Best of: Eats: Thai
1st placeThai Basil 
Best Thai: Thai Basil Photo by Jonathan Welch
Cheap lunch entrees, authentic flavors, good yet speedy food — Thai Basil's got it all. Xpress readers dig this spicy oasis in the Grove Arcade — since we started offering a Thai food category in the Best of WNC, readers have voted this po tak purveyor tops each year.
First opened in 2004, Thai Basil immediately made a splash as one of the first restaurants of its kind in downtown Asheville. The eatery found balance right off the bat, ensuring its survival in a time when Grove Arcade restaurants didn't seem to exactly have a captive audience.
Thai Basil still finds sure footing with its poo nim and harmony in its hoi op. The restaurant has, in fact, served enough massaman to the masses to have opened a second location in Black Mountain.
Sure, Thai Basil has their pad thai down pat, but it's the more adventurous dishes that garner our accolades. I'm partial to the pad kee mao noodle, a dish of pan-fried rice noodle sauteed with egg, jalapeño, onion, carrot and chili. Because, in my opinion, Thai Basil is best when it turns up the heat.
— Mackensy Lunsford
