Best Breakfast in Asheville—A Local’s Perspective
Its my favorite meal of the day. Think about this: French toast, pancakes, waffles. All these delicacies are basically just dessert but at breakfast, you can eat them with fried eggs and bacon.
It doesn’t end there. Slap some smoked fish, cream cheese, and various vegetables on some bread and bam, you’ve got a bagel and lox. Grab the aforementioned waffle, crown it with fried chicken, drizzle syrup on top. And that’s breakfast too. A porkchop and grits? That's breakfast. Sausage links? Breakfast. Crepes full of ham? Breakfast. Just a bowl full of fruit? Heck, that's breakfast.
What’s the pattern here? I’ll give you a hint: there is none. Breakfast foods are absolutely bonkers, they're ridiculous, decadent, and I love them all. Breakfast is the optimistic meal. The no-holds barred meal. The meal where anything and everything is possible, where nothing—I mean nothing—is off the table.
That brings me to the subject of today’s article: the best breakfast in Asheville. My hometown’s a foodie paradise, folks. You already know it's got to be good.
We’re starting off strong with this staple eatery of West Asheville. In the early hours of the weekend, locals line up to taste this café's fresh picked ingredients—taken straight from an on-site garden—and their classic Southern recipes.
That means omelets stuffed with pimento cheese, praline French toast, chicken and waffles, shrimp and grits, peach pound cake aperitifs, and French toast sandwiches stacked with sausage and cheddar. In effect, these paragons of Southern breakfast cuisine encompass the spirit of dining in Asheville: traditional meals meet the imaginations of gourmand chefs.
On a fair-weathered day, take your breakfast out on their covered patio. Enjoy it with a cup of coffee, espresso, or a sparkling morning cocktail.
Hours: Sunday and Monday 8:30am to 2pm. Tuesday through Saturday 8:30am to 8:30pm.
Another Asheville institution, Biscuit Head raises its humble namesake to new heights of delicacy. For the uninitiated, you may want to start off with a simple biscuit, pair it with one of five gravies (from espresso red eye to vegan potato coconut), and round it out with a side of eggs, pimento cheese grits, or sriracha maple sausage.
But once you’re to truly ready to lose yourself in the batter, Biscuit Head's specialty biscuits offer ample opportunities. Pulled pork biscuits with poached eggs on top. Mimosa fried chicken, in a biscuit. Biscuit doughnuts and biscuit French toast. It's all there, all biscuits, all the time.
For the biscuit-loving picnicker, I suggest picking up their fried chicken brunch box, and a mimosa kit. A more romantic biscuit-outing I can scarcely imagine.
Hours: 8am to 2pm, weeklong.
On the healthier side of things, Green Sage has made a name for itself with nutritious, sustainable ingredients, and some of the best milkshakes for my money, hands down. My favorite flavor is mint matcha. Are milkshakes suitable for breakfast? You ought to know my answer by now.
Green Sage’s wide variety of breakfast bowls, plant bowls, and hearty omelets provide a downright invigorating start to anyone’s day. To this they must credit their widespread local popularity, with locations in north Asheville, south Asheville, and right in the middle of downtown.
Personally, I always enhance my order with a specialty beverage—whether that’s espresso, a smoothie, or a shake—plus an item from their well-stocked pastry display.
Hours: 8am to 4pm weeklong, with a few exceptions. The south and north locations open at 9am on Fridays, and are closed Tuesdays and Mondays, respectively.
No list of breakfast in Asheville would be complete without some representation from downtown’s fine host of haute-cuisine dining. And while plenty of downtown eateries offer breakfast or brunch, I chose the Social Lounge here on account of their covered rooftop terrace.
Just imagine: a warm Sunday morning, up on high, your moustache tousled by a soft breeze, and some steaming hot breakfast, just begging to be eaten. Even if you don’t have a moustache, I’m sure you can imagine the appeal.
All that aside, let’s get down to brass tacks. Breakfast poutine with waffle fries and a fried egg. Eggs benedict with prosecco hollandaise. Fluffy ricotta pancakes, mimosa French toast, and a bombolini monte Cristo served on a fresh Italian doughnut.
Hours: 10am-2pm, Saturday and Sunday. As of my writing, the Social Lounge is reservation only.
Now I’ve had breakfast all across this here land, but the place I keep on coming back to, morning after morning, year after year, is Abeja’s House Café. I had my graduation lunch here, matter of fact. Which isn’t quite the same as a graduation breakfast, but they do serve breakfast all day.
What keeps me coming back to Abeja’s? It’s the simplest thing in the world: good food. It's one of those places where you can close your eyes, throw the menu in the air, point at something at random, and come away extremely satisfied. Some of my favorite entrees are the breakfast burrito, el puerquito omelette, the breakfast tacos, and those sensational chilaquiles. On top of all that, Abeja’s rotating specials consistently knock it straight of the park.
This local café can get pretty busy for Sunday brunch, but I find the wait has always been worth it.
Hours: 7am to 3pm. Closed Mondays.
Businesses Mentioned
Sunny Point Café
(828)-252-0055
626 Haywood Rd, Asheville, NC 28806
Biscuit Head (West)
(828)-333-5145
733 Haywood Rd, Asheville, NC 28806
Biscuit Head (South)
(828)-585-2055
1994 Hendersonville Rd, Asheville, NC 28803
Green Sage Café (North)
(828)-417-7859
633A Merrimon Ave, Asheville, NC 28804
Green Sage Café (Downtown)
(828)-252-4450
5 Broadway St, Asheville, NC 28801
Green Sage Café (South)
(828)-274-4450
1800 Hendersonville Rd, Asheville, NC 28803
The Social Lounge
(828)-348-8448
29 Broadway St, Asheville, NC 28801
Abeja's House Café
(828)-505-3696
1550 Hendersonville Rd #116, Asheville, NC 28803
