Last Updated on January 7, 2025
If you’ve resolved to eat healthier in 2025, stop reading this post now! We support your efforts to get fit and stay fit—admittedly, things that are hard to do when you live in a food and beer hotspot like Asheville, NC.
However, if you’re brave enough to try one cheat day in Asheville, then we have the list for you! And for your convenience, we broke it down by craving. Here are seven local spots worth cheating on your New Year’s diet.
Sweet Treats: Baked Pie Company
Ready for an extra helping of dessert? Want to sweeten up your day for breakfast? We don’t judge. But we do have a suggestion that may be just outside your normal choices. The Baked Pie Company bakes their items daily with the freshest and highest quality ingredients. From shoofly to Amish apple to sugar crack, they have everything you want and more! Can’t decide which to try? Select a “flight” of three pie flavors plus a scoop of ice cream.
4 Long Shoals Road, Suite A, Arden | (828) 333-4366 | bakedpiecompany.com
Honorable Mentions:
- Á La Mode Macaron
- The Hop Ice Cream Cafe
- OWL Bakery
Spicy: Rocky’s Hot Chicken Shack
Sweating over spicy food is the same as sweating on the elliptical, right? Our favorite spicy options are at Rocky’s, the masters of “Tennessee-style” hot chicken in Western North Carolina. Their dry-rub style is different from the typical battered and fried chicken, but you certainly won’t complain once you savor its juicy taste. Make it as spicy as you want—their scale goes from plain to extra hot. Ink-heavy patrons can visit the Patton Avenue location on Tattoosday for 10% off their meal.
1455 Patton Avenue, Asheville | (828) 575-2260
3749 Sweeten Creek Road, Asheville | (828) 676-3222
Honorable Mentions:
- Bee Thai Kitchen
- Chai Pani
- Mamacita’s Taqueria
Salty: Gourmet Chip Company
What’s better than salty? Crunchy. What’s better than both? Artisan potato chips, served fresh daily or delivered straight to your door. Believe it or not, Asheville is such a foodie town that we have our own chip shop. The Gourmet Chip Company hand selects the country’s finest “chipping” potatoes and gets the freshest ingredients to mix each spice blend and secret sauce. What you get is an amazing gourmet experience on a chip. Yum!
43 1/2 Broadway Street, Asheville | (828) 254-3335 | gourmetchipcompany.com
Honorable Mentions:
- Asheville Pretzel Company
- Bouchon’s pommes frites
- Poppy’s Hand-crafted Popcorn
Caffeine: Summit Coffee
Trying to give up all the sugar in your daily grande caramel macchiato with extra whip? We can support that. But cutting out your daily dose of caffeine could be detrimental to the health … of your coworkers. No Asheville cheat day is complete without coffee. Summit Coffee Co. is a Certified Organic coffee roaster and retailer focusing on small-lot coffees sourced from around the world. Check them out in downtown’s Grove Arcade or next to 12 Bones and The Wedge Brewing in the River Arts District. Or find their roasts at coffee houses around town.
1 Page Avenue, Suite 148, Asheville | (828) 705-8304
4 Foundy Street, Suite 20, Asheville | (704) 895-9090
Honorable Mentions:
- Dynamite Roasting Company
- Odd’s Cafe
- PennyCup Coffee Co.
Chocolate: French Broad Chocolate Lounge
Sure, chocolate is a sweet treat. But for some people, it’s also a major food group. Chocolate lovers looking for top quality that’s socially and environmentally sourced know exactly where to go in Asheville. French Broad Chocolate Lounge not only crafts bean-to-bar chocolate, they make a mouth-watering selection of items with it. From drinking chocolates and dozens of varieties of truffles to chocolate mousse and nibby chocolate chip cookies, there’s something for everyone to love!
10 S Pack Square, Asheville | (828) 252-4181
821 Riverside Drive, Asheville | (828) 348-5187
Honorable Mentions:
- Asheville Chocolate
- The Chocolate Fetish
- Hilltop Ice Cream Shop
Breakfast Carbs: Sunny Point Cafe
Pancakes. French toast. Hash browns. Biscuits and gravy. If you love carbs, chances are you’re a big fan of breakfast, too! In that case, why not go to the best? Known for having one of the best breakfasts in the country, Sunny Point is a small West Asheville restaurant with a big menu. And they serve breakfast all day! Come for the Huevos Rancheros or Stuffed French Toast, stay for the 16-ounce Mega-Mosa.
626 Haywood Road, Asheville | (828) 252-0055
Honorable Mentions:
Cheese: Melt Your Heart
A restaurant dedicated to gourmet grilled cheese … that comes to you! It’s easy to see why Melt Your Heart ranks among our favorite food trucks. It’s also one of the best cheat day spots in Asheville. Quench your craving for the ooey gooey goodness that is cheese (our favorite major food group). Go for a Classic with your choice of cheese, or send your taste buds on an umami adventure with melts like Love at First Bite or the Heartbreaker.
(828) 989-6749 | facebook.com/Melt-Your-Heart
Honorable Mentions:
- Daddy Mac’s Down Home Dive
- Standard Pizza’s white pizza
- Anything on the WNC Cheese Trail
Find a home in Asheville, NC!
With a population of 90,000+, Asheville is the largest city in both Buncombe County and Western North Carolina. Asheville serves as the area’s economic and cultural nerve center in many ways, including as a hub for education, healthcare, local arts and crafts, entertainment, and innovative takes on traditional food and drink. The four-season temperate climate with average snowfall of only 13 inches makes year-round living easy, and the broad range of elevations and corresponding climates and plant growth (both in town and around the area) make it one of the most biodiverse in the United States and the world.
Does that sound like the perfect lifestyle for you? Search for homes in Asheville, NC.
