy sauce. Dora here. We knew that soup was coming before it ever reached the table! lol. Strong scent of crab, but I liked it, even though I’m not a huge seafood fan. Hey, don’t hate! 🙂

Soup of the Day: Crab Chowder. Loaded with potatoes and plenty of crab.

I followed that up with the special of the day, a fried catfish sandwich served with cole slaw and tartar sauce on a soft bun and house-made chips. This huge sandwich was outstanding! Crispy and lightly breaded, tender and juicy on the inside, and the slaw added just the right crunch to the sandwich. And those chips, they were like waffle chips but were crunchy and had great flavor.

Fried Catfish Sandwich (special), outstanding! Crispy, tender, huge!

Dora here. A couple of the salads sounded interesting, but the protein up-charge pushed them to almost $20. Too pricey for me! So I opted for the turkey brie sandwich. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Two slices of whole grain bread packed with turkey, cranberries, melted cheese and spinach. Yum! Great flavor, texture and, like Ernie’s sandwich, huge! I’d definitely order this again, but the fried catfish won me over, too. This place might make me into a seafood lover. 🙂

Turkey Brie Sandwich, packed with turkey, cranberry, and spinach. Great flavor, texture, and huge!

What about you? What food doesn’t make your “favorite” list? And has a restaurant ever turned you into a fan of that food?

We rate this restaurant 4 forks out of 5 for a family friendly restaurant serving great food.