The String Bean — Restaurant in Belmont

Ok...The String Bean has been open a while & fot some reason, I've never reviewed it...That is gonna change.

The Positives Duck Fat Fries... I dont care that the world is heading towards healthy BS living. If I go out to eat & expect to pay a decent price, I want tasty food. Not F**king tofu..Not Turkey Burgers. I am willing to earn my Lipitor! Those yummy carbs are just heaven! Duck Fat Fries are worth the trip alone. Other food...The cooks there understand medium well, so dont be afraid to order your burgers or steak that way. Huge Wine/beer Selection Just about every brewery in The South is represented.

The Negs Desserts. ..We had cheesecake because fried oreos does not appeal to me. Unfortunately, there seems to be only two choices there. On top of that, its red velvet which I hate. The server said they have cheesecake, not any specific kind so assumed (yes, I know the meaning ) that it was plain..Nope...I barely ate it because hey, not a fan but my guy lagged too which was odd..Turns out, he doesn't like red velvet anything especially the cheesecake. Also, it tasted like it was store bought not made there...icky

Service What started out as fun, ended badly. I like a server who has recommendations because they work there and see it all. However, ours started crossing the line from informative to familiar which really cheesed off my guy. Needless to say, there was ice cream after to make him happy & me overfull (Floyd & Blackies, next review).. I know that it is a fine line between the two & its very easy to mess up. Just acknowledge a two foot personal space, never touch the customer even in jest, Never bend down & grab a napkin between the customers legs (especially if its a female, we don't like that). Otherwise, it was fine. A rail thin kid ran around to all tables clearing away empty plates & glassware. That was great because the tables are small. I wasn’t scared that something would slip off & break on the floor.

Its a small space but there is very little walk room thanks to almost every square foot occupied by tables or rakes.. It will be a while...

3rd time visiting... about the same "ho-hum" experience.

I stopped by The String Bean for lunch today, and had a Cowpig burger - it was fantastic! However the fries were served cold. I'm not one to complain, however I felt that since the prices were a little higher than average and this was a full service experience, I decided that I would say something if asked.

I wasn't looking for a free meal or anything, just freshly cooked french fries to go with my (did I say "fantastic" burger?). Unfortunately, the opportunity didn't come up. My server did drop off napkins unprompted (a definite plus in my book), there were no "how's the food," not even eye contact.

She did a fine job, but for the price and "perceived" quality of your establishment, I definitely expected more.

Belmont needs great, unique restaurants!

My experience at The String Bean wasn't bad, but I think with your concept and a few adjustments to your execution, The String Bean could be a destination restaurant.

A few recommendations: Make sure your entire staff (especially servers) are making sure that the food coming out of the kitchen is fresh and well made. Ask your patrons about their experience (managers coming out occasionally, servers asking how things are, etc.) - this will give you crucial feedback to where you're hitting (Cowpig burger!) and where you're missing. Pay especially close attention to consistency of the customer experience. This seems to be the biggest comment I hear from neighbors, colleagues, and friends when your name comes up.

Today's visit was similar to my past visits - one or more aspects of my meal was below average, while another was terrific. If you could hit those high notes on all aspects.... good night, Nelly!

I gave you a 3star rating because of my average overall experience, although I'd say it was closer to 3 1/2 because the burger was that good!

Keep at it, and I hope my next...

We stopped here on the way back from a few days of vacation in the Boone area. We enjoy many casual restaurants in Belmont including The Lodge, Nellie's ,The Weekend Market, Jekyll & Hyde, Bearded Buffalo. We arrived to a great looking space with a rustic vibe and a cute outdoor patio area. There's a butcher case with fresh cuts of meats and fish on display, a nice bar area. It was about 12n on a Wednesday when we ordered and the restaurant had gotten crowded quickly both indoor and out. Our server came back to the table about 20 ish minutes later and announced that she was just told the there wasn't any chicken salad for my sandwich. Not a big deal, I chose something else. about 15 (12:35) minutes after that we were told that the kitchen "was working on" my black bean burger. About 10 minutes later our food arrived with cold fries. Our server never checked back with us so no chance at replacing with hot fries. Server (or expo)mistake 1: Check temps before serving. Server Mistake 2: circle back to the table for quality check and any forgotten items. Server mistake 3: Making yourself scarce when you are told (politely) the the fries were cold (and remained uneaten) and to please strike them from the bill. Mistake 4: To pretend the above did not happen and have a cheery tone when handing over the card reader. Someone else breezed by our table without stopping to say the bill was being prepared. (??) They did remove the charges for the fries, even mine -which I ate. My husband felt his sandwich was lacking ingredients from the menu discription( Godfather) and my black bean burger was standard. A member of a party of 6 that our server served voiced his displeasure that his meal was cold. The other servers of which thete were several seemed to be on top of it. Not sure if ours was new, but a bit of proper customer service would have been beneficial to her and The...