27 Best Restaurants in The North Carolina Mountains, North Carolina

The best place to eat in Bryson City, this wood-paneled bistro serves hearty dinner entrées like mountain trout with quinoa and brown rice or meatloaf made from four different locally sourced specialty meats. The dining room is a rustic yet elegant space in a 1908 building that formerly housed Bryson City Bank. If you're not staying at the hotel, make reservations at least a week in advance. 

Cocktails and burgers achieve sublimity at this temple of ground meat, be it locally raised bison, the game of the month, or a 50/50 blend of emu and chorizo. Infusions like beet vodka and bacon fat bourbon ensure that the creations from behind the bar rival those from the kitchen. A log cabin interior packed with curios (and classic Pac-Man on the back porch) sets a friendly tone that's matched by the good-humored service. 

Don't tell anyone else, but Ilda may be North Carolina's best restaurant west of Asheville. Owners Santiago and Crystal defected from New York to Crystal's hometown during the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving behind Michelin stars to chase their dream of a community-driven Italian restaurant without pretension. House-made pastas are divine, and the cocktail program—highlighted by a series of infused limoncellos—is world-class. The team also owns the adjacent Santé wine bar and a quietly wonderful pizza joint across the street, Meatballs. 

Located in a century-old farmhouse with a rusty metal roof, in an old apple orchard, the Orchard's short but sweet menu highlights local produce and trout, plus seafood and steaks. The decor is comfortable rather than fancy, with a few kitschy Southern touches.

Make reservations far in advance for this sublime dining experience broken into three courses, sourced daily from local farmers. This is fine dining—pate and a delightful escargot are the only menu constants—but it's not at all stuffy: approachable servers and the soaring views of the valley below ensure a relaxed sense of wonder. The always-changing farmers' salad is a must before a third course that could include venison tenderloin over truffle creamed spinach or a confit duck breast served with oyster mushroom risotto. 

Singletree boldly proclaims their guiding principles, from integrity in sourcing to sustainability, and those values are conveyed in beautifully presented plates and, most importantly, in flavor. Seared duck breast and Parisian gnocchi with collards shine at dinner, but it's sandwiches like the Brasstown Melt—sliced steak on ciabatta with horseradish, provolone, arugula, and caramelized onions—that keep the midday shift bustling.

Homemade gnocchi, divine seared scallops, and a brief but excellent wine list are among the highlights at this chef-owned Italian trattoria in Brevard's tidy Lumberyard Arts District. Live edge and sleek wood tables and chairs set a rustic homey tone.

Artisanal is in a barn by a country stream, but don't let that fool you: this restaurant is elegantly designed, modern, and serious about first-rate food and service. The prix-fixe menu offers around six first course and entrée selections, ranging from lamb tenderloin with charred eggplant to North Carolina flounder with morels. The indoor/outdoor setting and reliance on local produce mean it's only open from May through October. 

Built in a former speakeasy and now adorned with photos of the dogs and horses of hundreds of faithful customers, the wood-fired oven at this trusted favorite works for fancy nights out—ribeye with blue cheese butter or a lamb loin with chimichurri—or a more casual family pizza dinner (opt for the signature pie with local prosciutto and manchego). Appetizer options speak to the breadth of the menu, from mussels in green curry to Thai spring rolls to roasted figs, but all are sourced and prepared with passion and integrity.

At the region's most celebrated restaurant, chef-owner Josh Monroe uses ingredients from his own farm and local purveyors to prepare dishes in an open kitchen. The award-winning menu includes dishes like lamb shank, trout, and deconstructed lasagna that are created with wine pairings in mind. After 20 years, the decor feels a bit tired, but the top-notch service and white tablecloth atmosphere stand the test of time. 

For an unparalleled experience that will leave you stuffed with Southern goodness, brave the line outside this throwback restaurant (open since 1959 in a former hospital building surrounded by a picket fence and flowers) serving fried chicken, country-fried steak, country ham biscuits, mashed potatoes, green beans, and banana pudding. Platters are delivered to your table family-style, and it's all-you-can-eat for the price of admission.

The hands-on owner has made this downtown mainstay one of the most recommended dining spots in Brevard. The menu skews to seafood, with standouts including fish-and-chips, mountain trout, and haddock, but the pork chops and filet mignon are excellent, too. There's a full bar in the brick-walled dining room.

This popular eatery partners with more than a dozen natural and organic producers to find the ingredients needed to create its rigorous "farm-to-fork" modern Southern menu, which changes frequently. The atmosphere is charming, with high pressed-tin ceilings and reclaimed barn wood accents, and the service is friendly.

This stone cottage in the woods, off a winding country road between Boone and Blowing Rock, surprises newcomers with a rotating menu of unusual, sophisticated dishes like grilled elk, antelope Bolognese, bison steak, and other game. In cool weather, there's a roaring fire in the fireplace; when weather permits, eat on the deck with woodsy views.

Lulu's feels old-school—there are old-timey quilts hanging from the walls—but the food is decidedly forward-thinking, from the Thai chicken soup to the savory meatloaf Manhattan. Vegetarians also feel right at home, thanks to options like a marinated tempeh sandwich with kimchi and Szechuan sauce at lunchtime. 

In the Old Edwards Inn, Madison's is Highlands' most upscale restaurant. The dining room is gorgeous, light, and sunny, with stone floors and windows overlooking Highlands' Main Street. The restaurant adheres to a farm-to-table philosophy as much as possible, with sausage-stuffed pork chops, sunburst trout, short rib pasta and other dishes from area providers. The inn's Wine Garden adjoining Madison's is the spot for a more casual alfresco lunch.

This newcomer to Cherokee's dining options was an immediate hit, with entrées like roasted blackberry chicken and peanut-crusted trout with shrimp Florentine sauce that go beyond much of the basic fare available in town. They outsource their Native Brews label, but it's the place to find a craft IPA or stout in a place that only legalized alcohol sales in 2021. 

Order a platter of pulled pork with slaw, baked beans, or mac and cheese to enjoy while a bluegrass band plays mountain music on the rustic stage at this classic roadside barbecue joint. Bands play both the lunch and dinner shift, and local folk artists display their work in the gift shop and at the museum-like 87 Ruffin Street Gallery next door.

Set in a charming 1861 farmhouse just "over yonder" from Mast General, this approachable restaurant serves inspired takes on Appalachian food like tomato cobbler, grilled meatloaf, and pan-fried rainbow trout with sweet potatoes. Sit inside the historic rooms or on the wraparound porch.

Downtown Hendersonville's best restaurant occupies a former bank, with soaring ceilings and a wine cellar in the former vault. The chef-owned kitchen offers an approachable menu of braised pork shanks and seared scallops, with a sharing menu spanning from spaghetti squash hush puppies to pate with ginger and local honey.

A fixture on Main Street for more than three decades, Ristorante Paoletti serves sophisticated Italian cuisine with first-rate service. The menu includes a lengthy section of freshly made pastas, along with many excellent seafood dishes. The wine list, one of the largest in the area, includes more than 1,000 selections. Reservations are a must.

Chef-owned and globally inspired, this approachable mainstay serves creative regional entrées like local trout with grits and lobster sauce alongside rabbit-and-crawfish gumbo and chicken curry. Sit on the covered patio fronting a quiet alley or inside the soaring brick-walled dining room.

This casual restaurant serves delicious Southern comfort food like country fried steak, shrimp and grits, and blackberry barbecue short ribs. Business bustles at lunchtime for favorites like the pimento cheese fried chicken club.

Thin-crust pizzas made from organic flour are the specialty at this lively eatery that also serves a range of creative pasta and entrees like a roasted root bowl. Try out eclectic pizza toppings like roasted salmon, butternut squash, and sweet onion marmalade. The open-air patio is especially popular.

Although the menu ranges from garam masala curry to sweet potato enchiladas to meatloaf with mashed potatoes, Wild Craft's common denominators are responsible, local sourcing and creativity in the kitchen. Much of the menu accommodates vegans and gluten-free diners, but every dish remains flavor-forward. Sit inside the small dining room or on the covered patio out front. 

Robbinsville's best restaurant is a chef-owned gem serving specialties like local mountain trout with lemon-caper butter sauce and a grilled ribeye. Seating is inside and on the porch of a historic home.

Cheerful and unpretentious, though not inexpensive, Wolfgang's has an eclectic menu ranging from a Wiener schnitzel to venison au poivre to Cajun shrimp and grits (the founder was a chef in New Orleans). Several of the rooms—spread across two former homes with a breezeway between—have fireplaces, and in good weather, there's outdoor seating. The wine list is smart and long.