Asheville's 5 Best Breweries For Food, According To A Local

My hometown of Asheville, North Carolina, is a mecca for craft beer lovers. The mountain town has been dubbed "Beer City, USA," and it lives up to the name. Asheville is one of the cities with the most breweries per capita in the United States, and as a local, I can attest that there's no shortage of great spots to enjoy a few pints. However, if there's anything better than a cold local brew, it's that same beer paired with a top-notch meal.

Unfortunately, breweries can be a bit hit or miss when it comes to food — some only offer light bar snacks, while others rely on rotating food trucks (which are often incredible, but can be a bit unreliable). Luckily, if you know what to look for, Asheville's brewery scene has plenty of great eats to offer — in fact, some of my favorite local dishes are found in breweries. From life-changing veggie burgers to exemplary Neapolitan-style pies, here are a local's top five Asheville breweries where you're sure to enjoy a great meal and a pint any day.

Burial Beer is renowned for its excellent hoppy IPAs, classic lagers, and bold stouts, as well as artistic packaging and one-of-a-kind beer names — you can sample an IPA called The Savages of Ruminating Minds or the Odyssey in Continuity Nonetheless Imperial Stout. The brewery operates four locations in the Asheville area, but in my experience, the Forestry Camp and South Slope locations offer the best food options.

Burial Forestry Camp, located in a former Civilian Conservation Corps property in the woods near Biltmore Village, offers a rotating seasonal dinner menu of elegant dishes with an Asheville twist, such as salad with local veggies and hop vinaigrette and steak frites with wild ramp chimichurri. Burial South Slope, nestled in the heart of Downtown Asheville's trendy South Slope neighborhood, slings a more casual menu of top-notch bar bites for lunch and dinner daily — think pretzel knots with local Lusty Monk mustard, a killer smashburger, and hearty vegan and meaty po'boys served on Leidenheimer rolls from the oldest bakery still making New Orleans' iconic bread.

"Keep Asheville Weird" has long been the city's unofficial slogan, and Asheville Brewing Company, one of its oldest and funkiest breweries, embodies that ethos. Also known as Asheville Pizza & Brewing, the company's iconic North Asheville location is a combination movie theater, pizza joint, and brewery and has been slinging beer and pies since 1998. While the beer is fabulous (especially the aptly named Perfect Day IPA), the food is a huge part of the attraction.

Asheville Brewing Company's food menu includes loaded gourmet pies, decadent fried pub snacks, and plenty of punny salads and sandwiches. My go-to order includes the Shear Delight pizza with pesto, gorgonzola, mushrooms, and walnuts and the legendary Popeye's Spinach Burger, which will convince even the most ardent meat eater. Asheville Brewing Company also operates a South Slope location in downtown with a similar menu, but if you want the whole delightfully eclectic experience, the OG North Asheville restaurant is where it's at. Plus, you can enjoy your food and drink while watching a film in the dine-in theater, which is complete with a full bar.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company isn't based in Asheville, but the brewery's East Coast operations have been headquartered in the area since 2014. The sprawling Sierra Nevada Mills River taproom is a local institution that has been dubbed the Disney World of Asheville breweries, and much like Disney, it doesn't disappoint when it comes to dining options. In addition to a delectable selection of hoppy, complexly flavored ales and lagers, the taproom offers a full food menu incorporating locally sourced ingredients and fresh produce grown in the brewery's own kitchen garden.

The food menu is served all day and includes thoughtfully crafted fried snacks, veggie-forward small plates, wood-fired pizzas, and decadent desserts. You'll also find shareable plates to please all palates, from saucy meatballs to a grilled beet steak with fig demi-glace. A bonus: Many of the dishes include a boozy twist, using Sierra Nevada beer in ways you've probably never heard of  — think duck fat fries with pale ale raspberry mostarda and mussels in a saffron and pilsner broth.

Hillman Beer's Asheville taproom is one of the best spots to enjoy bites and brews along Sweeten Creek. Located just outside Biltmore Village, it boasts plenty of shady outdoor seating, stellar German beers, and arguably most importantly, first-rate food options. The brewery's kitchen serves a full menu of freshly cooked snacks, salads, burgers, and sandwiches, all packed with house-made and locally sourced ingredients.

I suggest staying on the German theme and starting with an order or two of the legendary soft pretzels, which come with a side of Dijonnaise. Though you won't get drunk off of the Kolsch beer cheese, it's highly recommendable to add some on the side for dipping too. As for the main course, you can't go wrong with Hillman's signature burger, made with ⅓ pound of local grass-fed beef and slathered with special sauce and house pickles. If you find yourself a bit outside of Asheville, Hillman also operates an Old Fort location with an equally delicious food menu.

White Labs Brewing Co., true to its name, takes the science of beer production extremely seriously. The company posits that yeast is the most important ingredient in the brewing process and has set out to prove it. The Asheville brewery uses a unique split batching process, starting with the same base beer and using different yeast strains to produce two totally different (but equally tasty) final brews. Luckily, White Labs brings that same yeast-focused, slightly obsessive approach to its kitchen, with mouthwatering results. 

White Labs' Asheville menu includes fresh and flavorful small plates, salads, sandwiches, and a superb smashburger. However, it's only fitting that the real star of the show is a food that is a match made in heaven with beer, according to science: pizza. White Labs' pizza dough is made with the brewery's own yeast strain (which is available for purchase online), fermented for 72 hours, crowned with gourmet toppings, and fired in an oven that hits more than 700 degrees Fahrenheit. The brewery's Neapolitan-style pies are a strong contender for Asheville's best pizza, and that's not an honor I dish out lightly. It's hard to go wrong, but if you're having trouble deciding, I recommend the Funghi, topped with roasted oyster mushrooms, garlic confit, and herbed ricotta. It's a perfect elegant-yet-funky and utterly delicious embodiment of Asheville's unique beer and food scene (and it pairs beautifully with either variant of White Labs' brown ale).