Visiting Black Mountain? Here are 10 popular restaurants to check out
Looking for somewhere to eat in Black Mountain? Try one of these 10 restaurants, ranging from classic Cuban cuisine to traditional American fare.
Berliner Kindl German Restaurant
After being in Black Mountain for more than three decades, Berliner Kindl is one of the oldest restaurants in town.
Sharon Trube, who co-owns the restaurant with her husband, described Berliner Kindl as a “cozy, Bavarian type setting.”
“We’re not your typical restaurant,” Trube said. “We’re a true German restaurant, so that’s definitely different.”
She said her favorite menu items, as well as the most popular, include the jagerschnitzel and the Reuben sandwich. The menu also features a selection of German beers and wines.
Location: 121 Broadway Ave.
Hours: 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday.
Black Mountain Bistro
Owner Amy Lyda worked her way through the restaurant business before purchasing Black Mountain Bistro in 2005. She said she graduated college and worked in the industry managing and bartending and decided to open her own restaurant when the space became available.
Lyda said when she opened Black Mountain Bistro in 2005, there weren’t many restaurants in town and she wanted to fill that gap. She settled on a menu that would “appeal to the masses,” a traditional American menu with what she described as a “Southern flair.”
She said the restaurant fosters a sense of family, with plenty of returning customers and even tourists coming back year after year. In addition to returning customers, Lyda said many of her employees have been working at Black Mountain Bistro for years.
“People feel comfortable because we’ve been there for so long,” Lyda said. “That’s the best way to describe it. We have a sign in our restaurant that says, ‘Where friends become family,’ and it has that family feel just because everybody’s been there for so long.”
Lyda said her favorite menu item is the blackberry pork chop.
Location: 203 East State St.
Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday.
Bush Farmhouse
Opened in 2021 by Mark Henegan, Bush Farmhouse offers diners South African-themed food with a local twist.
Henegan described the restaurant as a “little bit of a destination vacation to South Africa in Black Mountain.” He said he likes to keep the menu “outside the box.”
He said Bush Farmhouse strives to use local ingredients, along with produce and vegetables from the on-site garden.
“A little cultural diversity and something a little bit unique and a little bit different,” Henegan said. “We have a farm, we have donkeys and pigs. We’re almost like a little oasis within Black Mountain that’s a very unique place where we grow our own vegetables and produce.”
In addition to its food services, Bush Farmhouse also acts as an event space that handles live music, weddings, rehearsal dinners and more.
Henegan said one of his favorite menu items are the tiger prawns.
Location: 151 South Ridgeway Ave.
Hours: Monday-Saturday 11 a.m.-9p.m. Sunday 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Cousins Cuban Café
Born in Miami to Cuban immigrants, Betty Sperry has been engulfed in Cuban food her whole life.
She and her family would vacation in Black Mountain, and when her cousins bought The Dancing Dragonfly shop, Sperry decided to open Cousins Cuban Café next door.
“I had a restaurant in Miami,” Sperry said. “So when we moved here, we wanted to bring authentic Cuban homemade food to the area.”
Along with authentic Cuban cuisine, the restaurant also offers what Sperry called “great” coffee. Breakfast is served from 9 a.m.-11 a.m. and lunch served from 11 a.m. until close at 3 p.m. Sperry said while it is difficult to find vegan Cuban food, she offers vegan, vegetarian and gluten free options for her dishes so everyone can enjoy what Cousins Cuban Café has to offer.
Sperry said her two favorite menu items are the media noche, a Cuban-like sandwich on a softer, more sweet roll, and the picadillo bowl, which is seasoned ground beef with capers, olives, tomatoes, onions and raisins.
Location: 108 Broadway Ave.
Hours: 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Thursday-Tuesday. Closed Wednesday.
Milton’s
For a more upscale dinner, head to The Monte Vista Hotel, where inside Milton’s offers a Southern fine dining experience.
Hunter Smith-Kennemore, one of the managers of Milton’s said one of the goals of the restaurant is to keep “on theme” with Black Mountain and emphasize local food.
“Kind of keeping with the historic theme of Black Mountain, we want to give a fine dining experience to locals and travelers,” Smith-Kennemore said. “The idea is kind of upscale Southern, a lot of colorful plates full of flavor and local vegetation and just really trying to emphasize the lay of the land here.”
Milton’s features a cyclical menu that changes with the seasons and is going to introduce a new menu in September.
Location: 308 West State St. inside The Monte Vista Hotel.
Hours: 5 p.m.-9 p.m.
My Father’s Pizza & Pasta
A family-owned restaurant since 1990, My Father’s Pizza and Pasta is home to classic pizza and pasta dishes made from family recipes.
Originally opened by Larry and Donna Robinson, the restaurant used recipes from Larry Robinson’s father, known as “Big Larry,” according to current owner Chloe Riddle.
When the Robinsons were ready to retire in 2010, they sold the restaurant to Micki Cowan who had been serving at My Father’s Pizza & Pasta for more than 25 years. When Cowan decided to retire in 2019, she passed the restaurant on to her daughter, Riddle.
Riddle said she considers the restaurant to still be family-owned as her mother had worked there for as long as she can remember and she refers to the original owners as Uncle Larry and Aunt Donna.
The family theme runs throughout the business, as Riddle said she sees families come back to the restaurant again and again, making it a tradition of their own.
“The thing I hear most from people, especially over summer and families and camps is that it’s a tradition that people come to the restaurant,” Riddle said. “And then local families … say that it’s their favorite spot to go to.”
Though My Father’s Pizza & Pasta has a wide-ranging menu, Riddle said her favorite thing to get is a classic pepperoni pizza.
Location: 110 Cherry St.
Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Wednesday-Monday. Closed Tuesday.
Taco Billy
The second location for the West Asheville Taco Billy opened in Black Mountain in December 2022.
The restaurant focuses on Texas-style tacos, according to Kelley Ward, a manager at the Black Mountain location.
Breakfast tacos are served all day, with lunch and dinner tacos being served from 11 a.m. until close.
Ward said though the restaurant does have a bar, Taco Billy is a family-oriented establishment.
"Our restaurant lends to longer stays, family time together," Ward said. "We have a more eclectic menu as far as having the diversity to build your own, making things exactly as you like them. I think it's light and fun."
Taco Billy focuses on using local ingredients and guests can substitute ingredients based on their dietary restrictions.
Ward said her favorite taco is Mama's Favorite, a breakfast taco that features sausage, egg, spinach, sweet potato and goat cheese on a house-made plantain tortilla.
Location: 117 Cherry St.
Hours: 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday. Closed Monday.
The Trailhead Restaurant & Bar
The Trailhead Restaurant & Bar features classic Americana dining with menu items named after various hiking spots around the area.
Samantha Cole, one of the managers of the restaurant, said naming the menu items after different trails helps patrons find somewhere new to explore.
“It definitely provides a place for people to kind of come together and experience Black Mountain,” Cole said. “It helps people figure out different hiking spots in the area because all of our food options are named after different hiking trails.”
Cole said her favorite menu item is the Skinny Dip Falls tacos, which are tuna tacos.
Location: 207 West State St.
Hours: 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday. 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Sunday.
Veranda Café & Gift
For more than two decades, Veranda has provided Black Mountain with a lunch option featuring soups, salads and sandwiches.
Owner Ray Nightingale said while the restaurant has its normal everyday menu, it also features a special each day, which could be anything from meatloaf to shrimp and grits.
In addition to lunch service, Veranda also offers a special event service.
Nightingale said it is important for the restaurant to be open to all patrons.
“We’re very, very welcoming to everyone,” Nightingale said. “To families, to animals, we’ve got a deck out back where we can have animals as well.”
Nightingale said his favorite menu item is the McDibbs, a roast beef sandwich served with au jus, but other popular menu items include the Bavarian pretzel sandwich and the cranberry turkey sandwich.
Location: 119 Cherry St.
Hours: 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Voodoo Roux
Opened in December 2022 by cousins and business partners Emanuel Nunez and Brian Richards, Voodoo Roux is a food truck that offers Black Mountain residents and visitors something Nunez said is hard to get anywhere else in the area.
"One thing we bring is authentic Cajun cuisine that you really can't find anywhere else than maybe going to New Orleans," Nunez said. "There might be a few places in Asheville, but I don't really know of any other food truck or restaurant that's doing what we're doing as far as authentic Cajun cuisine."
The owners are Gulf Coast natives who grew up eating the food and working in the restaurant business.
Nunez said things are going well for the food truck less than a year after opening, and they have secured a permanent location in Black Mountain.
He said his favorite menu item is the catfish, though the shrimp is the best seller.
Location: 108 Black Mountain Ave.
Hours: 2 p.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday.
More: New Cajun food truck Voodoo Roux comes to Black Mountain
Karrigan Monk is the Swannanoa Valley communities reporter for Black Mountain News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at kmonk@blackmountainnews.com.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Visiting Black Mountain? Here are 10 popular restaurants to check out
