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Places you have to eat in asheville nc
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Places you have to eat in asheville nc
Plus, which Asheville breweries have the best food or food trucks? Known as Foodtopia, the restaurants in Asheville are plentiful and amazing. So, how do you choose? As Asheville locals, we are sharing our favorite Asheville, NC restaurants. And yes, of course, this list will be highly contentious and also not include every restaurant in Asheville. This post may contain affiliate links that earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.
We are also including restaurants in Asheville that we love for dine-in and takeout. One of the Asheville restaurants we live for, Plant is everything. Plant is food. We are not vegan, but Plant is truly for everyone. Hands down one of the best vegan restaurants in Asheville , we are obsessed with their cheese plate and desserts. Dishes change seasonally and are mostly organic and gluten-free. Beets, curries, veggie lasagna… Need we say more? Plant does not have an online reservation system, and sometimes, it may be hard to get through.
Plus, North Asheville has amazing restaurants and stays just a tad quieter than downtown. Plant has its own parking lot — a bonus in this tight city. One of the newer Thai food restaurants in Asheville , Thai Pearl is gorgeously decorated and delicious. Thai Pearl is also a great choice if you are looking for more gluten-free options. If you follow us elsewhere, you know that Tom has Celiac Disease — so gluten-free is extremely important to us.
Sitting between two famous West Asheville restaurants , Nine Mile and Jargon, choose from curries, rice, stir-fry dishes, soups, and Thai salads.
Thai Pearl also serves fresh oysters. Now, we frequent Thai Pearl as much as we can. Not only did we meet Chef May and learn how much she gives back to the community, but we tried her most popular Thai dishes. Tom devours the Pad Thai and Thai Basil. This is definitely our new favorite go-to Asheville Thai restaurant. See what restaurants are new in Asheville in For one of the best new Japanese restaurants in Asheville , Ukiah is sure to wow you.
Located on Biltmore Ave. Think meat skewers, shrimp cocktail, ramen, and raw sushi-grade fish. This is an Asheville restaurant to treat yourself. They can accommodate dietary restrictions. Inside, the bar is gorgeously decorated, and the rest of the restaurant will transport you out of the city. Make reservations and bring an extra sweater in the fall and winter, especially if you wish to enjoy their outdoor patio with the beautiful stone fireplace. Limones is by far one of the most romantic restaurants in Asheville.
This is also our top pick for ambiance. Plus, any place with two enchanting window seats is a bonus for us. Find candle chandeliers glowing throughout this historic building decorated with mirrors and abstract art.
With two smaller rooms and a bar, enjoy intimate conversations. His food is simple yet divine. To start, order tapas with their famous margaritas; you may have trouble choosing from their extensive list. For tapas, we enjoy the fresh and innovative ceviche but they also have lobster nachos…. Limones has a great cocktail list, Spanish dessert wines, and Mexican coffee. We could sit here all night. Personally, we appreciate that Limones sits on a quiet downtown side street.
You will want to make advanced reservations. We could never pick out one or two of the best BBQ restaurants in Asheville. North Carolina is famous for its BBQ.
Their North Asheville location is always jumping, and they offer indoor and outdoor seating. This location also has a parking lot. You cannot go wrong with their BBQ and hearty sides. You cannot beat those sunset views over the mountains. They serve lighter fare including sandwiches and salads and are cheaper than their other restaurant, Sunset Terrace. Even though the bars are not quite situated on an actual rooftop, we consider The Omni Grove Park Inn as housing the best rooftop restaurants in Asheville, NC.
Sunset Terrace is a stellar high-end Asheville restaurant. We daintily annihilate their scallops and steak. Please just remember that the Grove Park Inn is a luxury resort hotel. Most of the year, parking is free for the first few hours in their lots and Vanderbilt parking garage. For the holidays, you will have to pay a hefty self-park or valet fee. Fair warning, too: you will have trouble deciding what to eat here.
You will most likely over-order and want to eat it all. We always have leftovers. Gypsy Queen, along with Plant and Laughing Seed, is also one of the best Asheville restaurants for both vegan and gluten-free food. For Mezze, order grape leaves, hummus, and a mixture of fried Brussels sprouts and cauliflower.
For entrees, choose from rice bowls, gyros, platters, and wraps. We recommend dining at Gyspy Queen for lunch. Order at the counter and grab a seat — inside or out. Gypsy Queen is located near Green Tea Sushi, just on the outskirts of downtown Asheville over the bridge that passes by the Asheville silo. We promise: the food is delicious and the staff is incredibly accommodating and friendly.
Find plenty of parking. Nine Mile is a vegetarian-friendly restaurant with Caribbean-inspired pasta and rice dishes. For Asheville restaurants, Nine Mile has one of the largest menu keys for gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, nuts, dairy-free, and honey.
Nine Mile does not take reservations, and they will grow extremely busy no matter what time you arrive. With some luck, you might catch them at the right time, and we promise: the wait is worth it. Nine Mile runs on the spicier side, but they can accommodate dishes. Their pasta and seafood are delicious. Nine Mile also only serves wine and beer. Montford is also one of the most unique Asheville neighborhoods for architecture, Riverside Cemetery , and Shakespeare in the Park. One of the first fancier restaurants in downtown Asheville that we ate at before moving to AVL , Posana is always jumping.
Unique to Asheville, Posana has a dedicated gluten-free kitchen. This is perfect for our Celiac husband. Almost all of their menu is gluten-free with the exception of a few labeled cocktails and drinks those bitters, man. Posana is the absolute best restaurant in Asheville for celebrations. They serve local and contemporary American cuisine. Think gluten-free desserts, appetizers, and meaty entrees. The executive chef and co-owner graduated from The Culinary Institute of America.
Posana has a large patio and looks out over Pack Square, which is full of interesting happenings. This is Asheville, after all. Recently, the owners also started nearby District 42 , a lounge, and Bargello , casual fine dining at Kimpton Hotel Arras. If you are looking for one of the best restaurants in downtown Asheville serving up French comfort food, head to Bouchon. One of our newsletter subscribers mentioned that she reserves dinner at Bouchon for every single one of her Asheville visits.
We can see why. One of the coziest fine dining Asheville restaurants , sit inside their intimate, warm, and dimly lit space or enjoy the outdoor patio. Bouchon has some of the strongest and most delicious cocktails in town, and of course, you have to order classy French wine with dinner.
Here at Uncorked Asheville, we always get asked for the best Asheville restaurants near or at breweries. Although Wicked Weed is indeed a tourist spot, you still have to go here. One of the absolute best restaurants for breakfast in West Asheville, Sunny Point Cafe is both a visitor and local favorite.
The weekends will see lines around West Asheville, and the weekdays tend to be just as busy. Sunny Point posts wait times near where you order. Sunny Point Cafe serves all three meals on most days, but we especially love them for breakfast and lunch. Choose from Southern classics like chicken and waffles, fried green tomatoes, and shrimp and grits. Sunny Point Cafe also has French toast, hotcakes, avocado toast, candied bacon, and breakfast burritos.
They offer gluten-free bread and vegan options and serve up large portions with local libations. West AVL is also known for its shops, bars, vibrant murals , and shopping scene. Be sure to read our complete West Asheville guide before going. The northern part of the city houses many of the best restaurants in Asheville, NC, and Taco Temple proves it. They feature the most delicious tacos around. Taco Temple is your go-to for milled corn tortillas, tortas, and tamales — with gluten-free and vegan options.
Devour overflowing tacos; we suggest ordering at least 2 per person. You know you want the chips and guacamole too. They even serve margaritas and cocktails. Order at the small window first. If you are looking for the most local and budget-friendly places to eat in Asheville, Taco Temple is it. One of the best seafood restaurants in Asheville, choose from oysters, shrimp cocktail, mussels, and clams.
Find twists on classic drinks. We highly suggest making advanced reservations here. We enjoy sitting outside on the covered patio. Our favorite mix-ins with tuna and salmon proteins include carrots, mango, roe, cucumber, avocado, seaweed salad, fried garlic, and scallion.
Yum Sushi is also one of the fastest places to eat in Asheville on this list and makes for great takeout. Green Tea Sushi is another one of the best sushi restaurants in Asheville. Glass Onion is a classy but still more casual Asheville fine dining option.
We highly suggest making reservations, especially for an evening out. Glass Onion is incredibly accomodating to food intolerance and allergies. They have a plethora of GF options, too.
Weaverville is a great option to beat the bustle of downtown Asheville. Head to Twisted Laurel for cocktails after dinner or WagBar for craft beer with the pooches. Instead of Weaverville, you could also drive minutes east of Asheville to some of our favorite Black Mountain restaurants. Black Mountain has breweries, a meadery, and a distillery. One of our favorite Asheville Indian restaurants , Mela offers large portions of North and South Indian-inspired cuisine.
You can find vegan and gluten-free options, too. We tend to order takeout from Mela. A second fabulous Indian and Pakistani Asheville takeout option, we devour Biryani Express their menu is listed on the takeout apps like Takeout Central. One of our all-time favorite Asian fusion restaurants in Asheville, Red Ginger Dimsum and Tapas is home to dumplings and sushi. Choose from fried rice, every type of delicious dumpling, Asian pancakes, bento boxes, summer rolls, and vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options.
You will want to order plates per person and because they are Asian tapas, you may also share across the table. For downtown Asheville restaurants, Red Ginger is at the heart of it all. We usually park behind this area in the Coxe Ave. Tired of generic Asheville travel itineraries? His sandwich was a stack of goodness that was quite impressive. The table went quiet as we dove into the food, which was hot, fresh, and delicious.
It was no surprise but, we ate it all. I was surprised at the Dijon mustard in the shrimp and grits preparation, but my husband loved it. We gave all four meals a huge thumbs up. The service, the patio, and the garden were lovely. Dogs are welcome. Chestnut is a special place. The building is circa , and the space is stunning. Management wants to make sure they love their jobs and treat customers well in turn.
The kitchen and bar make sure they have the best ingredients, sourced locally, and handcraft those ingredients into fantastic food and cocktails, so visitors feel like treasured guests. Head Chef Joe Scully and his staff make everything from scratch, from curing the meats on the charcuterie to the sorbets for dessert. The menu changes monthly except for a few dishes. The staff is offered tastings to describe the flavors to patrons and really understand how the food is put together.
The cocktails are crafted with homemade elixirs, shrubs, and syrups with fresh-squeezed juices and top-shelf liquors. Every detail is top-notch. As soon as you walk in, you are greeted and treated with care. We were seated, and our server explained the menu.
The list has enough choices to keep you interested but not overwhelmed. Let me say we were dazzled by our choices. We ordered a few starters of mushroom soup drizzled with thyme oil and split the roasted beet salad with a trio of beets, fancy greens, candied walnuts, topped with a warm goat cheese croquette.
Beet chips are all tossed with a citrus vinaigrette. The dish was delicious but rich. The handmade pappardelle topped with braised beef short ribs also had roasted cremini mushrooms, caramelized cipollini onions, and Boursin cream.
The pine nut gremolata topping was luscious and peppery. It was the star dish of the table, and we all dove in for a tasting. Even though all the pastry and sorbets are made in-house, we were stuffed. We enjoyed the ambiance and the food at Chestnut.
An excellent place to dine. The brasserie combines delicious French food and incredible wine selections with seasonal local produce and products that Executive Chef Peter Crockett sources from farms around Asheville. The restaurant is open for breakfast through dinner. The lunch menu offers classic French favorites, including steak frites and French onion soup, with lighter options of salads and mussels.
There are daily specials as well, and desserts that might make you skip the mains altogether. We had hiked for miles and waited too long to eat.
When you are starving and faced with a tempting menu like we were, you order several starters for four hungry diners. It was a Wednesday, and wine was half-priced, so we also ordered a bottle of prosecco. We had heard the French onion soup was authentic, so three of us chose that first. The soup came in a traditional crock with melted gruyere over a slice of French bread.
The soup was flavorful, and even though it was warm outside, the savory broth and melted cheese were the perfect comfort food. It was excellent. My husband ordered a croissant madame as well. This open-faced sandwich included pit-smoked ham, a gruyere mornay sauce, and topped with a sunny-side-up egg. He offered to share, but we were focused on all the tasty fried items we ordered.
Everything was incredible, and sharing was the key. The standouts were the fries and the Mac and Cheese, which were so delicious with the toska truffle cheese sauce, we found it addictive. Lastly, we ordered the peach cake with whipped cream topped with slivered almonds and fresh whipped cream. It was all so good. After returning home, he opened a unique doughnut spot and re-opened the eclectic Storm Rhum Bar in The bar stocks one of the largest rum collections in North Carolina.
The bartender can make one of their signature craft cocktails, a prohibition favorite, or you could select a rum and create a drink of your own. We loved the feeling at Storm Rhum Bar. It was relaxed, chic, and low-key, like you were visiting a well-traveled friend. The walls are adorned with travel photos and collected objects from far-flung places. The drink list sports a ruby red hardcover, made to look like a fine leatherbound book. There were so many cocktails it was hard to pick one.
I ordered a Mai Tai, and my friend selected a Rum Runner. The guys chose local beers. We started with carnitas tacos and a watermelon salad that was packed with incredible flavors. The colors and vibrancy of the ingredients were off the charts. The radicchio salad, pickled apple, roasted beets, squash, angostura vinaigrette, graham cracker crumbles, and herbed goat cheese packed a considerable punch.
And the portion was large enough for sharing. For entrees, we split dishes with our spouses and ordered the specials. Both bowls were huge, and since we broke the portions, we found we ordered the right amount of food that evening. The tender North Carolina shrimp in our dish was served over jasmine rice and had the right amount of heat. The curry vegetable dish was packed with beans, squash, and peppers, all local and fresh.
This evening was beautiful for the food, ambiance, and the bar. We thoroughly enjoyed everything. Plant is one of the kindest places to eat in Asheville. No animal products are served in the restaurant. It opened in and since then was voted the best vegetarian restaurant, the healthiest bite, the greenest restaurant, best service, and one of the most romantic dining experiences in Asheville.
At Plant, the food is chef-driven. These partners have thirteen tables and a seasonal outdoor patio, and they are packed nightly. Each table is reserved only by phone, and the menu is seasonal, small, and very creative.
We were thrilled to dine and deferred to our mostly vegetarian friend by selecting this restaurant. Always ready to share, we picked several starter plates. The first to arrive was the seared turnip toast with edamame butter radish and pomegranate molasses on sweet potato brioche. It came as two hearty slices with the toppings, which we split into four pieces. The flavors were spectacular together, and we all agreed that we loved this starter.
It all begins with the chewy bread and rich, sweet, earthy turnips. It was fried first and crunchy. This was addictive, and the portion was so very generous that we could not stop eating it. Then the grilled beets arrived on a slate topped with fried onions, dill pollen, and swirled on the platter was mixtures of horseradish, mayo balsamic, and herbs. This was otherworldly, and we really enjoyed the texture of the beets as they were grilled to still have bite but yield. The sauces complemented the sweetness and added punch and toppings added crunch.
Lastly, we had the ravioli, which we topped with freshly foraged cremini mushrooms. Hands down, we could not stop eating this gluten-free ravioli with such a rich flavor of mushrooms and sauce that did not have an ounce of milk or cheese.
We each ordered the main dishes, but several of us copied each other ordering the Masala Uttapam. This big bowl consisted of chickpeas with Indian spices or channa masala, kale, cucumber, onion, and avocado, topped with sour cream.
Everyone thoroughly enjoyed their entree. I ordered the Total Summer Ramen, a bowl of smoked tamari broth brimming with grilled farm vegetables, pickled vegetables, and shitake mushrooms.
It was all so good and so fresh we had the best time eating our way through a beautiful plant-based meal. The service is excellent and very warm at Plant as well.
It was an extraordinary evening. According to the restaurant, it can also mean a small bribe, enough to afford a bite to eat. No one had to bribe me to eat at Chai Pani. In fact, we tried to go a few times, and we never got there on time or found them closed for a team outing.
Finally, we did get there and were so glad to dine at this Indian street food establishment. Everything is made from scratch and by hand. Or, home-cooked, family-style dishes that show the diversity of culinary styles from the country. They call it mind blasting. We agreed. We started with matchstick Okra Fries, and wow. Julienned okra tossed with salt and seasoning and a lime wedge. They name it one of their signature dishes, and since I never tried anything like it before, I would agree.
