National awards, praise bestowed on Asheville restaurants, bars, breweries
ASHEVILLE - Asheville diners and imbibers know what the city has to offer, and the nation and world are taking notice.
Beverage industry and Southern lifestyle publications have applauded local restaurants and bars for their menus and overall excellence. Several breweries and distilleries have been awarded medals in international craft beer and spirits competitions.
Taste the best of the best ― here are some of Asheville's latest award-winning and accolade-earning destinations.:
Southern Living editors scoured the country for the best new bites, finding three Asheville establishments worthy of making its list of the 20 Best New Restaurants in the South.:
Good Hot Fish, a modern fish camp owned and operated by Chef Ashleigh Shanti, a former "Top Chef" and recurring Food Network contestant, offers a menu of creatively crafted seafood and Appalachian dishes ranging from catfish to trout bologna sandwiches. The eatery opened in January 2024 inside Eulogy, a music venue at Burial Beer Co., 10 Buxton Ave., in South Slope.
Luminosa, a modern Appalachian-meets-Italian cuisine restaurant, opened in May 2024 in the historic Flatiron Building, which has been renovated as The Flat Iron Hotel at 20 Battery Park Ave. Led by Executive Chef Graham House and Chef de Cuisine Sean McMullen, Luminosa's seasonal menu regularly rotates with pasta, pizza and other vegetable-forward plates.
Potential New Boyfriend, a wine bar and music listening lounge at 21 Haywood Road, opened in West Asheville in December. The menu of snacks and desserts, curated by pastry chef Dana Amromin, complements its modern, chic aesthetic and beverage selections. Save room for the artisan ice cream made by the owner, Disco.
Good Hot Fish, Luminosa and Potential New Boyfriend were the only North Carolina businesses on the list, which can be viewed at southernliving.com.
Craft Spirits Magazine released its annual list of the best bars in the nation, with nods to two downtown watering holes, The Crow & Quill and Top of the Monk, which represent the Southeast on the list of favorites.
The honorees were nominated by readers and selected for their approach to not just serving but also celebrating craft spirits.
The Crow & Quill is a Prohibition-era speakeasy-style bar located at 106 N. Lexington Ave. featuring a catalog of nearly 1,100 spirits, including about 800 whiskeys. The Crow & Quill was one of 27 on the 2024 USA TODAY Bars of the Year list.
Top of the Monk is the third-level cocktail bar at 92 Patton Ave. It's the top-floor concept with a rooftop deck in the same building as the craft beer taprooms, Thirsty Monk on the main floor and Delirium Bar in the basement, which are temporarily closed.
View Craft Spirits Magazine's May/June issue with the complete list at craftspiritsmag.com.
The 2025 World Beer Cup awarded four medals to local breweries
Diatribe Brewing Co., at 1042 Haywood Road, took home the gold medal in the Chocolate Beer category for its Chocolate Porter.
Highland Brewing Co.'s Daycation Gold won the gold medal in the German-style Kölsch category. Visit Highland Brewing's taproom at 12 Old Charlotte Hwy.
Hi-Wire Brewing Co. won the silver medal for its Hi-Wire Lager in the International-Style Pilsner category. Hi-Wire has three Asheville taprooms, including the recently reopened RAD Beer Garden at 284 Lyman St.
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.'s Weizenbock won the gold medal in the South German-Style Weizenbock category. Its Mills River taproom is at 100 Sierra Nevada Way.
Two local distilleries were awarded honors in the 2025 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
Oak & Grist Distilling Co., at 1556 Grovestone Road in Black Mountain, won a gold medal for its American single-malt whiskey, Descendent.
Chemist Spirits also won a gold medal for its American single-malt whiskey. The distillery and its cocktail bar, Antidote, are at 151 Coxe Ave.
The winners are listed at thetastingalliance.com.
The Mule, the bar at Devil's Foot Beverage, will host Winner's Circle, celebrating the awardees from 1-4 p.m. June 28 at 131 Sweeten Creek Road. The event will feature live music, hot dogs ("weiners for the winners") and samples and fights from the winning beverage companies. For more, visit The Mule on Facebook.
The James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards have two WNC finalists in the running for medals.
Silver Iocovozzi, chef and co-owner of the Filipinx restaurant Neng Jr.'s, is a nominee for the Best Chef: Southeast category. The West Asheville restaurant is at 701 Haywood Road.
April Franqueza, of The Dining Room at High Hampton Resort, 1525 Highway 107 South in Cashiers, is a finalist for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker.
The winners will be announced live at the James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony on June 16 in Chicago.
Chef Ashleigh Shanti is up for a James Beard Foundation Media Award for her debut cookbook, 'Our South: Black Food Through My Lens,' in the U.S. Foodways category, designated for "books with recipes focused on the cooking or foodways of regions or communities located within the United States."
The Media Awards ceremony will be on June 14 in Chicago.
For more, visit jamesbeard.org.
Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Tips, comments, questions? Email tkennell@citizentimes.com or follow @PrincessOfPage on Instagram/Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Winner, winner: Asheville restaurants, bars, breweries rack up awards
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