I typically prefer local businesses especially in Asheville to chains, but this one gets a pass…read morebecause it's quite good. I've purchased many rubs, salts, spices, and sugars from them over the years and all of them have been amazing. I especially like their smoked salts. I like to bake giant chocolate chip cookies and sprinkle them with the smoked salt crystals to give them an extra layer of flavoring. You can taste anything you want such as the salts or sugars or rubs, just ask one of the associates to help you. You can smell anything you like yourself by just opening the jars and taking a nice whiff. Many items come in bags and some come in shakers. If you get something coarse you can ask for a grinder top that goes on your shaker for when you want smaller particles. I love the butchers blend general purpose seasoning for many things. My kids love the cinnamon sugar shaker with a grinder top....the put it on everything and we frequently run out. In addition to salts, spices, and sugars they have a huge tea selection. And before you scoff at the prices, just remember it takes just a tiny amount of these high quality loose leaf teas to make a cup of tea. Teas that you buy in the store are not fresh and are harvested too early, commercialized, and it requires a lot more to get the flavor you want. So these tiny bags of tea really do last a long time. I like to look up ancient tea and herbal blends online and then buy all the components here and make my own teas to try and then adjust the recipes to my liking. They often have some free samples of tea and other items to try hot or cold in the store, just ask. For me this is a store I always stop at when visiting Asheville.

tea seemed very good but the staff was not too helpful/ friendly. regardless they had the loose…read moreleaf tea i wanted so i got it and am very excited to try it!

Stopped in for some chocolate and coffee. Wanted to take the tour but you have to sign up somewhere…read moreelse. The chocolate factory. Go figure! Laid back, quiet place to enjoy a good cup of coffee and some kind of chocolate. I got a breve. Double shot with half n half. Tasty but should have added a shot of vanilla. Deb grabbed a affogato. Ice cream with espresso. Ok but a little bitter. Service was good and coffee was warm.

It's delicious! The selection is quite impressive and so tasty. The chocolate-dipped peanut butter…read morecookie and the layers chocolate mousse were delicious. The truffles were great also. Hell, everything we tasted for that matter. The staff was friendly and moved through the line quickly. The hype is earned, and the chocolate lounge is the spot. Cheers!

This store is a bargain hunt. Their selection of alcoholic beverages and wines are fantastic. They…read morecarry a lot of local beer. Most of their produce is organic and it's cheap.

I'm a bit torn about Hopey &Co since it moved to a new location. Please note that the location on…read moreSouth French Broad is closed. I have submitted a request to Yelp, asking that they update it to the new location on 800 Fairview Road, which is inside a shopping center. Pros: bigger space means more discounted products! We always look for specialty snacks, boxed non-perishable food items like pasta or rice, dairy items like yogurt, healthy items like vitamins, and random stuff in the frozen section to find the best deals. As long as you don't come here for produce and regular grocery items, you can really leave with awesome deals. Cons: the new location, while bigger, doesn't have the same charm as the old location on S French Broad Ave. I also think that they have less deals on products than before, but I could be making that up. All and all, I'll still go whenever I'm in town visiting, but it's not on my priority list like before

After a hike, we stumbled upon this gem, and it felt like discovering a romantic, grown-up version…read moreof Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The aroma of chocolate wraps around you the second you walk through the door -- rich, warm, and completely unforgettable. There's an entire area where you can watch the actual machines they use to craft their chocolate, which adds so much charm and character. But our favorite part was the cozy coffee section. A simple caramel latte ended up being the highlight -- balanced, smooth, and exactly what we didn't know we needed. A little moment of serendipity we're glad we found.

This chocolate café handcrafts its chocolate from imported cacao beans. Visitors can even see the…read morechocolate making process. Tours are offered daily with reservations, and the café is also open for walk-ins. I ordered a hot chocolate, not realizing it was made with dark chocolate. It turned out to be very rich and strong. A bit too intense for my personal taste. I honestly wish they offered milk on the side so I could dilute it, as I wasn't able to finish it. Afterward, I definitely needed water because of how rich it was. However, I also ordered the mocha stout cake, and that was absolutely delicious and very enjoyable. Overall, it's a great spot for serious dark chocolate lovers and anyone interested in high quality, handcrafted chocolate.

I wish I would've taken pictures of our meals!…read more We came here for dinner last night ordered an appetizer of meatballs with a side of the whipped ricotta cheese, and we split the flounder dinner with a side Caesar salad. It was more than enough food for two people. I am Italian, and I usually will only eat my own meatballs, I devoured Vinny's meatballs! My husband thoroughly enjoyed the fried flounder as did I. So we liked it so much the first night we came back our second night in Asheville. Tonight I had the mussels appetizer as my entrée with a side Caesar salad, and my husband enjoyed the flounder so much he got it again! Definite, they must try Vinnys!

Love a good Italian meal. If I really want comfort and those good full feelings, carb me up and…read moretransport me to pasta paradise. We were in Asheville celebrating our anniversary, and while on the hunt for excellent Italian, came across Vinnie's on Yelp. Now this place is old school, honestly, somewhat to their detriment. No reservations allowed. When you arrive, you give your name, but there is no system whatsoever to let you know it's your turn. No pager, no text, nada. They're also quite popular, so there's not really enough room to wait comfortable inside, it was cold outside, so we just went to sit in the car and pass time as our estimated hour wait chipped away. I came in just to check at half an hour, and they still felt it would be another 30. We came in to wait 15 minutes later, and then started to see people we knew came in after us getting seated. I went to check again, and we'd missed our name being called. They did seat us right away after that... but this just highlights why yelling out a name really isn't sufficient when you typically have waits like this. You can make a free text number for the business to text from on several services if you wanna do something free and rudimentary. Once seated, issues unfortunately did not cease, but thankfully the food we ordered that we actually received was phenomenal. Our server was overly attentive, which is preferable to the alternative, but it made it hard to enjoy each other's company. That attentiveness did not extend to getting our order correct though, our salads never came. They were removed from the bill without issue of course, and in the end, we had plenty to eat (and delicious leftovers). With three entirely preventable issues though, it would have been hard for me to give this experience a 5. The food though... absolutely a FIVE. Arancini was lovely. Crisp but not overly crunchy outside, creamy satisfying texture inside, and an immaculate sauce. Complimentary bread slayed. My lasagna cracked my top 5 of all time, as did my wife's baked ziti. Their sauce recipes here have been honed to perfection, and as you'd expect in Asheville, reflect local and fresh suppliers more than likely. It couldn't taste this good without fresh ingredients. So despite all the issues leading up to the food, the food was so good, we would come back and go for it again. We'll know next time to be more diligent with the host stand, much to their dismay, and just hope for a less chaotic experience overall.

Food is awesome! Went with friends and my wife. We all have Gyro plates I had a large Greek salad…read morewith my plate. It also has with two large pieces of marinade chicken. All aspects were flavorful and highly enjoyable.

Wow what wonderful Greek food! My Greek salad with a side of lamb was splendid. The lamb was hot,…read morejuicy, and full of flavor, and went well with the tasty salad. My wife got a gyro and loved it. Our server took great care of us and made sure our drinks were always full and we had everything we needed. Cozy interior but we chose to sit on the covered patio outside since it was a gorgeous day. Nothing bad to say, everything at Apollo Flame exceeded our expectations! Highly recommend!!!

This is a go to place for me! Great for lunch or dinner. The staff is friendly and helpful. There…read moreis little turnover so that tells me that management is efficient plus good to work for. The lunch special on weekdays is the best!!

First time there tonight. Seated right away. Excellent server named Katie (or Kady, not sure of…read morespelling.) Very efficient, friendly and attentive. We ordered Greek and Ceasar salads, Both very fresh with good dressing. Wood fired pizza (Greek and Godfather) some of the best we've had in Asheville, terrific crust and just the right amount of toppings. Will come again.

Luminosa definitely paired the Happy with my Birthday! We were looking for a special place to…read morecelebrate on our trip to Asheville. We were happily greeted on our arrival with a smile and a glass of Prosecco to start the evening off right. There were flowers and a bday card on the table and Robert our server made the evening so special. His warmth, engaging manner and attention to detail made the experience so enjoyable. The food was delicious and Robert made sure that we tasted even more than we expected. I look forward to recommending Luminosa to our friends. Thanks for a memorable birthday!

HIGHLY RECOMMEND! My…read moremom came to Asheville, NC on a solo trip to celebrate her birthday. She mentioned wanting to eat at this restaurant but OpenTable indicated there was no availability for the evening she was hoping to dine. I signed up for notifications and after some tables became available and were quickly booked, I called to see if they had room for a table for one. I explained the situation and the girl I spoke to was easily able to accommodate my mother. A gentleman then helped take my credit card information so I could cover the bill and even offered to write a card that would be handed to my mother in lieu of the check. The morning of the reservation, I spoke to same woman who made the reservation and she asked me questions about my mom's like and interests so they could make the evening special to her. When my mom arrived for dinner that evening, there were flowers at the table along with a customized menu in her favorite color. The staff also left a card wishing her a happy birthday. She was brought a complimentary glass of champagne and ordered the beef carpaccio to start. For the main course, my mother was between the caramelle or rigatoni. The waiter spoke to the chef and they were able to bring her a small portion of each dish so she could try them both. The entrees were perfectly sized, flavorful, and helped satisfy both of her cravings. She was then brought tiramisu with pistachio ice cream for dessert with the card that was written on my behalf. Throughout the evening, my mom shared that multiple staff members came over to check in, chat, and wish her happy birthday. Overall, my mom loved everything about this restaurant and had a wonderful evening. I am so grateful to all of the staff who went above and beyond to make her evening special. If you are looking for a place to celebrate a special occasion or just want to treat yourself to a nice evening with good food, drinks, and service, look no further.

Absolutely perfect first dinner while on vacation. Beautiful place and great service. Couldn't…read morerecommend it more.

Nice restaurant inside the Kimpton Arras. The staff were very kind but service was quite slow for…read moreus on a Friday night. We were expecting to be in and out in an hour but were there for 2 hours. Food was not bad. Our favorite was the octopus appetizer, tender octopus over a tasty bed of veggie and chorizo. We also ordered the bucatini carbonara which was tasty. The short rib pizza was a bit too saucy and salty for us. The broccolini side was good. We got the turtle cheesecake and it was quite heavy, I didn't realize it was a deconstructed cheesecake. Overall not a bad option and convenient if you are a hotel guest, but there are plenty of other restaurants nearby to try.

We have been to Vinnie's a few times since moving here. The food is delicious and we have really…read moreenjoyed Charles, one of the bartenders. The restaurant has an old school NY Italian restaurant vibe. My husband says it's his happy place. So far, our favorites are the chicken piccata and lasagna. The chicken is moist and it's some of the best lasagna I've had. I highly recommend checking Vinnie's out.

We tried Vinnie's South and it was very good but the only reason we tried it is because we heard…read morethat the garlic knots were worth the drive. So if you like good garlic knots this is not the place! The knots were like unleavened bread and hardly no taste at all. The Food is Amazing , the atmosphere is spot on and the service is next level! It's still our favorite place to eat but we will stay with the Merrimon Avenue location and forget the Garlic Knots.