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Eat & Drink

Overview

Entering a Foodie’s Paradise

Craft beer? Check. Barbecue? Of course. Indian street food? Wait, what?

Asheville is known not only for its dynamic food scene and microbreweries but also for ethnic and exotic dining, including vegetarian and vegan options at nearly all of the area’s 250-plus independent restaurants. From blueberry-chipotle barbecue sauce to pizza made with house-milled grains, to Indian street food-inspired kale pakoras, Asheville’s culinary offerings surprise and delight. We believe each meal is a celebration. A revelation. And a transcendent experience. Foodies, welcome to paradise.

Liquid refreshment shares the culinary spotlight. Named Beer City, USA, Asheville has more microbreweries per capita than any other city — stick with the classics or go rogue with a brew made with unusual ingredients like raspberry, blood orange or beets. Wine aficionados will find more than 20 vintages at the Biltmore’s winery, the most visited winery in the US. If you want to take it up a notch, craft cocktails around town can range from envelope-pushing to retro.

Here in Asheville, we never forget where our food comes from. In addition to chatting up chefs about their partnerships with local farmers, visitors who want to learn more about Asheville’s farm-to-table food scene can tour local farms, explore the Western NC Cheese Trail or take a hands-on culinary workshop.

Restaurants

Asheville’s restaurants run the gamut from barbeque to vegetarian, to seafood, four-star cuisine to down-home cooking, and literally every kind of ethnicity in-between. Our locally-run and unique restaurant scene lets visitors choose their own culinary adventure.

We recommend starting your day with a fresh cup of craft coffee. For breakfast, you can go sweet at a friendly neighborhood bakery or savory with the kind of down-home, lip-smacking good, Southern-inspired meal you won’t find anywhere else in the country. Dinner might take you around the world with a James Beard award-winning chef or back in time with traditional favorites that have been tested to perfection over the centuries in the Appalachia mountains.

Your Asheville epicurean escapade wouldn’t be complete without dessert. And here, you can satisfy your sweet tooth with out-of-this-world ice cream flavors, perfect pies or chocolate indulgences.

Breweries

Remember when beer was not cool? No, neither do we. As far as we know, craft beer has always been hip, and Asheville has always been the center of the craft beer universe—well, at least since 1994, when Oscar Wong, a retired engineer, opened Highland Brewing Company in a rustic basement space below Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria in downtown Asheville. Today, Asheville has earned the designation, Beer City USA, with more craft breweries per capita than any other US city. You can check out the sudsy scene with tours festivals and tastings.

Our local brewers range from national operations to niche barrel houses, ensuring that there’s something to suite everyone’s taste and mood. Traditional stout to experimental – looking at you, donut beer – our brewers are constantly pushing the boundaries and making old-favorites even better.

The best part? What makes our community of brewers so great is that they embrace Asheville’s lifestyle and values as much as we do. That means, you can take part in brewery-hosted community events and family-friendly spaces where you can even bring along Fido, all while enjoying your favorite craft brew.

Feeling festive? Beer City Festival is held in late spring, Winter Warmer perks up the winter doldrums and Brewgrass marks the start of leaf-peeping season in early fall.

Farm-To-Table Scene

In Asheville, “farm-to-table” is the real deal. Fish that were swimming in a on a Tuesday morning might be the catch of the day at high-end Asheville restaurants that evening. Carolina Bison, a working farm and research facility that’s open for tours, specializes in lean, flavorful bison meat, selling it as steaks, roasts and sausages.

In addition to dining at Asheville’s many farm-to-table restaurants, there are several ways visitors can share in the region’s agricultural bounty. Check out the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project for information on where to find local food, events and farmer’s markets.

For the DIY set, several farms let visitors pick their own berries, apples and vegetables. Asheville is also home to many local tailgate markets, all selling farm-fresh produce and artisan goods. Artists, bakers, cheese makers and more converge each week to provide the best in locally made products.

Finally, make time, and room in your stomach, for the Western NC Cheese Trail which takes visitors to the heart of the artisan cheese movement, introducing four award-winning cheese makers.

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Rankings

Best Cities for Beer Drinkers

2016 Smart Asset

The New Top Ten Cities for Wine Snobs

2016 Travel Channel

#11

Southern Cities All Food Lovers Should Visit Now

2017 Southern Living

Hottest Food City

2016 Zagat

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273

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More than 100

Local craft beers

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Weaver House

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Asheville Visitor Center

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Eat & Drink

Overview

Entering a Foodie’s Paradise

Restaurants

Breweries

Farm-To-Table Scene

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Relocation Package

Your Resource on Moving to Asheville

Rankings

Facts & Figures

Featured Members

Asheville Visitor Center