It’s Here! 2013 State Fair

By | October 16, 2013

State Fair time and that means HOT HOT Homemade Butter Milk Biscuits and P i i i E at the Apex Lion Club Food Booth. Yes, once again we all get to enjoy the sounds, smells and tastes of the Fair. 2013 marks the 70th year of the Apex Lions Food Concession at the North Carolina State Fair. We are located right across from Dorton Area in the metal buildings that are known as “restaurant row” We are tucked in with all the Churches. Just listen to the recording from the P i i i E Man and it will lead you to “the best food at the fair,” so he says.

Things have changed a bit from the opening day in 1943 with saw dust floors, wood tables, a screened in room with benches and cooking out back. One thing does remain the same, the Lions work hard to insure good service, a clean comfortable eating area and for sure Good Food served by Good People for a Good Cause. Over 90 % of our profit will go to make lives of others better with a focus on helping the sight impaired, our number one charity. Our goal is to make our community a better place to live.

The P i i i E man still gets out front in the afternoons and early evenings with his microphone to entice folks in to eat “All Kinds Of Pi i i e.” You can have your picture made with him in person or stand in with him at his cut out and put your face under his hat. “Yep, I am the piiiie man” he says when asked, “ come in and try some, we have one piece of Sweet Potato left,” he is quick to remind you.

Last year the booth made a new Sweet Potato biscuit for the first time and it was an instant success. We call it the “Yammey Biscuit” and folks quickly added ham to it and it became the “Yammey Hammey Biscuit.’ It really has a great taste. Our on recipe was developed in our kitchens at home but we fine tuned it right here at the fair. It will be on the menu for a long time. Now you have a choice of our traditional Butter Milk Biscuit or the YAMMEY. We are now the home of two BIG HOMEMADE BUTTERMILK BISCUITS.

For those who have been coming to the booth for many years, they know a hidden secret at the fair is our Homemade Vegetable Soup. It is not your normal soup. It is from a long standing recipe that has a nice kick to it. Not too spicy just enough to make your mouth tingle for more. Yes, it does have a little beef stock in it for taste, just a little beef.

Sure we have all the normal fair foods like hot dogs, foot longs, hamburgers, cheese burgers, fries of all kind, chicken tenders, nachos and some of the best chopped pork barbecue with our special sauce that you can get anywhere. As the recording says over and over, “Good Food For A Good Cause, Cause You Are Hungry. Served by good folks since 1943.”

For those who get out early we serve a full breakfast with scrambled eggs, ham or sausage, grits, sausage gravy and of course our famous biscuits make fresh in our kitchen every day. You can have your biscuit with gravy, eggs, ham or sausage, jelly or just plan with butter. Any way you want it we will fix it for you and with a smile.

For generations the Apex Lions booth has been the meeting place for families. Kids can go do the rides and have fun and meet Mom and Dad or now Grand Ma and Grand Pa at the Apex Lions Club for eats. We get people who stop in and tell us that their parents always brought them to the Lions Club to eat and now they are bringing their families in. How cool is that, to be part of a family tradition at the fair.

We strive to make sure our food is the same every year. Some of our counter staff has been working at the booth for over 20 years. They know the importance of good service, a welcoming smile and a caring attitude.

Our repeat customers are what gives us pride in our booth. We call them our Fair Friends. They come back year after year and eat with us and tell us how much they enjoy our food. Many of them have been eating with us for years. We know their faces and look forward to our 1-2 minutes of time talking with them as they go through the line. To hear them say this is our family and to see them, their kids and their grand kids makes the long days all worthwhile.

Come eat with us and start your family a tradition at the Apex Lions Club. Like the man says, “ Good Food For A Good Cause, Cause Your Hungry”