For date night, my husband and I visited the Bell Tree Tavern’s second location in Whispering Pines. We like to try all the new restaurants in town and it had taken us a bit to get to the Bell Tree in Whispering Pines because we already had a location very near to us in Southern Pines. The odd thing about Moore County is that the Southern end of the county is a resort town with international visitors flocking to the home of American golf-Pinehurst. From Pinehurst it is a short hop over to Southern Pines (near and dear to my heart) which looks and feels like a Gilmore Girls town or to Aberdeen an up-and coming-downtown area. Outside of those three it feels like hours to the next town whether it be Whispering Pines, Carthage, or Vass even though those towns are only a 10 minute drive.
The second location for Bell Tree Tavern is located in the Whispering Pines Country Club and as we GPS’d directions I began to realize I had run past this location in one of my favorite local races-the ShamRock and Roll Road Race. I knew exactly where we were going and we were off.
THE ATMOSPHERE
It was a bit difficult to find where to go into the Tavern but I think that was because we arrived at night and the location caters more to golfers during the day. The interior of the restaurant is beautiful with lovely wooden tables and nice leather chairs for seating. The view of the golf course and golfers would be amazing during the day.
We sat at the bar top as we were only getting appetizers and the two bartenders were attentive to the guests sitting at the bar, engaging them in conversation about the nearby airport and giving them good service.
I had fried pickles in mind (as I had eaten my daughters pickles earlier from her Chick-Fil-A sandwich) but they were out of them when we went. We ordered wings, a favorite of mine, and while we were waiting my husband participated in a silent auction for the Make-A -Wish Foundation. The bidding went back and forth all night and our personable bartender even made conversation with us about our bids while we waited on the wings. We ended up winning a package to see the Nutcracker in Durham at the DPAC and a weekend getaway with many yummy restaurants in Winston Salem-I will blog on those when the time comes.
THE FOOD
Our wings arrived and they were massive. I find that ordering wings at a restaurant can be a tricky business, you never know what you are going to get. The wings at the Bell Tree had the best of both worlds for my husband and I. They were very meaty (my favorite) and had a lot of crispy breading (my husband’s favorite). We also got them with ranch and blue cheese and as an added bonus the Bell Tree Tavern saves them with both carrots and celery, which is a rare treat. The wings come with the following options: Classic Buffalo, Chipotle BBQ, Garlic Parmesan, Sweet Chili and Chimichurri. My husband doesn’t like spice at all so we ordered the Garlic Parmesan wings, I am sure we could have ordered half and half, but didn’t think to do so. The portion size was so generous that we couldn’t finish our wings.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I would recommend the Bell Tree Tavern Whispering Pines to those who live in Whispering Pines, as there are not a lot of options, and I think it would be great for golfers to watch fellow golfers on the course. It is also a more intimate atmosphere than the one Downtown, which would be good if you just wanted to have a place to relax and enjoy golf and food without the busyness of downtown Southern Pines.