TAP: The Asheville Public september 8, 2012

I initially tried The Asheville Public right after it was re-christened from the Silver Dollar. I believe because of the previous status as a greasy spoon diner, and my general expectations of a good breakfast at such an establishment, my judgement of The Asheville Public may have been prejudicial. I did not enjoy my first experience there and had put off going back, even though I think everyone deserves a second chance.

Thankfully that second chance arrived as a gift. My wife, having never used her Groupon account received a free $15 to spend on a certificate and due to the timing and expiration of that free $15 certificate, The Asheville Public was the only thing available. We lucked out and had $30 to spend on dinner at no out of pocket expense and this gave us an opportunity to try The Asheville Public again.

We opted to have dinner this time around and am I ever happy we did. The beer selection at The Asheville Public is great, with many locals and craft brews available. I ordered a Ninja Porter and perused the menu. My wife is a former pastry chef and she noted that they had strawberry shortcake on the dessert menu. With this in mind, I opted to try and order something less expensive and leave money and room for dessert. I got a plate of something called Boerewors, which is a South African sausage over mashed potatoes with gravy and red bell pepper. My wife had a butternut squash ravioli with pecans and a burned butter sauce. Neither one of us was disappointed. This meal was superb.

When the strawberry shortcake arrived, it was also quite delectable. It was an old style shortbread with a homemade strawberry compote and whipped cream. It really hit the spot and we wound up getting out of there for the $4 I spent on beer only. I'm not suggesting anyone else could get a meal that cheap there, but 2 people eating for under $30 wouldn't be unheard of and the food was great. I'll definitely be going back again, although I may leave this as a lunch and dinner restaurant and find somewhere else for breakfast as I still am leery of that meal being great at this venue.

***1/2 3.5 asterisks

TAP: The Asheville Public
175 Clingman Avenue, Asheville, NC 28801 (828) 505-1720

Back from hiatus!

Hi people. I've not blogged about food in a while, although I've certainly been eating some. I need to catch up and shout out about some of my favorite places around town to grab a bite. I did update the sister site - Bill's Asheville Tavern & Pub Review today, so check that out if you like bar food.

I'll post more on here in the next week. Sorry for being away so long.

Vito's Chicago Style Pizza 05/28/10

I don't know if I ever mentioned it, but I lived in Chicago once upon a time. Ever since leaving that city, I have occasionally craved Chicago-style hot dogs, Italian beef sandwiches, and deep dish pizza. Thankfully, there's Cats & Dogs at the Grove Arcade to satisfy the first two cravings. I used to have to drive to Charlotte for pizza.

I was hoping to introduce my girlfriend to authentic Chicago deep dish by visiting this new place out by the airport. We sat down and started with garlic knots since deep dish takes a while. The knots and sauce are awesome. I have to say, they have some of the zestier sauce I've had anywhere, which I love. I also had a small Caesar salad that was great.

I ordered my pie with sausage and spinach. When it came out it was a bit shallow for deep dish. I mean the crust was deep, but the pie was only half full. I'm used to my deep dish being a thick pie that only takes one slice to fill me up. The crust was also not up to snuff. Chicago style usually has a flaky pastry crust. This was just thin crust pizza with high edges. I don't think Vito's did their homework on this one and a trip to the Windy City is in order if they want to get it right.

One more thing -TV's. Have I mentioned before I hate televisions in restaurants? I don't dine out to watch TV. They also had the air on a bit cold for comfort.

I'd go back and get take out from Vito's, but it'd probably be pasta or something other than the Pizza, since I did like the sauce.

*** Three Asterisks

Vito's Chicago Style Pizza

300 Airport Rd Arden, NC (828) 687-9500

Discounts!!

if you're like me you like eating out, but sometimes it cramps your style budgeting-wise. Anyways, I've discovered a few cool things that help take the sting out of eating out and I'm here to pass them on to you:

restaurant.com - gets you gift certificates for local restaurants for pennies on the dollar. if you find a coupon code, sometimes you can grab a $25 gift certificate for as little as $2!!

halfpriceasheville.com - you've probably heard about this on the radio already, but maybe you only listen to NPR, so here it is. Same deal as the other one: pay less than face value for a gift certificate.

Five Points Restaurant 07/03/09

I love a good omelet. I have been kicking around this town trying to find a good one. You know the ones at Waffle House and Huddle House are filling and pretty decent, but sometimes, they don't know what "old fashioned" means and they give me one of those whipped up jobs.
Sometimes the coffee is burnt tasting. And I like my omelet with a good cup o' joe. Sometimes (at Waffle House) they have Tabasco instead of Texas Pete! Yuck. That stuff tastes like nothing but spicy vinegar. If I go to Mayfel's, I wind up with some hoity-toity vegetable in my omelet.
I'm really a ham & cheese man. Anyways, I suppose I've been on a quest for the perfect omelet breakfast.

The quest has ended with the Five Points Restaurant. I had the best omelet experience in Asheville and they had good coffee and Texas Pete. I won't bore you too much with details, but they serve up a hefty 3 egg omelet with biscuit or toast and grits or potatoes for around $6. And I must tell you about the potatoes... These aren't hash browns or even their lackluster cousin, home fries. I'm talking refried mashed potatoes. Just like my grandma used to make. Delicious!

If you're in the Monford area before 11:00 AM, you owe it to yourself to try out the Five Points Restaurant.

***** Five Asterisks

Five Points Restaurant
258 Broadway St Asheville, NC (828) 252-8030

Sadie's Seafood Pub 06/30/09

This place sort of popped up all in the sudden and I had been meaning to try it for a few weeks before I finally did. I went in there again today for lunch. First a few words on atmosphere: they have a huge TV on the wall. I hate that. I feel that TVs in restaurants are a hindrance to polite dinner conversation. Also, they have a weird mix of tasteful decor and digitally printed banners featuring seafood dishes and pics of the family dog - Sadie, perhaps? I dunno, but don't put up fine art and trashy digital prints of food on the same wall.

OK, so about the food...it's a good value. You can get in & out for around $10! They have beer on tap! The portions are a little smaller than the Kmart shopping center buffet places, but they aren't bad. More like the FDA recommended daily allowance type portions. I've had the scallop & cod platter there and it was plenty filling. They also fill you up with hush puppies. Today I had a crab cake sandwich. They bake the bread fresh, which is nice, but I guess I'm used to Baltimore crab cakes, so this seemed a little bland. Still, it was cheap.

*** three asterisks

Sadie's Seafood Pub

54 Patton Ave., Asheville, NC - (828) 505-3364

Mayfel's 06/28/09

I've actually eaten at Mayfel's many a time, I'm just now getting around to writing it up. I somewhat jokingly refer to it as the "Tupelo Honey Overflow Room" because on Sundays you can get into Mayfel's within 15 minutes of getting in line, but Tupelo Honey has a 45 minute wait. I still haven't tried Tupelo Honey for that reason. I don't got 45 minutes to listen to my tummy grumble.

So the downside to Mayfel's is that the only Omelet you're gonna get is the one that is on special and it almost always has something crazy in it - kale, avacado, endive...something I consider not very wholesome for a filling breakfast. On this particular Sunday morning, it was an onion, bacon & avocado omelet, which I decided I could live with. I suppose if I'd wanted ham & cheese, I'd have been at the Huddle House anyways. It turned out to be a tasty omelet. The home fries are a bit on the dry side and could use a little seasoning, but overall it was worth the money: around $9, I guess. You can people watch uptown, too, so I suppose you're also paying for scenery.

Last week I had lunch there and ordered a catfish po-boy, which left me a po-boy afterwards.

I like Mayfel's and will eat there again but they could perhaps come down a bit on the prices or go up a bit on the tastiness of their cuisine.

*** three asterisks

Mayfel's
22 College St Asheville, NC 28801-2803 - (828) 252-8840