The Goat at Fearrington Village

Recently updated, but still the same pleasant relaxed Goat for coffee, chatting or a quiet read in the corner. Some new and very reasonable lunch choices — circa $ 5.00 for delicious vegetarian chili and cornbread! Bottled wine selection is terrific, carefully selected, unusual wines, bargains galore in each price category. My go-​to source.

I really hate to take away stars from any favorite restaurant, but in this case I really have to. The Goat at Fearrington Village (Formerly known as The Belted Goat), has once again updated and changed, and while change is a good thing at times, I’d say in this case it’s not as good as it gets. They have remodeled, and the décor is light and airy, resembling their sister restaurant across the street (The Granary), and the food has seemingly increased a bit in price, and changed as far as the menu goes. They have gotten rid of a few sandwich favorites (namely the vegetarian hummus sandwich option that I loved), and moved the gelato and baked goods cases (swapping one for the other… why???), and changed things up a bit all the way around. Everything looks nice, but right now the new hosts seem confused while they are in training, and the food doesn’t seem to be as comfortable and relaxed as it was before. If we wanted to dine at the Granary we would. We had always loved the relaxed feel of the Belted Goat/​The Goat. It’s still beautiful inside, it just seems as if Fearrington Village is trying to go a bit more upscale in style, which is fine, but it’s also nice at times to have a more relaxed café style. With that said, this has always been one of our favorite places to go for lunch, so we will be back. We just hope that they pick a style and stick with it for a while now. They seem to have been changing things up every few months. Maybe they are seasonal… changing with the times.

We only spent one night at the Inn, so could only eat and drink so much, which is why we under-​utilized this charming café. We enjoyed checking out the wine selection, the coffee, sandwiches looked great, as did all the baked goods. Definitely worth checking out if you’re in the area!

Love the coffee here — excellent roasts and the baristas do a great job with the drinks. Really pleasant atmosphere, light and warm. Pastries are beautiful. The wine selection is small but very solid. Excellent variety and good picks in every varietal.

I’ve been here for ice cream several times. They also have brownies, huge cookies, and pastries. All are pretty good but expensive. On the last visit we arrived at the end of the lunch rush, and ordered a turkey sandwich. It came with just lettuce, tomato, and turkey on some kind of dry whole grain bread. Pretty meh, and it cost $ 10. That’s the part that made me cry.

Cutest little café! My family was visiting from out of state and we decided to go see the belted cows. We stopped for some gelato at The Goat. Adorable inside… gelato, sandwiches, and lots of wine! Plenty of sitting area inside and upstairs. The guy who helped us with the gelato was so nice and patient with us as we sampled almost every flavor! :) If you haven’t visited the «Belties» they are a must see… and stop by The Goat while you’re there! Great little day trip!

This place is always reliable with good, tasty food and an accommodating staff. It has great salad choices, an unbelievable hot dog for the kids and you’re lucky if you get to steal a bite because it will be gone. The quiche is always tasty too. Those are our favorites, but there are many more items that look great. note they are set in a quaint village setting and have a fabulous wine selection.
Only reason I’m not giving it 5 stars is the one restroom could be cleaner and the one trash barrel is always overflowing. Clean that up and it gets 5 stars..

Very pleasant café type location. Muffins were $ 1.50 which is a steal. Coffee was priced in line with other coffee shops. I had a mocha and it was made with love from barista. It tasted good. I didn’t have any food but there didn’t seem to be a lot in the display case, perhaps I was late for the lunch crowd. Nice place to meet a friend or have a casual business meeting. Also best part is you can walk over and see the belted cows since you are already parked in the parking lot at Fearrington.

I went here after seeing the good reviews here on Unilocal.It was really a mixed bag. The wine was indeed excellent, however the Caesar Salad was decidedly mediocre. It was generic lettuce and a dressing that tasted like 98% mayonnaise. I will definitely go back for wine but probably not to eat.

Fearrington Village is wonderful!!! The Belted Goat had many yummy items on the menu. My friends enjoyed the sandwiches, quiche, and milkshakes that they ordered. The staff kept up pretty well with the lunch rush. However, I do NOT recommend the Caesar salad with «fried chicken». The lettuce was over chopped, so it was limp and the pieces were tiny. The «fried chicken» pieces were chopped up COLD chicken tenders, straight from the fridge.
And sadly, the cupcakes were dry and a bit hard.
All that aside, I highly recommend visiting this neat little neighborhood. ;)

I have several friends that live in Pittsboro, North Carolina that want to meet in the middle and meet at The Goat. The first few times I thought the Goat was above average but I have quickly learned I am not a huge fan of the menu. There are not a ton of options and the healthy options are quite limited.
They do have very good sandwiches but that is limited to what I like at this particular restaurant. They do have very good ice cream so try the strawberry ice cream if you ever make your way to Fearrington Village.

Every single town should have a place like this. Nice salads, healthy foods, pastries, wines and beverages. Perfect! Love the ability to create my own salad and they tossed it to perfection. Sit outside or amidst the wine bottles for a lovely visit.

If you like REALLY strong coffee, this is the place to go. The coffee was very good, fresh roasted on site. Part of a small, quaint little village with other restaurants and bookstore. Nice place to stop if you are in the area.

The Goat offers freshly prepared chopped salads, soups, coffee, and sandwiches. The salads are great. There is a second floor wit a great view. Ample seating, outdoor seating available. Go for a walk, visit the cows, the bookstore or the shops when you are done, too. It is a great place to have a business lunch, and they have WiFi, too.

The Goat is a great place to have a meeting over a cup of coffee or a lunch date over one of their stellar custom chopped salads. You get to choose the ingredients which they place on the cutting board and chop the whole thing up into perfect bite size pieces. My favorite: spinach, romaine, cucumbers, croutons, red onion, grapes, and shrimp. Lots of choices of dressings, which are served on the side like I prefer.
Excellent, kind, and friendly staff. A quaint environment.
Bring a sweater or jacket as the place gets quite chilly even in the summer. Also, bring your electronics with a full charge as few of the outlets work, especially few upstairs.

Out at Fearrington Village for a CMYE at Roost recently, I got a chance with some fellow Unilocalers to check out The Goat, which offers wine, sandwiches and snacks, coffee, and desserts in the FV community.
The building itself is very quaint and beautifully done, with just enough balance of old time charm and modern sleekness. I remember mentally noting «Wow, this is nice…» as soon as I walked in. As you saw in my intro, they offer an awesome variety of items to satisfy most any that come in. We enjoyed a wonderful free wine tasting there at The Goat, and Xavier did a phenomenal job giving information about the brands and the wines were great finds. I had the turkey sandwich while there and it was very fresh and delicious. We also enjoyed a cheese plate while there and it did not disappoint as well. I did see some quiches and other entrees in the cases as well. Looking over the dessert case, just couldn’t help getting a few things from it… I sampled the red velvet cupcake and the mango sorbet. The cupcake was pretty good but the mango sorbet was amazing, it hit the spot. Unfortunately I did not get to sample the coffee but hope to get to in the future.
Bottom line: Very nice deli/​dessert/​wine stop in Fearrington Village, I’d say 4.5 stars on this one. Take advantage of the free wine tasting if you get the chance, worth it. A pleasant surprise!

Ice cream, baked good and wine in one spot! This little haven is too far away for me to patronize it as often as it must be enjoyed to have so many delightful treasures in one place, but I really enjoyed our First Friday evening here.
There’s a wide array of wines on display and there are also wine tastings. Xavier was on hand to tell us about Montepulciano’s finest, a sparkling white, a Sherry, and a few others. He gave a great presentation and was both engaging and funny.
The cheese plates and sandwiches are made fresh behind the counter and brought out quickly. There’s a variety of creamy ice creams in the case and plenty of tarts, cupcakes, and other delicious treats as well.
Definitely a great spot to indulge at Fearrington Village.

This was the blandest sandwich I’ve ever had in my life. I had the roast beef, and although the meat was fresh and tender it had no flavor. The ciabatta bread also had no herbs or flavor at all. The potato salad was OK. The coffee had that burnt taste I’m not really fond of. Overall, not worth the money, and not enticing enough to bring me back to try other items.

Thank goodness The Belted Goat is open on Sundays! After a reading at McIntyre’s on a sweltering July afternoon, all I wanted was an ice cold beer.
The Belted Goat was a great place to relax in their bright and cozy upstairs seating area with a bottle of beer (I got something from Highland – but they also had some Victory brews, all $ 3) or a glass of wine.
Their salads looked great, and they carry ice cream from Maple View as well.
I happily would have spent all afternoon there!

This is a great little place in the community at Fearrington Village. Service is fast and friendly and the food is excellent.
I’ve never had a bad meal there. They also stock some local beers in their coolers.