Where to eat in Asheville: lists by category

Last checked Oct. 12, 2026. Refreshed every three months.

These are our plain, alphabetical lists of places to eat in Asheville, one page per kind of food. Each list gives the address, the hours the place publishes on its own website and a phone number. None of them is a ranking, and nobody pays to be on them.

How we made these lists. The places come from OpenStreetMap records inside Asheville’s city limits, the same data behind our local directory, checked against each place’s own website on Oct. 12, 2026. Places we added name their source on each page. Run a restaurant? Write to us to correct your entry.

Where the food is

Across the lists, the same few corridors come up again and again. Downtown and the South Slope have the widest choice, from pizza and dim sum to ice cream. Haywood Road in West Asheville is the breakfast and bakery strip. Merrimon Avenue in North Asheville has pizza, barbecue, Mexican food and Italian ice within a mile, and Biltmore Park and Hendersonville Road serve South Asheville.

The lists

Where to get wings. Nine places, most of them bars and taverns, from Barley’s and Pack’s Tavern downtown to Hickory Tavern and Taco Boy in Biltmore Park and The Social on Tunnel Road.

Where to get pizza. Fourteen pizza places, clustered downtown and in the South Slope, on Merrimon Avenue and on Haywood Road, with the delivery chains on Tunnel and Fairview roads.

Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants. Thirteen restaurants and taco shops, from Mountain Madre and White Duck Taco Shop downtown to Papa’s and Beer on Tunnel Road and Brevard Road and Taco Billy on Haywood Road.

Where to get barbecue. Four barbecue restaurants inside the city limits: Bear’s Smokehouse in the South Slope, Huli Sue’s in the Grove Arcade and Luella’s on Merrimon Avenue and in Biltmore Park.

Breakfast and coffee. Twenty-two breakfast spots and coffee shops, with the biggest cluster on Haywood Road in West Asheville and 24-hour breakfast on Smokey Park Highway.

Where to get burgers. Nine burger places, including Baby Bull near the River Arts District, Universal Joint on Haywood Road and Juicy Lucy’s on Hendersonville Road.

Sushi and Asian restaurants. Nine Japanese, Chinese, Thai and Indian restaurants, mostly downtown and on Haywood Road.

Ice cream and desserts. Twelve ice cream, gelato, doughnut and dessert shops, most of them within a few blocks of each other downtown.

Bakeries. Ten bakeries, bagel shops and doughnut makers, on Charlotte Street, Broadway, Haywood Road and Merrimon Avenue.

Patios and outdoor dining. Eleven restaurants and cafes whose own sites say they have a patio, outdoor seating or a beer garden.

More from our food pages

Brunch in Asheville. Brunch days and hours from each restaurant’s own site, downtown, in Biltmore Village, West Asheville, Montford and Biltmore Park.

Date night in Asheville. Ideas for an evening out, from dinner to music.

Restaurant inspections. How to look up a Buncombe County restaurant’s inspection score and what the grades mean.

Local business directory. Every listing behind these pages, searchable by category.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I find a list of Asheville restaurants by type of food?

Asheville Live keeps alphabetical lists for wings, pizza, Mexican, barbecue, breakfast and coffee, burgers, sushi and Asian, ice cream and desserts, bakeries and patios, each with addresses, hours from the restaurant’s own site and phone numbers.

Are these restaurant lists rankings?

No. Every list is alphabetical and includes each place we could confirm on its own website inside the city limits. Nobody pays to be listed.

How often are the Asheville restaurant lists updated?

Each list was last checked Oct. 12, 2026, and is refreshed every three months. Restaurants can write to us through our contact page to correct an entry.

Where can I check an Asheville restaurant’s inspection score?

Our restaurant inspections page explains how to look up Buncombe County inspection scores and what the grades mean.