The Original Papa Nick’s

We were feeling really lazy on our weekend Mountain trip and wanted to order in pizza. Unfortunately the nearest pizza place was Pizza Hut… which made us decide that we were going to drive out to get some decent pizza. Papa Nick’s was 20 minutes away, but being the gluttons we are, we decided it was worth it to check out this place based on the great reviews here. We were not disappointed at all! We got a large deluxe (5-​topping pizza). They were very generous with the toppings and we really liked the pepperoni, salami, and red onion on our pizza. We also got baked manicotti and sausage sphagetti with marinara and both were very good. Definitely recommend this place if you’re vacationing in the area!

I am Italian (and love/​need Italian food often) and my family have tried many things on the menu. Their pizza is ok to good. Their pizza dough needs salt. However, we order the thin pizza with pepperoni and that gives it the salt it needs. The regular pizza is too thick for my liking. I have tried their meatballs which are Terrible!!! They had huge pieces of onions in them… any real Italian knows you don’t put onions in meatballs. They tasted more like hamburger balls or meatloaf balls… but they are absolutely not real Italian meatballs. Their Greek salad is good, garlic knots were good, and I have had calzones on two occasions. Again I think the dough needs salt but overall the calzone was still ok. but I wouldn’t say it was good. The marinara sauce that came with calzones was kind of gross to me and i couldnt eat it. Overall your safe if you get a specialty pizza with thin crust and a salad… we do enjoy that to a certain degree. If you grew up in the mountains of NC then you’ll probably think this is good food… oh yeah I must say the people here are pretty nice.

The best pizza in NC, hands down! The Greek pizza was straight from heaven… the staff is also very warm, very inviting and quite busy. This place was hopping. I’m glad my son chose Mars Hill University… I get to eat here for the next 4 years!

First time in Mars Hill and got there after 8PM. Even though the closed the invited me in and let me know was still available to eat. A one of a kind local owned restaurant with great pizza and outer Italian dishes. A small Papa Nick’s Deluxe Pizza is $ 12.00 for the 10″ and $ 17.00 for a large. Was started by the Father located on the «mountains» then when he could not do it anymore the Daughter stepped up and offered just a cary out and more recently they opened up the restaurants and now her son manages the cary out that is still going. I talked to someone there and they said «all the locals love this place».

Great food!!! Had the chicken Marsala. The garlic knots were awesome! Definitely recommend.

We did the take out option. Kids had a cheese pizza, dh had a calzone, and I had the eggplant parm. All of these options were super tasty. Everything was really hot and fresh. We will definitely go back. My only suggestion would be to offer a couple of homemade salad dressing options.

Ordered pizza from here for the Auburn and Alabama Iron Bowl game. I got the meat pizza. The pizza was good and I like how the ingredients were large chunks of it. Comparatively to the other pizza places that I have been to. This one was below average.

Papa Nick’s has recently open up a restaurant next to the original take out location where they serve meals, (that I find very high on the yummy meter), such as Fettuccine Alfredo, Stuffed Shells Florentine, Baked Manicotti with Spinach and my favorite, Chicken Parmigiana.
The pizza is always fresh, the sauce very tasty and again, fresh. The garlic rolls are perfect and they will even give you tons of extra garlic on them if you ask for it.
I have had several of the various heroes/​hoagies/​subs and all of the ones that I have tried are delicious and once again fresh. They even have a Cuban Sandwich which is just as good as some of the ones I used to get in Florida.
The people who work there are very friendly and more importantly, know the menu.
I would absolutely positively recommend going there.

Admittedly there’s not much in Mars Hill but even if there were others this would still stand out as a star! Great Pizzas, I’m sure the other Italian food is great too but I just get pizza’s and they are fabulous. Follow these folk on Facebook and you will keep up to date on the latest news and snow days etc etc. More importantly they upgraded to a fully fledged restaurant earlier this year so you can sit in if you wish.

OMG! GARLIC ROLLS! Oh, yea!
To be clear, the description says «pizza take-​out.» Originally, it was take-​out and outdoor seating, but they have since made a beautiful indoor space with lots of tables — and table service, and a much bigger menu than just pizza. The inside was very clean and the service was excellent.
I have a fondness for this place, because a good friend and I would go all the time when Papa Nick’s was in Miami. We loved the place!
Now that that friend lives in Asheville 6 months of the year, she discovered that Papa Nick had retired and his restaurant was now in Mars Hill. It is a down-​home, family place — just like it was in Miami.
I have longed for the garlic rolls. After having them all those years in Miami, I never, ever found a place where they were as good. And, they definitely stayed as good, if not better than I remembered them. (See my photo — you can tell how delicious they are by the picture!)
I had the meatless baked ziti. It was very good. It comes with a nice green salad. I had the thousand island dressing, and the server told me it was made there — it was SO good.
My friend had a calzone that was ENORMOUS. He said it was very good. The portions of all our meals was very big; and the price was very reasonable.
Mars Hill is a tiny, tiny town about 20 miles from Asheville — it is most definitely a far cry from Miami (in a good way!).
We got there around 5:45ish on a Wednesday night. We were seated right away, but by the time we left, the entire restaurant was full. I suggest going early.
Oh, and if you use cash to pay for your meal, they give you a 10% discount! I like that!
This was a great dining experience, not only for the nostalgic reason, but because it was great food, with great friends, in a wonderful, friendly setting. All good!
I only rate vegan or vegetarian restaurants 5-​stars. If they didn’t serve meat here, I would have definitely given it 5! :)

Tonight we enjoyed the dining area, still great food. There are a few more dishes. Daughter got the pizza, husband and I got the Italian sampler. All were really great. Glad to have option of both take out and dine in.

Of the three restaurants on the block, this was the only open one, and boy were we lucky! Garlic knots were insanely good and pizza was delicious! Huge portions. We have a new restaurant when we go visit my parents-​in-​law! Service was a little on the slow side, but they were very busy. No atmosphere but food was so good, it was forgivable.

We were in town getting ready to go tubing the next day. We were cold and hungry driving through an almost empty town (except for the Ingles parking lot)…when like a beacon in the night we saw the sign for Papa nicks. Holleee Crap! Can I curse on Unilocal?So happy to have found this place. When you first enter, you know what this place is about… PIZZA, and boy do they mean business — you literally almost walk right into the kitchen — the staff is super friendly and feels like you’ve known them for years. They recommended a great pub around the corner (the Cork and Crown) while they made our pizza. We ordered a large plain pizza and a calzone with spinach and artichoke hearts. It was the best pizza I’ve had in ages (and I eat a lot of pizza at a lot of different restaurants). And the calzone was amazing — I could not stop eating it. This place is a real gem and you should definitely check it out!

Yuck! Greasy pizza, hard garlic rolls swimming in grease!

These guys are awesome. They make the best pizza in the area as far as I am concerned. I was so pleased to find a local pizza place that is keeping things authentic. They are always friendly and welcoming and the food is always affordable. Everything we have had there has been delicious. Even the salads. Definitely recommend eating here for anyone who is in the mood for some great pizza and great service.

I came through Mars Hill touring small towns in Western North Carolina and could immediately smell some incredible Italian food from around the corner. When I saw it was coming from this shop I just had to go in and check it out. I asked a customer that came in the restaurant his opinion and he quoted, «It is no doubt the Best Pizza in all of North Carolina!» He is such a believer he even suggested to buy me a slice just so I could experience the greatness of the pizza. Overhearing this conversation the extremely friendly owner so graciously offered me a slice for free. I had to take her up on the offer and must say I was just blown away by the incredible taste of the pizza. It was AMAZING! One of the best slices of pizza I had ever had. And as an Italian guru I just don’t throw out these type of compliments so easily, but this shop is top notch! If you are near this area it is definitely worth checking this restaurant out! And if you are a college student go order some of this pizza now!!!

Best pizza ever! Freshly made and garlic knots are pretty great! Would highly recommend.

GREAT food! Love their calzones!