Best for lunch and dinner in Asheville?
 

I'll have two days in Asheville next week, and am looking for suggestions for lunch and dinner. Have heard that Savoy is excellent; is this still correct? How about someplace fun for lunch?

Any special/unusual shopping suggestions also appreciated. Thanks!

Go have at least one meal at The Grove Park Inn. Beautiful place.

We had lunch at the Mellow Mushroom, a very casual, funky place. The food was good and the people watching was great. Love all the dreadlocks.

Two days in Asheville - why not have dinner at The Biltmore?? It's lovely and there's a few restaurants - you can probably make reservations and have a great day and evening too.

We truly enjoyed it - it was dinner in a beautifully done old dairy - yes and it was done well. Food was excellent and we had quite a treat! They also served their own wines with dinner - they were also quite good - especially Cardinal Crest.

Savoy is hit or miss. I've had good antipasti there but terrible fish preparation. The wine selection is good and the atmosphere is upscale and lively. I think you would have a nice evening there, but if you are "all about the food" you might be disappointed.

Salsa is Carribbean food, ecclectic presentation, 6-7 new specials every day (I ALWAYS order off the specials page) organic, local ingredients whenever possible. The chef is the real deal, originally from Puerto Rico via NYC. Salsa is always good, and sometimes you get lucky and a dish is just transcendent. Open lunch and dinner. Often a line out the door. Casual, funky decor.

Same chef has a dinner-only restuarant that is a Spanish wine and tappas bar. Also very good, but has a touch of hit or miss to it. Try to get a table in the alcoves in back. Make sure to order some bread, try the Juan Ramon Rioja, any dish w/ the Applewood bacon is sinful, scallops usually good. Skip the desserts except the bread pudding if it's offered.
Other lunch: Blue Moon Bakery, Laughing Seed Cafe (vegetarian), Doc Chey's noodles, Picnic for roast chicken, duck and veggies, Marios for pizza.

I don't think the Grove Park Inn has memorable food, but the views are spectacular.

Shopping: Blue Spiral Gallery (fine art), New Morning Gallery and Bellagio (a bit more crafty) all owned by same group..who also own the alternative theater right downtown. Black Dome (mtn sports), Compliments to the Chef, Tops shoes, Mast General Store, and about 2 dozen vintage clothing stores where you can get a peircing or two as well. There is a thriving hippie/street kid culture (not scary at all) that's fun to people-watch. Stroll down Biltmore past Pack Square, roam the two adjoining streets. Which reminds me Rosetta's Kitchen is a hippie/veggie restaurant down near the tattoo parlor and used CD zone.

The opposite end of the spectrum is at the Biltmore village shops. Mostly "old-people" stores (and might I point out that my definition of old people keeps getting older and older as I approach that territory myself) except for the aforementioned New Morning and Bellagio where they have fabulous overpriced handmade jewelery.

Well, I've written a book. IF you have specific interests, let me know. I hope you are planning to do some outdoorsy stuff while here.

Thanks for all the suggestions . . . litespeed chick, do you know the name/location of the tapas place? I know I've read about it (w/good reviews) but don't know where I found the information . . .and Salsa sounds great for lunch. Actually, we now live less than 2 hrs from Asheville so it's my new favorite destination; I'll work my way through this list.

Has anyone eaten at 23 Page lately? Comments?

The tapas place is Zambras, and it's great. IMHO eating at Biltmore was something of a rip-off from the point of view of value for dollar, and my wine-snob pal (I don't drink) says the wines are actually pretty ordinary, except for one or two of the reserves. Mellow Mushroom is a chain down this way, nothing special. Biltmore Village has a couple of the really good art galleries/shops including the two Litespeed mentioned in it and the church there is historic, so don't dismiss it entirely (it's also handy to Biltmore). I don't think you've "done" Asheville without checking out the Grove Park Inn at least to look at the setting, but can't speak for the food.

The Richmond Hill Inn is wonderful for dinner. Beautiful setting and delicious food. We do not recommend the Grove Park Inn! (Mediocre food and service.)

I've read several good suggestions, but I'm not clear on your needs. Can you give us some idea of your budget? food you don't like? atmosphere you are looking for?

Mike Honeycutt

Go to Salsa, it is great (and cheap).

That was goofy of me to recommend Zambra (tappas)without giving it's name, sorry. It's located on Walnut street, right in downtown, just off the road that goes past the civic center. (Salsa is on Patton avenue just before Pack Square).

I think the wine snob was being charitable to call Biltmore wines "ordinary".

I think 23 Page is closed. Where do you live now? I'm an hour away and Asheville is a day trip for us 2-3 times a month.

Soccr: it appears we have similar tastes. Do you remember specifics of shops I have missed in Biltmore? I strive to be an equal-opportunity shopper :-) Any rest. in town I have overlooked?

BTW, the mountain sports festival is in town this weekend, if the rain holds off it should be fun. Urban assault bike competition, etc. Hector (of Salsa fame) was cooking outdoors at the festival last year. I have my fingers crossed.

We just spent the weekend in Asheville. Had dinner at Salsa on Friday night...it was really good. On Sat. night we had reservations for The Flying Frog Cafe. It was excellent. The menu is varies betw. german, indian, and continental food. I had the crab cakes and they were the best I've ever eaten. My husband had the filet mijon special and it was also good. Enjoy!! I loved our trip.

Litespeed -- I was being euphemistic using the word "ordinary" about the Biltmore wines. There's a lot to like and admire about the Biltmore Estates, but .....

As for other shops in Biltmore Village, I'm stuck for names and yes, you do have to figure out which are the Christmas and Grandmother shops and which have actual and original art work or decent antiques -- I seem to remember an impressive art glass gallery over toward the train station that's now a Melting Pot, and nearby another modest gallery. I treat places like Bellagio and New Morning as museums -- look, imagine owning, walk out with wallet intact.

However, I was pleasantly surprised by the crafts shop at the entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway -- was expecting endless "eyes of god," rickety baskets, and carved-bear keychains, but found some excellent weaving, ceramics, glass, painting, jewelry among all that. NB: Pittsburgher.

Re:Richmond Hill -- I found it slightly overhyped, but I don't want to rule it out for anyone else. It's set in an odd part of town and does, indeed, have a nice distant view although you have to go through a little industrial stuff to get there. The food was sometimes stellar and sometimes a mis-fire -- dried or oversalted. We were there at a very busy time, however, and I'm guessing you'd do well in midweek and probably lunch is a good choice (although you have to drive some to get there). It has pretty grounds and is at its best at dusk.

Again, thanks for the great suggestions! Litespeed Chick, we now live in Kingsport, Tennessee, which is about 1:45 to FreshMarket! Mike, we like pretty much anything that IS NOT a franchise restaurant, and these recommendations all sound wonderful. We ate at Vincencio's (?) when we were there for St Patrick's Day run; it was good, but it looks like there are many wonderful options. We are actually staying at the Inn at Biltmore this trip (on a work-related conference) but I'll have two full days to eat and shop, hike and eat. Maybe I should change our res. for Savoy and try the Flying Frog Cafe!
And 23 Page still has an active website . . .

I also think the Biltmore wines still need some work. They used to be really bad but have improved tremendously.

As for my recommendation of the Grove Park Inn, most definitely for the view and not for the food.

Trip report: Dinner at Savoy was excellent; four people, all of us loved everything on the table. Had lunch at Bistro at Inn on Biltmore (near the winery) -- very good. Other meals were part of conference package for event we were attending, but I'm keeping this list for future trips. The Inn was really nice, but might get a little dull after 3 days . . . but I can't wait to go to Asheville again!