Favorite Restaurants

Cúrate

French restaurant in East Asheville created by Michel Baudouin, owner of Bouchon, offering french comfort food, an extensive wine list & more.

RendezVous

Chai Pani

Asheville's longest running music venue — 25 years and counting! Known for its excellent sound, great beer selection, intimate setting, and attentive audiences, The Grey Eagle’s ambiance has always made for a one-of-a-kind concert experience.

The Grey Eagle is an intimate live music venue known for booking the best up-and-coming, regional, and national talent. Plus, crazy-good food from their in-house taqueria that's open every day 11am-8pm. Extended restaurant hours for ticket holders.

The Grey Eagle Music Hall & Taqueria

Asheville's original, premiere craft cocktail lounge. Local ingredients and local flavors accented by a rooftop view. Eat, drink, and be social!

Great vibes, excellent bar staff, and seriously classy ambiance. Feels like a speakeasy martini bar

The Social Lounge

Benne on Eagle honors the African-American roots of Appalachian cooking & pays homage to the history of the Block. ALL are welcome,  from those who grew up in and around The Block, to folks who might be visiting.

Benne on Eagle is progressing forward and integrating new food techniques and methods while looking back to history to learn and bring awareness to culinary traditions from the African-American culture of The Block.

Benne on Eagle

Serving market-fresh tacos in a bright, casual space on Beechham's Curve in West Asheville.

Taco Billy

Chef John Fleer, a four time James Beard nominee creates a menu that is inspired by seasonal and local ingredients and pays homage to the bounty of regional and American cooking. Rhubarb serves lunch, dinner, brunch and a communal Sunday Supper.

"From start to finish, our dinner at Rhubarb was one of our all-time favorites in Asheville. Impressive, delicious, yet unpretentious dishes, and the service was phenomenal -- one of the best experiences we've ever had! Definitely coming back!"

Rhubarb

Bouchon is the quintessential French Bistro, serving French Comfort Food, along with chic, French, and unpretentiously priced wine.

"We've been putting off trying you guys for four years.  We kind of assumed you were overrated.  Gosh, were we dumb." - Sam C.

French comfort food inspired by the local bouchons in Lyon, France

Bouchon French Bistro

Dig Local has your guide to Asheville drink and food specials happening around you today including the best brunch in Asheville, taco Tuesday locales, and food truck specials.

Asheville’s Daily Drink and Food Specials - DigLocal Asheville NC

Dig Local shares daily & weekend Asheville entertainment like food and beer festivals, crafts and arts events, local music venues, shows, theaters, local musicians, performers and more.

Asheville Food, Beer, Arts & Music Festivals & Events - DigLocal Asheville NC

When it comes to the most “dog-friendly cities in America, Asheville, NC makes the grade. According to an extensive rating system “Bring Fido” ranks Asheville second only to Portland, Oregon as THE most dog-friendly city. (BTW, what’s up with all of the AVL vs PDX competition? We’re always vying for the title of “Beer City” with our Oregonian counterparts, too!) But back to the dog thing. We dig it! 

So yes, indeed, Ashevillians love their canine companions as do many of the visitors who travel with their dog in tow. So it’s pretty obvious that one of the draws of this area for dog lovers is the massive hiking trail systems in our Blue Ridge mountains. Our access to the great outdoors is hard to beat. But, alas, our city slicker friends still have plenty of opportunities to bring their dogs along if getting into the woods is not their jam. Strolling the extensive new greenway system along the French Broad River and through the River Arts District is really fun and there are dog waste stations along the way, too. The vast majority of Ashevillians are very respectful about picking up poo, thank goodness. 

Places in town. There are many dog-friendly bars, breweries and restaurants in Asheville where you can comfortably take your dog for an outdoor patio outing. Most of the hotels allow pets and we even have the Wag Bar- a bar serving adult beverages attached to, you guessed it, a dog park. While there is a fee to take your buddy to this dog park, there are also several public dog parks maintained by the City of Asheville that are completely free.

Many people love to take time to visit The North Carolina Arboretum which is extremely dog friendly and has over 10 miles of hiking trails along creeks and through beautiful gardens. We love taking Ruby and MoJo (the Dig Local mascot duo) to explore this area. Admission is only $16 per car so load up your friends and their dogs for a day of fun. 

For those of you with deeper pockets the Biltmore Estate is an awesome place to take your dog. Did you know that George Vanderbilt was a big fan of big dogs? He had a beloved Saint Bernard named Cedric who had full reign of the estate and would cozy up to the plethora of fireplaces on very expensive Persian rugs (there are photos!) And although you can’t take your dog inside the 250 room “house”, There are 8000 acres of outdoor spaces to roam. Dogs are welcomed to wander the paths of the well manicured landscaped gardens. And don’t miss the miles of nice trails along the Swannanoa River. You may even see a dog cruising down the river on a paddle board (with a human, of course.)

And finally one of the very best things about Asheville is that we still have locally owned and operated vet clinics! We did a little research and what many people don’t know is that most vet clinics and hospitals in the U.S. have been acquired by private equity groups. We dig that we have some of the last “hold outs” who refuse to sell out and offer the best in veterinary care. We also have some incredible LOCAL pet supply shops who have been in business for decades even when large corporations set up shop a stone’s throw away. Offering specialty goods & food, training services, and unbeatable lived experience as fellow pet-lovers, we dig these businesses! We even have makers in town that rescue spent beer grain and turn it into delicious (according to MoJo and Ruby) dog treats! Ashevillians love supporting our local dog-friendly business and know that by doing so their dollars stay within the Asheville community. 

That’s it for now. Gotta take the girls out for a quick jaunt and maybe a beer. Asheville makes


Favorite Restaurants

Ellen F.

Some favorite things that make Asheville like no other place on the planet.

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