UPDATED Life and death on the Asheville restaurant scene
Thai Eggplant Stack with seasonal veggies and a pearl barley salad from the now-closed Asheville Public.
2013 closings Jan.-Feb.
The Asheville Public
Cafe Azalea
Bistro 1896
Tomato Cucina Latina
Boca
The Birdhouse Cafe
Brioso Fresh Pasta (Biltmore Park)
Sugar Momma’s Cookies
Mr. Frog’s Soul and Creole closed in December
Restaurants expected to open in 2013
DOWNTOWN
The Green Room (bar with light menu)
The SOUTH SLOPE
King Daddy’s Chicken & Waffles
Beer City Pretzel Company
Ben’s Tune-up
The RAD
New riverside restaurant and bar “constructed from shipping containers” from Matthew Logan, owner of the 5 Walnut bar on Walnut Street downtown
Whoever moves in to the vacant Magnetic Field
NORTH
The Shambles Bar & Eatery (charcuterie in the old Blue Water Seafood location on Charlotte Street)
EAST
Cafe Azalea under new ownership
WEST
Zia Taqueria (opens today)
Location TBD
And the beat goes on. Good luck to the 2013 lineup!
Category: Asheville food and drink
Did Brioso in Biltmore Park close? We went there Saturday night around 7pm and the restaurant was dark, with a light in the kitchen and a “closed” sign on the door.
It does appear that they have closed.
Yes, it definitely did close.
I don’t understand the restaurant scene in Asheville….it seems like every year we see a dozen places close and a dozen places open. Great food and poor service yields a mediocre meal at best. Sadly we find this to be the case more often than not in Asheville. Love the food, loathe the service.
Today’s lunch our server, after 10 minutes, says “oh, I was going to take your order when I came over” I swear on my arm this is true. it will be another 6 months before we go back…
Lori, agreed that service is a problem in Asheville. Try Laughing Seed for a welcome change of pace.
Hahahaha…good one
Yeah, I’m trying to figure this comment out.
Service in Asheville is terrible. It’s not just servers either. Bartenders are seriously lazy around here.
hey Lori, couldn’t agree with you more about the service aspect. i’ll put myself out here and expect to get mauled, smacked, hated-on. but i still have to say a bit about what some service folks and foodies won’t speak up on, or are just too “pc”,{gosh, i hate that term). however, as I see it…here i go:
There are(is) a dying culture of “professional” service people in ashe. it costs alot to live here, and a one job gig won’t pay the rent. i am one of them.i am lucky. my house is paid for.
Empolyers,not all,but many seem to be of the mind-set “we would rather train someone new than hire someone with bad habits”.seen it,heard it. there it is.
Local former employers can be very vindictive in references. this is still a hard place to grab and keep a good gig. harder when an employer wants to poison you.
And here it goes..(i cringe now)…even though i have 30+ years working behind a bar and managing the same, i keep ending up at the short end of the stick when i decided to come back to work after a short retirement pertaining to being a caregiver for my mom. t&a sells. period. accept it and move on.
I try my best when i work.always.no exceptions.no texting. no girlfriend coming to my place when i work.no drugs,texting,or situations.
The level of service is lowered by the employer, not the employee. simple economics. you get what you pay for.
EXACTLY. You get what you pay for. I recently read an article that a place with consistently grumpy or slow servers is probably a sign that something is not right in the place and that they’re likely not being treated well (i.e. 90% of service industry work in AVL). The article also made the point that the right to be disgruntled is a valid way to handle work when you’re being exploited.
One can say, that’s not my fault, why should the server take it out on me, as a customer? But then try being paid $2.13 an hour, and sometimes going home at the end of a shift with 30 bucks because it’s been a slow night or you get stuck with asshole tourists.
Whew, you would think it hadn’t been a full decade since I’ve waited tables–still bitter! : )
Hi Fido,
No need to hold back in this forum…glad to see that I am not alone in my thinking. In Europe servers are highly regarded and take pride in their career. In Asheville it feels like a lot of people from other parts of the country move here, then try to figure out their career path. With zero industry other than tourism, many of these folks are serving, working several jobs because the reality of having to work in Asheville has set in. This is a wonderful place to call home if you are retired. For those, myself included, who are not retired we have to adapt to the wonkiness that is Asheville. This means dealing with servers who, for the most part, can’t believe that they relocated here leaving their $50,000 a year job and now they’re waiting tables struggling to pay the rent.
I wish restaurant owners would adapt as well and create incentives to retain professional staff. Poor apathetic service is contagious and leaves a bad taste in thy customers mouth.
Peace y’all
Why do so many people seem to believe the problems of poor restaurant service, bad winter weather drivers, and starving artists (just to pick on three recent topics of Ashvegas posts) are limited to Asheville? Are people really that insular?
I cringe every time I hear someone say, “Asheville has the worst (fill in the blank) in the world.” Not because I’m blind to the limitations of this city and region, but because it’s impossible to make those kind of absolute claims with any certainty.
Why does something have to be unique to Asheville, or the “worst” or “best” of something, to be worthy of discussion, though? From what I’ve read the discussions on these issues have just said, “This is a problem here,” and have gone on to discuss the particulars of the Asheville art market, or the correlation between poor service and the high cost of living, or whatever. If someone occasionally drops a little hyperbole into the conversation, it hardly makes the whole conversation irrelevant.
Because when “a little hyperbole” is dropped into the conversation,the fundamental argument of why service is poor or why drivers are bad or why the art market is slow is generally relegated to merely local factors. In many cases, these aren’t unique to Asheville, although some people would have you believe that.
“Are people really that insular?”
That’s a rhetorical questions, right?
Restaurant management is responsible for all aspects of a restaurant’s operation. If service is poor it is because management tolerates it and/or doesn’t put in the time to coach or correct. Well-run restaurants respect their customers and their employees. Customers can and should vote with their feet. That said, there is that segment of restaurant-goers who will choose the $5.99 plate with poor service over the $7.49 plate with good service, and so there will always be restaurants who cater to them.
thanks ..i was really scared to say what i believe truth only what only my only my a personal
My partner and I eat out rather often (2-4 x week) for various meals (lunch, brunch, dinner, drink & snacks, etc.). We’ve found service in Asheville to be hit or miss. Some places are excellent, some are okay and others are just not good. I feel that sometimes simply being nice to the servers goes a long way. Sometimes it doesn’t. I have had experience with blatantly rude servers and while I am by nature far from being a rude person, such behavior will test my patience. I don’t think many servers realize that a good attitude and attentive service will benefit them financially. Why some choose to cut off their nose to spite their face by providing poor service is beyond me. Being a good server is something to take pride in. If you’re a server and find yourself miserable doing it, please, do us all a favor and find another occupation!