As we wend our way to Florida, we spend the night in Bristol for one main reason. This restaurant!…read more (The Hilton Garden Inn hits all the marks too, but as I have nothing to add I'm not updating that review.) My husband ordered five enchiladas each with a different stuffing. While delicious, unless you haven't eaten since last Thursday, who can consume so many enchiladas?! I shouldn't talk. The house special quesadilla -- always excellent -- is a lot of food. Ever resourceful, I took half back, put the chicken and peppers on a bagel and ate it for breakfast! (Note to self AND my husband: next time let's split one and maybe forego the steak and chicken. Chorizo and shrimp?!) Moving on, the salsa bar is great with smooth, chunky, mild and spicy salsas. That's not counting the warm bean spread brought to the table with their thin and crisp chips. Our margaritas -- $6 each -- are not only good but pretty, topped with berries and a flower. Here it is, Monday night -- not a typical going-out day of the week -- and the place is busy with locals. Pretty good testimony to what's become one of my favorite Mexican restaurants.

Ate here 2 weeks ago. Sat at the bar like we always do, ordered some drinks and our meals…read more I decided to try the fried scallops and fried shrimp with baked potato. When my meal arrived I tried a scallop and it was awful. Cut another one in half and tried it...still terrible. Ate a few of the fried shrimp which were lukewarm warm at best and decided...wow, this meal sucks. The potato was fair. A server came and asked if I was done and I said yes...it wasn't very good at all and he could certainly see that I didn't even eat a 1/4 of my food. When my partner was done with his meal, which he enjoyed, the female bartender took his plate away and I said his meal was good, mine was awful. Both of the workers that I spoke with about my meal couldn't care less. I suppose it was my fault for not asking for a manager, but as someone who has worked in restaurants, one of the employees should have done something...anything to show they cared and tried to make things right. Left a $7 tip on a $70 bill (which was generous, considering my bad meal) This place has been hit or miss and this night was a huge MISS. Definitely won't ever come back to this location. We will drive the extra 20 minutes and go to the Abingdon location. Never had a bad meal there and the service has always been top notch.

This place is always great. The food tastes fresh and there are multiple locations in East TN. We…read morehave been to the one in Roan Mt and the one in Newland (I think that's where it is). The queso is yummy and the chips are always crispy like chips should be. The loaded queso is not my favorite since the pieces of meat are huge and not bite sized so they break your chip when you try to scoop with a chip. The guacamole is good. My kids always eat the queso, chips and tortillas and love it. I usually get shrimp fajitas or something like that but sometimes I just get queso and eat that and chips for my meal. All the servers we have had are prompt and nice. We like to eat outside when we can/when the weather is good. The Roan Mt location has a big deck out front where our party of 10+ can sit. We always stop by at least once when we are in Roan Mountain camping at the State Park. We highly recommend it!

My friends & I stopped here after a hike recently for lunch & we were seated immediately. It's a…read morecozy little restaurant just off the road that catches your eye. There's plenty of indoor seating, but we chose to sit on the shaded patio & we enjoyed it. Our drink order was promptly taken & chips were delivered to our table - both stayed full for our entire lunch. There is a salsa bar directly inside with several delicious options. I ordered the Taco Trio with Black Beans & my friends ordered Chile Relleno, Beef Burrito with Rice & Cheese Quesadillas. All were fantastic & we've already talked about going back.

Plenty of affordable options, great complimentary chips and dip w/ a self-serve salsa bar, and…read morefriendly staff ... everything you could want from a Mexican restaurant, but they were out of horchata :( I had ACP and tried my friend's birria--both delicious. I was in a party of 12, and everyone had great things to say.

This is as close to true Mexican food in our Country…read more Their sauce bar, their chips, and the giant servings make this place a keeper. Out of the mainstream Newland is a hidden NC gem!

the food is great and the service is good one of our favorite mexican places and the food is…read moreflavorful and always I mean always good.

Be careful here. Be BERY specific. The location in Bristol VA is far superior. I came here with my…read moreson for LUNCH. Ordered the lunch chicken fajita which was their special for lunch. He asked me if I wanted everything on it. I've never been asked that before for a fajita. So anyways they brought me a chicken fajita. Bill came and it was for a dinner fajita. I requested a correction and the manager argued with me that we should not have ate it. But honestly it's hard to tell them apart. He said one was "smaller portions". The accusations made it feel like he thought I was stealing food. Never coming here again.

Service is great and the food is so good! The Texas ACP is delicious! I've had their burritos and…read morechimichangas and both are so yummy!

Excellent food and drinks! Great service. Nice ambience. The best Mexican food in the area.read more

My favorite local restaurant, amazing Reuben sandwich! Very casual. Sit outside by the stream,…read moresit around a fire pit, or enjoy the live music (depending on schedule). Lots of hikers and locals.

This place has the best food in the Roan Highlands. The Kitchen is amazing. I eat there at least…read moreonce a week and when they close for the season I get sad. Dave smokes a pastrami that is 1/4" thick, best Reuben I've ever had. I dream about it. I harass them about it. Everything they cook is amazing, the smash burgers, the wings, the chicken sandwiches. Dave and Shannon are awesome people, Hurricane Helene took out their hostel but it's almost rebuilt. Cold beer, even some NA beers. Live music. It's my favorite place to go, spend birthdays and holidays there. Go become a part of their family like I did.

Fine dining in the mountains, and some of the best dishes and food at this elevation!…read more This place hits on all levels if you're in the mood for a great evening out. Elegant inside and out, friendly service and top notch food. We sat at the bar and our bartender took care of us all evening. Had one of the best old fashioned's in the area. He knows his stuff! The food was fine dining at its best. A garlic buttered escargot with puff pastry just melts in your mouth. Lobster bisque full of flavor and full of, well, lobster, and a ton of it. I have to say, the extra touch to the tasty French onion soup was a talking point all evening...it came with dedicated scissors so you could cut the cheese. What an amazing touch. And they sure did help lol. The center cut medium rare filet mignon paired with some frites was definitely the showstopper this evening. Thick, tender and juicy...one of the best steaks on all levels. Whenever we're in town and want an elegant evening out, this is the spot!

Stonewalls Restaurant was one of the more pleasant surprises during my time in Banner Elk. It's a…read morebeautiful restaurant, and I had been looking forward to dining there for quite some time. From the moment we arrived, the staff was warm, welcoming, and attentive. The atmosphere, however, felt a little mixed. The restaurant seemed to have two distinct personalities. The newer side, where the bar is located, felt polished and cohesive, while the older dining room--where we were seated because it had more availability--felt like it hadn't quite received the same attention. The lighting on that side of the restaurant was particularly harsh, which made the dining room feel less intimate than it could have been. Since it's also the larger and busier dining space, I think small touches like candles on the tables or softer lighting would go a long way toward creating a warmer, more personal atmosphere. I also noticed an interesting contrast between the beautiful leather-bound menus and some of the furniture and wall décor, which felt more reminiscent of a hotel dining room than the upscale mountain restaurant the food suggested. Thankfully, the meal more than made up for those observations. I ordered the wild mushroom pasta with lobster, and it was the standout dish of the evening. The pasta was rich without feeling heavy, the mushrooms added wonderful depth, and the lobster was cooked beautifully. It's a dish I'd gladly order again. My boyfriend ordered a steak, which he thoroughly enjoyed. We also started with the escargot and the crab cakes. The escargot, while not quite on the level of some traditional French restaurants I've visited, was still very well prepared and enjoyable. The crab cakes were outstanding--full of crab, nicely seasoned, and easily one of the best appetizers of the meal. Our only complaint was that there was only one crab cake on the plate; we both found ourselves wishing there had been another. Overall, Stonewalls Restaurant delivered an excellent meal with genuinely welcoming service. While I'd love to see the older dining room updated to better match the quality of the cuisine, the food alone makes it well worth a visit if you're in Banner Elk.

What a great find on our little road trip through the area. We were craving some seafood and so we…read morewent here we're immediately greeted as we walked in the door the young Hostess was extremely friendly very nice and immediately sat us the menu had so many options to choose from. We ordered fried mushrooms to start. The portion was so large we could have shared it with two other people! The mushrooms were fried to perfection and were so yummy. I ordered the fried clams and fries for my entree and it came with hushpuppies. My hubby got fried shrimp. It's a good thing I got the smaller senior portion because oh my goodness the portions were so large! My fried clams were the best that I have ever had they were absolutely delicious crispy on the outside, tender in the middle. Under my bed of crispy fries, I found what I thought was a stray onion ring until I took a bite. It was one of my hushpuppies! I have NEVER, had a hushpuppy in a ring shape. It tasted amazing! My new favorite hushpuppies of all time. My husband's massive plate of fried shrimp was equally as good. We ate till almost bursting. LOL Our server was incredibly nice and attentive. The restaurant environment is casual, open concept with a seafarers flair. Restrooms were clean too. It's a great place for large groups and family. If you love seafood, grilled or fried, come here. It will not disappoint.

Some very nice seafood options, with well-made sides…read more Definitely worth the drive in a beautiful mountain setting.

My family really enjoyed our meal at the Peddler. We came with 2 small kids and everyone was very…read morefriendly towards us. The staff was attentive and the service was fast. Food was great, loved the salad cards to create my own custom salad. We will be back.

I love this place for more than just the food. Always a comfortable atmosphere and one of those…read moreplaces we always look forward to when we are in the mountains

Puerto Nuevo is an amazing Mexican Restaurant located near the entrance to Sugar Mountain. Their…read morefood is delicious, service os fast, professional, fast, friendly, fast, and attentive. Their food and "entertainment" was simply watching the clean, well-dressed staff in constant motion getting everyone served. Our server was Reyes. Their serving sizes are more than ample!

We kept seeing this place so we decided to give it a try. They started us out with tortilla chips…read moreand refried bean dip which seemed weird to me and not a good combination. It wasn't a good combination. I didn't realize that if I wanted salsa I had to get it from a bar they had in the back of the seating area. That was weird, but okay. I'm not from this area and I'm used to being offered mild and spicy salsa with my tortilla chips, but whatever. I had a chicken enchilada with a beef taco, Mexican rice and refried beans. It was okay, but again, different from what I'm used to. The main issue I had was with the flavor of the chicken. The taste was off and I really didn't eat much of it. That was disappointing. The taco was okay. Nothing out of the ordinary. My husband had a chicken quesadilla with Mexican rice and guacamole salad. He said it was just okay. Nothing memorable. Overall, we probably won't return here if we find ourselves in the area again. I didn't appreciate that in addition to the price of this mediocre food there was a "service charge" on the bill. Nope. Won't be returning.