Where to Eat
Celebrating its 20th year in business in 2021, Early Girl Eatery is a longtime staple for Southern comfort food. They’re open all day, but I’m partial to a breakfast visit. Their scratch-made buttermilk multigrain pancakes are hands down the best you’ll ever have.
Blink and you’ll miss OWL (Old World Levain) Bakery! Great for grabbing a coffee and a pastry to go, this West Asheville bakery is small but incredibly mighty. I like to treat myself to a fancy latte and a classic chocolate croissant, but you can’t go wrong with any of the more creative seasonal pastries and breads, including cardamom buns, fig & coriander loaves, and lemon curd tarts.
Don’t let the location fool you: even though Asheville is in Western North Carolina, Buxton Hall Barbecue specializes in Eastern Carolina whole-hog ’cue. A collaboration between pitmaster Elliott Moss and Asheville restaurateur and five-time James Beard Award nominee Meherwan Irani (whose Indian street food restaurant Chai Pani is another downtown Asheville winner), Buxton Hall highlights pasture-raised pit-smoked meats and local produce. The pulled whole-hog barbecue is the star here, but don’t sleep on the veggies. I dream about their Southern stewed baby limas.
I could eat tacos almost every day, and White Duck Taco Shop (which has three locations in the Asheville area) boasts more than enough affordable options to keep me coming back for more every time I’m in town. If I see fried chicken on any menu, it’s almost always a must-order for me, so I gravitate toward the crispy chicken BLT taco here. Other unique selections include the Korean beef bulgogi, banh mi tofu, and the eponymous roast duck with mole sauce. Order two tacos—three if you’re really hungry—at the counter, grab a seat outside, and enjoy.
Whenever I recommend Rhubarb to people unfamiliar with the restaurant or its lauded chef, I start with one simple sentence: John Fleer is a vegetable wizard. Owner and executive chef John Fleer’s freestyle American cuisine is rooted in Appalachia, highlighting bounty procured from Asheville’s surrounding farmers and producers, with each produce-forward plate reflecting Chef Fleer’s ability to transform seasonal local ingredients into a world-class dish . . . like a wizard. The hyper-seasonal menu changes frequently (if you see ramps dishes on the menu this spring, order them all!), but the pimiento cheese hush puppies with comeback sauce and Sunburst North Carolina trout with seasonal vegetables are delightful constants. Make your reservation in advance and request a patio table for some fern-laced people watching in neighboring Pack Square.