Asheville Is for Foodies

Presented in partnership with Explore Asheville.

The award-winning food scene in Asheville is one of the best in the United States, and that’s immediately clear when you consider the options around town, which are a veritable culinary United Nations.

Cucina 24 is a five-course trip to dinner in Italy, with a menu that changes daily. Nine Mile is a vegetable-forward Jamaican spot named for the birthplace of Bob Marley with three locations around town. Award-winning Cúrate and its casual sister restaurant La Bodega transport diners to Spain through an extensive menu of tapas, jamón, croquetas, and vermouths. Chai Pani is a feast of Indian street food: chaats, pavs, uttapams, thalis, and lassis. Ukiah Japanese Smokehouse marries Japanese soul food with American BBQ — collard greens with shichimi dressing, yakiniku-style baby back ribs. White Duck Tacos serves a medley of global flavors at its Downtown, River Arts District, and Skyland locations: banh mi tofu, jerk chicken, Korean beef bulgogi, and Thai peanut chicken.

For more traditional Southern flavors, head to 12 Bones Smokehouse for BBQ, Benne on Eagle for highly regarded Appalachian-influenced soul food, and Rhubarb for elevated Southern classics.

You may know that Asheville has a thriving craft beer scene, but you might not expect that the area is one of top emerging wine destinations in the United States, thanks to a favorable Western North Carolina terroir that rivals those of France and California. Sample the local wines at Plēb Urban Winery in the River Arts District and Addison Farms Vineyard, and find bottles to take home at Appalachian Vintner.

What do you pair with great local wine? Great local cheese. The 11 creameries and dairies along the Western North Carolina Cheese Trail — many family-run and multi-generational — produce an impressive array of cow, goat, and sheep cheeses. Visitors can tour the farms and taste a variety of award-winning cheeses.

Asheville Really Is for Everyone

Get more of the best of Asheville for nature lovers, families, wellness seekers, crafters and makers, and music buffs.