The best restaurants in Asheville

An eating town

Asheville turned into a serious food town a while ago, and it has the James Beard hardware to back it up. These are the long-standing destination tables — the ones worth a reservation, plus the casual institutions worth the wait.

How we pick: these are long-running, well-reviewed places, not paid placements — we favor spots with a steady track record and strong current standing in public reviews (Google and Yelp), checked as of June 2026. We don't run our own star ratings. Hours, ownership, and reviews all change; check the latest before you go.

The destination tables

• Cúrate — chef Katie Button's Spanish tapas bar on Biltmore Avenue, widely credited with kicking off Asheville's rise as a food destination. Get the pan con tomate and the gambas al ajillo.
• Chai Pani — Meherwan Irani's Indian street-food spot, which won the James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurant in 2022. It tops most local lists for a reason.
• Rhubarb — chef John Fleer's seasonal, farm-to-table room on Pack Square; the Asheville benchmark for refined-but-unfussy mountain cooking.

Barbecue and Southern

• Buxton Hall Barbecue — whole-hog, eastern-Carolina-style barbecue on the South Slope, with the pimento cheese and the banana pudding to match. First-come, first-served.
• Tupelo Honey — the original location of the Southern-comfort chain started right here; the biscuits are the move for a downtown brunch.

One honest caveat: the best tables book up, especially on weekends and through leaf season. Reserve ahead, or go early.