In all the visits I have made to Asheville I have never visited one of its most iconic restaurants, Tupelo Honey. The restaurant is located downtown and serves “nouveau Southern” cuisine. The lines are always crazy long so I never visited while visiting Asheville.
Tupelo Honey has been expanding in recent years and now has locations in Greenville, Knoxville, Johnson City, Chattanooga and as of last weekend, Charlotte! I was invited to the preview night before the grand opening and eagerly accepted the invite.
You were greeted by a loud, lively and entertaining Jazz band that was playing out on the porch. Tupelo Honey is located in Southend Charlotte in the old Pewter Rose space. They did a complete renovation of the space and it’s big, airy and very well decorated. High ceilings and exposed brick. It’s warm and inviting.
There was food for tasting everywhere!
My first plate was fried okra, mashed sweet potatoes, cheesy cauliflower mash, pork chop and tenderloin. Faves on this plate were the cauliflower and tenderloin.
Veggie table with brussels sprouts, beets, asparagus and more.
Shrimp and goat cheese grits.
Crab cakes.
My final plate of the evening. Shrimp and goat cheese grits, brussels sprouts, seared scallop and a crab cake. This plate was incredible. The shrimp and grits were perfect with lots of roasted red pepper and goat cheese, the scallop was cooked perfectly and the crab cake was a spot on mix of filler and crab with a spicy sauce to top it off.
I left with a Tupelo Honey Cookbook. I can’t wait to browse through it and try some of the recipes. Growing up in south Georgia, I’m a big fan of southern comfort food. My Sunday tradition with my grandmother was always church and then a meat and three. And I can’t wait to get back to Tupelo Honey to try their brunch. Word on the street is that they’ll serve breakfast all day!
What’s your favorite Southern food? This is a tough one for me but I’ll go with cornbread, stewed okra and tomatoes, pecan pie and about a million other things including braised cabbage, collard greens, pineapple casserole, cheese grits…
