Maybe the word “cheap” is degrading to these fine restaurants, all of which serve food that’s more reliably delicious than most food you’d find for twice the price. Consider these spots as specializing in highly undervalued eats.
Circle B Ranch BBQ
There’s something civilized about charging customers after they’ve eaten, a method that reigns at sit-down restaurants, but is rarely practiced at run-’em-through cafeterias. Circle B—called Bubba Q before it relocated to its current spot across from the airport—has the confidence to do it, knowing no decent person would bail after feasting on its exquisite fried chicken, ‘cue and sides.
655 New Airport Road, Asheville/687-2323
Doc Chey’s
Doc Chey’s chain features high-minded Asian noodle and rice dishes at ridiculously low prices. A cup of coconut soup and Chinese black-bean tofu clocks in at around $10. Tables are tiny, but the good Doc has the prescription for downtown diners craving Asian chow.
37 Biltmore Ave., Asheville/252-8220
The Moose Café
If you think there’s no such thing as a too-big biscuit, you’ll adore the Moose Café. This is classic meat-heavy family dining, with a reputation almost as big as its antlered namesake. While its salty country hams and clotted gravy strike some patrons as nothing special, many out-of-state devotees claim its house-made apple butter rivals the Biltmore Estate as a reason to visit Asheville.
570 Brevard Road, Asheville/255-0920
Rio Burrito
Burritos are the ideal food for Asheville’s vegetable-fixated underemployed, and Rio may very well turn out the best of them. The no-frills menu features a choice of chicken, beef, shrimp and pork and nearly two dozen low-cost garnishes (a nickel and a dime will buy you lettuce shreds) that make even hardened Cali-Mex eaters feel like kids in a candy store.
11 Broadway St., Asheville/253-2422
Papas and Beer
Almost all Mexican food is still blessedly inexpensive, but very little of it is this darn good. Papas and Beers, a Hendersonville institution which just recently opened its first Asheville outpost, turns out dishes so fresh they make your own garden seem redundant. The scores of dishes are really all riffs on meat, cheese and vegetables wrapped in a tortilla, and they’re all wonderful.
1000 Brevard Road, Asheville/665-9070
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