It's been one year since Husband and I got married. Because he's such an awesomesauce guy, he took me to Asheville, NC for the weekend. We started up to the mountains Saturday morning and settled on something that Husband loves dearly for lunch, Mexican food.
In Columbia, we have San Jose's as our popular, chain, quasi-Mexican hangout. In Asheville, it looks like the chain to beat has to be Papas and Beer. They had a nice little patio, which we took full advantage of since Asheville weather is decidedly less sweat-inducing than the armpit of the south in late June. We were greeted with the regular chips and some bean dip. The bean dip was about as interesting as a Monday-morning staff metting, BUT they did have this excellent salsa bar inside. Instead of the salsas being a mush of spice and oil and tomato like I tend to find at some salsa bars, these salsas were fresh, vibrant, spicy and delicious. They had avocado salsa, some sort of tiger sauce, a green chile salsa, pico de gallo, among others. It was a very nice surprise.
![]()
Knowing that we were going to splurge on an enormous dinner, we both opted for tacos. I had the shrimp tacos, which, very awesomely came in corn tortillas. I believe the corn tortillas were very fresh since they were not at all dry. The shrimp were well prepared and seasoned well. There was nothing extra special about the rice and the beans.
The service was fairly quick and kind. There were some points where we waited a bit longer than expected, like when we asked for the check, but it was fine for a quick lunch. It was also very reasonably priced.
From our lunch, Husband and I went for a tour of the Biltmore estate. Now, a nerdy American history-loving little minx like me eats that stuff right up. It was just fascinating to see this grand estate and learn about the family and see the architecture and blah, blah, blah. Really, it's one of those places that you can't do justice describing in a food blog.
After the house tour, we went down to the winery and did a red wine and chocolate tasting. (Husband KNOWS me.) Thankfully, this did not come with the half hour guided tour of the winery. I've seen a winery, I know how wine is made, seriously, I just want to drink it.
A pinot noir with milk chocolate hazelnut, the winery's special blend with dark chocolate raspberry, you get the picture. It was $30 for the two of us to do this and we got all the wine we wanted, but only those four truffles. It was really well worth it. We purchased bottles of two of the wines that we tasted.
After this tasting, our guide asked us if we wanted to head to the complimentary tasting room. Uh...yea, we do, we have problems. She set us up with Vanessa, who was one of the wine hosts. They have about 15-20 different wines to taste and the tasting is free with tickets to the Biltmore. Husband and I, tried almost all of them. Don't judge us. The tasting room is located in the old dairy barn. They have lots of tables, with lots of people and lots of wine. Vanessa took great care of us.
All happy off of our wine tasting, we headed to check into our hotel at Biltmore Park and get ready for dinner. We decided on a place called 131 Main, a popular place right across the street from the hotel that features steaks, chops and chicken. We started out with an appetizer called The Double Dip, which was homemade guacamole and a red pepper, cream cheese dip. It was very good. That appetizer hung out with us for a while.
I also decided to defer from wine for a bit and opted for the house drink, the 131 MAINIAC, which was a sweet and sour blend of Southern Comfort, Peach Schnapps, Amaretto and sweet and sour. It was very refreshing.
The only bad part of the meal was the salad. Both Husband and I did not like it. I ordered the cesar. That salad was the most over dressed salad I have ever laid eyes on. It reminded me of trying to get a toddler to eat a salad. Why is that? Well, how do you get a young child to eat a salad...why, you kill it with Ranch dressing. It was truely a shame.
For dinner, I had the meatloaf and Husband had the BBQ chicken. The meatloaf. Was. Awesome. (MOM...THE MEATLOAF!!) There is something about really great meatloaf that just makes me so happy. It's so easy to do bad meatloaf with a ketchup sauce and it'll be dry and awful. 131, I believe, mixes sausage into theirs. There was a deifinte hint of fennel-y goodness, slathered with a mushroom gravy. The red skinned mased potatoes were chunky and delicious.
The end of the meal came with a banana cream pie. Now, after having more wine (we had a bottle of the Syrah, which was decent), I was too...happy...to take a picture of it. It was wonderous though, laced with whipped cream and white chocolate.
Our waiter was wonderful. Husband and I tend to have LONG dinners, and we hate feeling rushed. Our waiter picked up on this and our food came out at a pace where we did not feel at all rushed. He was friendly and courteous and checked in on us often. We left absolutely sastiated.
The next morning, we were looking for some breakfast and we found a little place in the Arts District call the Clingman Cafe. It was a tiny little place with local art on the wall, serving bagels and sandwhiches. I had the Josh Special, which was egg, pesto, mozzarella and tomato on a cibatta roll pressed like a panini. Seriously, I didn't think I was hungry after our rediculous dinner the night before, but I ate the whole thing. It was delicious.
What a fantastic way to celebrate our first anniversary. It wasn't long at all from Columbia (about two and a half hours), and it was better weather!
The Breakdown (Papas and Beer):
The decor: Dark inside, sit outside if you can.
The food: More authentic that I've found with most "Mexican" chain restaurants. The salsa bar and corn tortillas were key.
The wait staff: Not bad. Not great.
The drink: They have your typical beer on tap for this type of establishment.
The atmosphere: Laid back. Perfect for a nice lunch.
The price: Perfect. Two lunches and a beer for Husband came in under $20. A definite deal.
The Breakdown (131 Main):
The decor: Modern. The outside terrace has a cool fire feature and the inside has some cool glass art. It's very open.
The food: Beside the unfortunate salads. The food was great not-quite-upscale comfort food.
The wait staff: Very sweet. It is always nice to not feel rushed and have food being thrown at you when the kitchen sends it. They were very attentive.
The drink: A short, but decent selection of wines. You're going to drop at least $45 on a bottle if you choose to get one. Their cocktail menu is very fun.
The atmosphere: Open, bustling, busy. It's a popular place but your don't feel like people are sitting on top of each other.
The price: For a nice dinner out for our first anniversary, it was about $120. Which I believe with a bottle of wine and four courses, is a great price.
The Breakdown (Clingman Cafe):
The decor: Local art for sale on the walls. Tables lining the block outside. Your typical neighborhood cafe.
The food: Great bagels and breakfast sandwiches. Homemade with love.
The wait staff: You order at the counter and it's just a short wait for your food. So you don't see the staff all that often.
The drink: They do have a couple of bottles of wine and bubbly if you choose. They seemed like very nice choices.
The atmosphere: Laid back, artsy. Would be a great place to hang out on Sunday mornings.
The price: Two homemade breakfast sandwiches = $14. Seriously a steal.
