Cary Spotlight | Issue #710

State Fair Reveals 2025 Food Lineup With 88 New Dishes, Esteamed Coffee Earns National Spotlight, Bond Brothers Beer Company

Question: Which African country completely surrounds another?

(Answer at the bottom of the newsletter.)

Walk, Run, and Roll for Inclusive Play
📅 Saturday, October 4
🕙 10:00 AM – 12:00 Noon
📍 Kids Together Playground at Marla Dorrel Park
111 Thurston Drive, Cary, NC 27518 | Directions

this event helps fund improvements such as shade structures, a misting garden, and a wheelchair-accessible swing.

Listen to my conversation with Marla to spotlight this community celebration.

Bond Brothers Beer Company

Bond Brothers Beer Company is one of the local food places nominated by Cary Spotlight's readers for our Discover Cary project. If you've had a chance to sample their food, feel free to share your opinion below.

Bond Brothers Beer Company in Cary, NC, is a craft brewery and taproom in historic downtown Cary, offering high-quality ales, lagers, IPAs, stouts, and barrel-aged sours in a dog-friendly beer garden with a rustic-contemporary setting.

Check out their menu on their website: Bond Brothers Beer Company

Address: 202 E Cedar St, Cary, NC 27511 | Get Directions

Bond Brothers Beer Company

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State Fair Reveals 2025 Food Lineup With 88 New Dishes

The North Carolina State Fair is adding 88 new food and drink items for 2025, continuing its tradition of surprising visitors with inventive and unusual options. Organizers released the full list this week, along with a map of where to find each item.

Among the sweets are new spins on fair staples, such as banana churros, crème brûlée cones, rainbow bites and chocolate-covered caramel apples rolled in potato chips. Frozen banana variations are also plentiful, with flavors including cookie butter, PB&J and s’mores.

On the savory side, vendors are introducing dishes like deep-fried lamb chops, Korean donkatsu burgers, jerk-seasoned plates, cheese curd tacos and several pickle-centered items. Seafood offerings will include swordfish pops and North Carolina blue crab ceviche.

The fair is also rolling out new drinks, with Cheerwine featuring heavily on the menu in options like Cheerwine lemonade and a drink called “Dirty Cheerwine.” Cotton candy iced tea, horchata lattes and electric lemonade round out the list.

The event runs October 16–26 at the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh.

Click here for more information on events, purchasing tickets or parking.

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Esteamed Coffee Earns National Spotlight for Inclusive Mission

Esteamed Coffee in Cary has earned a spot on Yelp’s list of the Top 100 Coffee Shops in the United States for 2025, coming in at No. 91. The nonprofit café opened in late 2020 with a mission to provide job opportunities for people with disabilities. The staff includes individuals with visual, developmental, and communication-related disabilities, helping to create a unique and welcoming atmosphere that has resonated with customers.

With a five-star rating on Yelp and 90 reviews, the shop is frequently described as friendly and inclusive. Esteamed Coffee offers classic and seasonal drinks, pastries, and teas. It also supports the local community by featuring local artists and hosting events.

The space can be reserved for private gatherings and accommodates both service and non-service animals in different seating areas.

Esteamed Coffee is the only café in the Triangle region to be featured on Yelp’s national list, although other North Carolina coffee shops in Charlotte, Asheville, Greensboro, and Wilmington also received recognition. Read Full Report

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🎟️ Upcoming Events (Top Picks)

Outdoor events may be changed due to weather, so click the links to see latest event information. Here are a few ideas for the week, so plan ahead:

• Thursday: Live at Lunch: Ed Stephenson Duo 11:30AM-1:30PM
• Thursday: Square Dance (mainstream and plus level dancing) 7:30PM-9:30PM
• Friday: Great American XC Festival  12PM
• Friday: Triangle Oktoberfest  5PM-10PM
• Friday: Bands, Bites, & Boats 5:30PM-7:30PM
• Saturday: Puppy Yoga 8:30AM-10AM
• Saturday: Triangle Oktoberfest  12PM-8PM
• Saturday: NC Courage v Racing Louisville 7:30PM

To save space in your inbox, we’ve moved the full list of events online — now you can plan ahead with access to this week and next! See Full 2-Week Calendar

The Answer to the Cary Spotlight Hook Trivia Question 👇👇👇
South Africa is the only country in Africa—and one of the few in the world—that completely surrounds another sovereign nation, the Kingdom of Lesotho. Lesotho is a landlocked, mountainous country entirely enclosed within South Africa's borders. This unique geographical relationship means that Lesotho depends heavily on South Africa for access to trade, transportation, and other services. Despite being surrounded, Lesotho maintains its own government, monarchy, and cultural identity.