Thursday, September 13, 2012

West Asheville Lounge & Kitchen (WALK) 09/07/2012

 I have actually been going to the WALK since shortly after it opened and it has fast become one of my go-to places for a quick bite and a drink on a night when I don't have kids.  I've actually been a time or two with the kids, but they render any night out a failed experiment, so I try not to waste eating out money on them.

WALK has a great atmosphere and during nice weather the place opens up to allow a breeze.  The thing is, you can get a great meal here for crazy cheap. This particular time, my wife and I split a plate of the street nachos and a basket of sweet potato tots. I also had a beer and we spent under $15. The street tacos are great and almost everything I've had there has an excellent flavor. My wife especially likes the pulled pork sandwich. I've had a Chile Verde special there that was excellent and also recommend the blackened chicken sandwich. i found their chicken fingers to be a little on the dry side, however.

There are a few downsides to WALK. As it gains popularity, the wait for seating on the weekends becomes longer. Sometimes the music is turned up just a bit too loud, but it's still OK. They also never seem to have a beer special, but considering the price of the food and the quality of ingredients, these are trade-offs I'm willing to accept.

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West Asheville Lounge & Kitchen (WALK)
401 Haywood Rd. , Asheville, NC  28806  (828) 505-7929


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Thursday, August 9, 2012

Barley's Taproom 08/09/2012

I frequent Barley's weekly and am just getting around to reviewing it - mostly because I've been on hiatus from my reviews due to laziness. I like Barley's because it has one of the cheaper lunches downtown. I have a co-worker who likes to argue that the pizza is inferior to a few other places, and I'll concede, but pizza is pretty hard to screw up and 2 New York slices and a drink for under $6 is hard to fuss about. Sometimes there's a soup and sandwich deal, too.

Barley's has probably the best beer selection in town. Around 40 brews are usually on tap there if you count the upstairs, too, which is only open after 6:00 PM. They have darts and billiards up there, too.

Anyways, the place is dark. The service can be slow at times, but, considering the beer selection and the prices, I wouldn't eschew the place, and I'd definitely include it on any pub crawl in Asheville.

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Barley's Taproom
42 Biltmore Ave, Asheville, NC - (828)255-0504

Black Mountain Ale House 08/07/2012

I've been here a few times with my buddy, Steve, because it's the closest thing to a real bar near his house and I don't like going to get him and driving all the way back to town to drink and then having to go all the way back out to Swannanoa to drop him off.

Likes: this bar has an excellent beer selection for such a small room. Lots of locals and craft brews and even usually a beer special. Also, try the fried pickles. They do it the way it is meant to be done - chips, not spears.

Dislikes: Too many TVs, no booths. I guess most bars have TVs to accommodate the sports fanatic. I'm not him. I go to bars to drink and socialize. I just think some booths would be nice if you don;t want to sit on a high stool.

I had a black & blue burger the other night with their potato salad. The potato salad is excellent. It has a smokey flavor that I've experienced with someone else's potato salad before but can't recall whose. The burger was also delicious.

I find the prices decent and the food and drink selection here excellent. If you find yourself in Black Mountain or just don;t mind a drive, definitely check this place out.

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Black Mountain Ale House
117 C Cherry St, Black Mountain, NC 28711   (828) 669-9090