The Salty Donut | Ballantyne

Description: A third place in the Charlotte, North Carolina area.

Comments: Cool spot in an even cooler location (The Bowl at Ballantyne). The interior is small in terms of seating, but not compact. It doesn't feel cramped, and there are some larger tables where groups can sit. On warm days, there's a good amount of outdoor seating, so you can be reasonably sure you'll find somewhere to sit coming here. Outlet access is challenging, so charge your laptop if you're coming to work or study.

Kind of a pricey menu, but that’s just the world these days. Blame inflation. Parking is free if you can snag a street spot and have the confidence to parallel park. If not, there’s a shared lot for all the businesses at The Bowl that gives you a few free hours. After that, you’ve got to pay.

Now, onto a topic of the utmost importance. They’ve got what is officially called a Honey Butter Cinnabun on their menu. Close enough. I’m counting it as a cinnamon roll. And it’s good, really good. Still, it leans more toward a donut than a traditional cinnamon roll. You don’t get that heavy, weighty interior with distinct coils that you could unravel. There's not that clear picture of something having been rolled up to create its present form.

You couldn’t pull this apart from spiral to straight. It’s all baked together like a soft bread roll. But it’s still delicious. So, it sort of borders on “can we really call this a cinnamon roll?” And to be fair, they do call them cinnabuns, not cinnamon rolls. Maybe for good reason. I'm certainly overthinking this. I am to cinnamon rolls what a pedant is to literature. I have issues. Ignore my ranting, their cinnabun is good, you should try it.