Took a little day trip while visiting our daughter in Charlotte, and her boyfriend highly…read morerecommended The Speckled Trout Restaurant and Bottle Shop. It's definitely a bit of a drive from Charlotte, but well worth it if you're exploring the mountain towns and scenery in the area. The restaurant has a really cool upscale mountain vibe that feels relaxed and comfortable without being stuffy. Great atmosphere, friendly service, and the whole place just had that quality mountain town feel to it. My wife and I both ordered trout, which felt like the right move here. I had the almond crusted trout with basil potatoes and garlicky grits, and it was excellent. Everything tasted fresh, balanced, and thoughtfully prepared. The garlicky grits were especially good. My wife ordered the smoked trout, and let's just say they do not mess around with the smoke flavor here. It was seriously smoky. A couple hours later she was still burping little smoke rings on the drive home If you love strong smoky flavor, you'll probably love it. They also had a really solid craft beer selection that fit the mountain atmosphere perfectly. Overall, high quality food, great service, fun atmosphere, and absolutely worth the drive. Easy five stars from us.

On our annual trip to Blowing Rock in May, we had to visit Speckled Trout twice. We love their…read morelow-carb options combined with their custom crafted cocktails, this place is a must-visit for every trip to Blowing Rock. Their cocktails are crafted with homemade syrups, and change seasonally. I had the Garden in Tibet--a delicious drink with gin, Prosecco, sugar snap pea syrup (!), green elixir syrup, elderflower liquor, and lemon. You'd think this could be a too-sweet drink, but it was PERFECT. My husband had the Which Damascus the first time, with rye whiskey, cherry basil syrup, hickory syrup, Amaro Montenegro, Tiki bitters, Peychaud bitters, and orange. He enjoyed it, but I thought it was definitely too sweet. He had a Garden in Tibet on our second visit, and preferred the Tibet to the Damascus drink. We love their unique smoked trout deviled eggs as an appetizer. This dish has two eggs filled with smoked trout, and three filled with a deviled egg mixture. The accompanying house hot sauce is so good! For our entrees, we both had hickory-smoked trout on the first visit Mine was definitely saltier than his. We had three sides--collard greens, smoked Gouda grits (our favorite), and corn, hominy, yellow squash & chile hash (so fresh and delicious!). On our second visit, I had the almond and cornmeal-crusted trout with the smoked Gouda grits, and my husband tried their fried chicken sandwich with slaw. He absolutely loved the sandwich--the chicken was thick, juicy, and very tender. He'll definitely get the sandwich again. Service is always good at Speckled Trout, and I love that we can pay with ApplePay at the table via the Toast handheld. We can't wait to return.

Not open when they said they were open. Disappointing since the menu looked good. It is tucked…read moreaway so a bit hard to find.

Beautiful location, tucked inside the heart of blowing rock in the middle of a quaint garden. The…read morephotos on this site are quite unappealing but i have to say the food was outstanding. Soft and flavorful eggs, perfect coffee, addictive hashbrown casserole, delicious bacon.. just amazing. They did forget the syrup in my latte :(, but it was good nonetheless. To top it all off the service was delightful, our server was Aden but the hostess and manager were just as great. Highly recommend breakfast at Cupcrazed if you're looking for a peaceful location and yummy start to your day.

Great spot for lunch and a brew while heading to Boone. I had a delicious turkey and gueyre…read moresandwich with homemade chips. Yum . And cold Mexican lager. Hubby got the fried chicken sandwich with a cold ipa. Always great spot to stop.

After a long day hiking, we made our way down from Grandfather mountain, enjoyed the views along…read morethe Blue Ridge Parkway as we drove to Blowing Rock. We found parking on a side street near Blowing Rock Brewing, so decided to enjoy a drink and get some lunch. We were seated quickly, near a heater, which was nice to help us warm up after being on the mountain. A waiter came by with menus to take our order. We asked for some suggestions, but he was a little less than enthused to offer advise. They had a good variety of beers, so my wife and I each got one, and shared them. We got the Pina Colada Kolsch and the Cloud Rise Hazy Ipa. Both were tasty, the Pina Colada Kolsch had a much stronger pineapple flavor than I expected, but in a good way. For food we started with the white cheddar poblano, which I expected to be more of a liquid queso for some reason. It was instead for of a soft, spread, which was really good, and paired well with the chips. And then we split the Turkey Reuben, which I figured would be made with deli meat, instead, it was warm, cooked chunks of turkey, really great flavor, and hit the spot for us. The sides with the sandwiches were a bit lacking, only offering hot chips, and green beans....I've never gotten the whole hot chip craze, but green beans just seamed like too odd of a side option for a sandwich It was a good visit, and a good meal, to get us back on our feet. Overall, a nice space, with bar seating, a back room, a back and front patio, plenty of space to hang out, relax and enjoy their beer. Food and drink were both good and worth a visit if you're in the area.

Service was great. location and vibe was awesome. we ate on the back patio. The tomato bisque as a…read moreside was the best food there. Flawless actually. The monte cristo was good. The salmon stack was not. But that may be just personal preference. I felt they were under cooked and the fish taste stood out way more than I was hoping for. Would go back and try something else though.

Stopped by for a late lunch today. I had not been able to come in for a couple of years and was…read morehappy to see that even though they had updated and changed their menu, they still had the same upscale menu that has always kept my family coming back! I had the original Smashburger. It was delicious. The fries were nice and hot. Everything was cooked perfectly. My waiter was Lance. He was helpful with the menu and very attentive. I had a glass of the house Chardonnay. It hit just the right notes for my lunch. I love that they use locally sourced ingredients. It was nice to see that the kids menu was more than just your normal three or four choices. Still one of my very favorites!

Omg. We are visitors with a party of. Of6. We got a reservation for 6 1 hour in advance. But the…read moresashimi and meals were delicious!

Sushi and apps were amazing! Great pricing for sushi and super tasty. Salmon and tuna melted in…read moreyour mouth. Service was amazing as well. Server was attentive and food came out quickly. The place was super cute as well. Definitely a hidden gem. Will 100% be back soon!

You wouldn't think much of an unsuspecting grilled cheese shop located in the way back of a side…read morestreet with speciality stores but the grilled cheese sandwiches they are slinging are so so good, especially on a cold 50° (for a Floridian) day! It hit the spot, my husband had the special"jammin ham" with ham and jam :) and I, the cheesy goodness. They were delightful, simple, fresh. I would certainly recommend. There are a lot of tables to eat at (it's all outside) and they also sell drinks, tomato soup. So glad we stumbled upon this place. Oh and it's pet friendly!

We were walking around downtown Blowing Rock after some Spring hiking and stumbled upon Say Cheese…read more We were there during opening hours, but found no one to be around. We were disappointed and left to go eat somewhere else. Once we got back home to Charlotte, we realized they were seasonal and missed them by a week or two from their opening for the season. We knew we wanted to come back as their menu sounded so good, plus, I'm a huge grilled cheese fan! Well, we have come back after some hiking, not once, but twice! We were there in September enjoying our meal when we overheard someone asking when they would close for the season. They said at the end of October. So here we are, back again in October before they close one last time! Here is what we got most recently: *Spice is Nice - I'm a huge pimento cheese fan, but this has been my least favorite so far. It's good, but it doesn't wow me like the others do. *Pizza Pizzas - This is SO good! It is probably the cheesiest of the three that I love. I love how they slice this one into four breadstick like pieces to dip in a flavorful tomato sauce. That cheesy crusted bread with the gooey cheesy interior, is a cheese fan's dream! *Brie Baby - Everything about this one, from the brie, provolone, turkey, apples, and fig preserves works so well. This is probably the least gooey cheesiest of the three that I love, but this is one heck of a flavorful sandwich! *Sweet & Savory - It should be no surprise as a peach lover, that this is my favorite. I love the sweet and the spice all mixed in with gooey cheese and a little bit of bacon. Perfection! Please note, this is a small shop, and it gets busy in a mountain tourist town. They are making them fresh, and it takes some time. Be patient, it is well worth the wait! If I can give only one critique - place a sign outside the door with hours of when open for the season and when closed for the season. Service is bad in the area, and we had no clue originally when we were walking around. Otherwise, HIGHLY recommend. We will be back in 2026! :)

We went to dinner here while in the area. It was a cozy setting with a great atmosphere inside…read more However, they sat us on the closed-in patio by a window which ended up being a little too chilly. For my dinner I ordered the Wood Fried Brussels. The Brussel sprouts were not caramelized like I had at other places but it was very good and probably healthier. There were a lot of good flavors with the beets, candied pepitas, pickled peppers and the saffron aioli. I would recommend this dish. Others at the table ordered the Cobb Salad, classic wedge with salmon, & the Artisan pizza. Unfortunately, the salmon was not completely cooked so it went uneaten. Two people in our party ordered diet cokes which were fountain drinks. The diet cokes were not good because there was no carbonation. The pizza and Cobb salad were good. If you eat here during the colder months, I recommend asking for a seat inside. That seemed like it would have been a cozier experience.

Bistro Roca is an amazing spot! We love the decor, which is rustic but modern if that makes sense…read more The different seating options are also unique and bring a different ambiance to each section. Food is excellent. I LOVE the duck pizza pie. Honestly the best pizza in my book ever. My husband enjoyed his brisket saying it was tender and flavorful. The starter calamari was meaty and not overly breaded like many calamari! Great kids meals options!! Our waitress was so kind and was thoughtful in letting the girls order before us so their food arrived with the apps. A must go to while in blowing rock, you won't regret it!