🍲 Where to Eat · Asheville, NC
Restaurants in Asheville
56 real, currently-operating restaurants across every category — James Beard Award winners, farm-to-table Southern food, and breweries with full kitchens.
🏆 James Beard Award Winners to Neighborhood Spots
✅ Verified Open
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🍗 Southern & Farm-to-Table
🥩 Steakhouses
🍖 BBQ
🦀 Seafood
🍕 Pizza & Italian
🌍 International
🥬 Vegetarian & Vegan
☕ Bakeries & Coffee
🥃 Bars & Distilleries
🍺 Breweries w/ Kitchens
🎨 West AVL & RAD
Asheville punches well above its weight for a city its size, with multiple James Beard Award-winning kitchens alongside a deep farm-to-table Southern food tradition, a genuinely diverse international scene, and dozens of breweries with real kitchens attached. West Asheville and the River Arts District each have their own distinct restaurant identity outside the downtown core. We checked each restaurant directly against its own official site and current operating status rather than a generic aggregator list.
10 Restaurants
Cúrate
James Beard Award-winning Spanish tapas restaurant from chef Katie Button, downtown.
Chai Pani
James Beard Award-winning Indian street-food restaurant, relocated into the former Buxton Hall space.
Plant
Vegan fine dining from a James Beard semifinalist chef, North Asheville.
Crusco
Italian-inspired fine dining in the River Arts District from the team behind the former Cucina 24.
Good Hot Fish
Michelin Guide-listed counter-service Southern fish fry.
Chestnut
Downtown New American restaurant with creative cuisine and craft cocktails.
Bargello
Italian fine dining inside the Kimpton Hotel Arras, downtown.
Posana
Dedicated gluten-free upscale farm-to-table restaurant, downtown.
8 Restaurants
Corner Kitchen
Beloved Biltmore Village bistro and brunch spot, rebuilt after catastrophic Hurricane Helene flooding and winner of an SBA Phoenix Award for its recovery.
Early Girl Eatery
Farm-to-table breakfast and lunch institution with three Asheville locations.
Sunny Point Cafe
Garden-to-table breakfast and brunch spot in West Asheville since 2003.
Tupelo Honey Southern Kitchen & Bar
Southern comfort-food restaurant chain founded in Asheville.
Biscuit Head
Southern biscuit-centric breakfast spot with three Asheville locations.
Rosetta’s Kitchen
Downtown plant-based Southern comfort food.
Jargon
Intimate West Asheville tasting-menu-style New American restaurant.
4 Restaurants
Red Stag Grill
Chophouse and restaurant inside the Grand Bohemian Lodge Asheville in Biltmore Village.
Sunset Terrace
Rooftop steak and seafood restaurant at the historic Omni Grove Park Inn, with sweeping mountain views.
3 Restaurants
12 Bones Smokehouse & Brewing
Legendary North Carolina BBQ, now at its combined smokehouse-and-brewery location in Arden.
Rye Knot
North Asheville’s first combined brewery-distillery-restaurant, Southern comfort/BBQ-style food, veteran-owned.
2 Restaurants
Jettie Rae’s Oyster House
New England-style seafood and oyster house, downtown/Charlotte St.
Bull and Beggar
French/European-inspired restaurant with a strong raw bar and oysters, confirmed reopened and operating well after Hurricane Helene flooding.
2 Restaurants
All Souls Pizza
Wood-fired, house-milled-flour pizza in the River Arts District.
Vinnie’s Neighborhood Italian
Old-school Italian restaurant with two locations (North Merrimon Ave and South/Hendersonville Rd).
9 Restaurants
Botiwalla
Indian street food and Indian-fusion fast-casual, with Downtown and West Asheville locations.
Neng Jr.’s
Acclaimed 17-seat Filipino-Southern fusion restaurant in West Asheville; reservations essential.
Gan Shan West
Asian-fusion noodles and dumplings in West Asheville.
Ukiah Japanese Smokehouse
Japanese soul food meets American BBQ, downtown.
Itto Ramen & Japanese Tapas
Ramen bar with three locations (Downtown, West Asheville, Arden).
Gypsy Queen Cuisine
Lebanese and Eastern Mediterranean restaurant and food truck in West Asheville.
Juancho’s Fonda
Colombian “soul kitchen” with an all-gluten-free menu, Sweeten Creek Rd.
La Rumba Restaurant Latino
Latin/Mexican restaurant with Veracruz-inspired dishes.
Baba Nahm
Fast-casual Middle Eastern food, now consolidated at the S&W Market food hall downtown.
2 Restaurants
Green Sage Cafe
Organic vegan and vegetarian counter-service cafe with multiple locations.
5 Restaurants
French Broad Chocolate
Chocolate lounge and factory cafe, downtown, with multiple locations.
West End Bakery
West Asheville bakery, reopened under new ownership after a prior closure scare.
OWL Bakery
Artisan bread and pastry bakery with West Asheville and North Asheville locations.
The Rhu
Bakery and cafe descended from the closed restaurant Rhubarb, reopened with an expanded menu.
4 Restaurants
Asheville Distilling Co. (Troy & Sons)
Whiskey and moonshine distillery on South French Broad Ave.
Cultivated Cocktails
Distillery and tavern with a kitchen, downtown.
The Crow and Quill
Craft cocktail bar, downtown, open evenings.
Sovereign Remedies
Craft cocktail bar and kitchen, reopened and currently operating.
4 Restaurants
Wicked Weed Brewing
Downtown brewpub with a full kitchen alongside its nationally known sour-beer program.
Burial Beer Co.
South Slope taproom plus its Forestry Camp location, which has a full kitchen and weekend brunch.
Hi-Wire Brewing
Biltmore Village, South Slope, and River Arts District Beer Garden taprooms with food.
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. – Mills River Taproom
Full-service restaurant plus casual Back Porch food, about 20 minutes from Asheville.
3 Restaurants
Baby Bull
Casual smashburger counter next to Bull and Beggar in the River Arts District.
Montgomery Sky Farm
50-acre working farm in Leicester offering reservation-only seasonal tasting menus and harvest dinners; chef Taylor Montgomery is a James Beard finalist.
Planning Tips for This Area
- Reserve ahead at the James Beard-recognized spots. Cúrate and Chai Pani in particular book up well in advance, especially on weekends.
- West Asheville and the River Arts District have their own scenes. Don’t limit yourself to downtown — Haywood Road in West Asheville and the studios along the French Broad River each have distinct, worthwhile restaurants.
- Many breweries have full kitchens now. Burial Beer’s Forestry Camp, Wicked Weed’s Brew Pub, and Hi-Wire’s taprooms are legitimate dinner options, not just beer stops.
- Some well-known names have closed or moved since Hurricane Helene. We verify current operating status on every listing — a few once-famous Asheville restaurants are still rebuilding or have closed for good.
What’s the best-known restaurant in Asheville?
Cúrate, chef Katie Button’s James Beard Award-winning Spanish tapas restaurant downtown, is probably Asheville’s most nationally recognized kitchen, alongside Chai Pani’s James Beard Award-winning Indian street food.
Where should I eat in West Asheville?
Neng Jr.’s (Filipino-Southern fusion), Jargon, Sunny Point Cafe, and Gan Shan West are all well-regarded West Asheville spots along or near the Haywood Road corridor.
How does NME choose which restaurants to feature?
We verify each restaurant directly against its own official site and current operating status rather than relying on aggregator lists, and we exclude anything we can’t confirm is still open. Read more on our methodology page.
Know a Restaurant We Missed?
If you know a great restaurant in Asheville we’re missing, email us and we’ll take a look.
Heading to Asheville?
See the full trip guide — where to stay and what to do, organized the same way, by category.
