Native Kitchen & Social Pub

What a jewel of a place to have in Swannanoa. Enjoying the steak special with a glass of wine. Great, charasmatic staff!!! Keep up the good work Native crew!

Super awesome service and great food, what more can you ask for! Perfect pork chop special, really hit the spot.

Beautiful ambiance, excellent, fast service, amazing food, what a find. We will be back. Worth every one of these 5 stars.

We are always looking for off– the– beaten path restaurants and this is one of them. We had our doubts at first when the greeter told us the kitchen was busy with with a private party. So, we sat at the bar and enjoyed their variety of craft beers. Soon, the greeter came by and said our table was ready, so we were not ignored.
The menu is limited, but we were extremely pleased with our choices, the chicken sandwich sandwich on focaccia and the brasstown burger, both with the optional side salad. We would definitely return.

We were staying in Swannanoa over the weekend for a family girls trip. We thought about eating in Asheville, but decided it was a little crowded. So someone at Biltmore Village recommended the Native Kitchen, and we saw the Unilocal reviews and thought we’d try it. So glad we did! We had a group of 9, and we sat outside. It was a little warm, but still nice. We got the popcorn brussel sprouts — yum! We’d had something like it before, but not everyone in our groups had. Everybody loved them. I ordered the grilled chicken sandwich, which was pretty good, but my daughter and I also shared her black bean burger, which was fantastic. Wished I’d gotten that. Everyone else loved their food, especially the burgers and the green tomato BLTs. Add to that the fact that the waiter was so great to us (even split into separate checks for us, poor guy) and you get a 5-​star review!

I don’t normally like to make negative comments, but the pizza we had here last night was the worst I’ve ever had. A little plain tomato sauce (no seasoning), a little cheese, and a very little bit of Italian sausage. Terrible.

I felt like we stumbled upon a well kept secret. This place has a fenced in back yard and plenty of tables and chairs so our dogs were very happy while we had lunch. Great beer selection and our food was really good. Great spot!!!

We were looking for a different kind of place when passing through town. We took a chance based on most of the reviews and it is a winner. I had the fried green tomatoes and bacon sandwich with s great side salad. My husband loved his medium rare burger and fries. Delightful waitress. Definitely a do again when we are back in the area. Easy access from Interstate 40 too!

I really wanted to like this place. I really did. Looking at the reviews and the menu, I so badly wanted this place to be that hidden gem in the mountains of NC. But to my dismay, it fell short.
I find it hard to rate it this low because the waiting staff was so friendly and nice, but just based on food, I have to go with my gut. I ordered the confit wings. When I asked about it, our waiter said it’s cooked in duck fat for 4 hours, then flash fried to give it a nice crispy outside. Not the crispy fried wings that you’d normally expect, but he said that it was the best wings he’d ever had. The meat just falls off the bone. Honestly, they had me at duck fat.
So I ordered 20 so that I can share with the table. If you look at my other reviews, you’d see I’m a pretty big boy. I could probably eat 20 wings by myself. But by the end of the meal, I was begging my friends to just finish it for me.
Texture:
There’s a different between «fall off the bone“and soft, rubbery meat. Unfortunately it was the latter. The meat did fall of the bone, but it was kind of rubbery as well. I’ll be honest — I haven’t had too much confit in my life, but when I had duck confit at a restaurant, it was rubbery — it was tender and juicy, but still had a bit of a bit to it. This was nothing like it.
Flavor:
The dry rub was overwhelming. The hot buffalo was non-​existent. These flavors either masked or fell short of really accentuating the cooking method. The richness that I’d expect from the duck fat wasn’t really there. Disappointing.
This review may be harsh, but combine my description with a table full of less-​than-​stellar responses from my friends, all claiming dry meat, lack of flavor, and other comments of that sort, I have to be honest.
If you’re a wing lover and expecting your normal fried chicken wings, this is not that. I’m really hoping that it was just a bad day for the cook or that it was a substitute cook or that the cook was drunk or the cook lost his right hand fighting off a bear in the mountain — any kind of excuse that would make me feel better about my experience — but unfortunately, my taste buds shall speak today.

We went based off positive reviews but was sorely disappointed. I’m hoping it was an off day or something b/​c the dishes we ordered were given great reviews. We got the Grilled Chicken Sandwich ($ 10). It was dry and lacked flavor. The shrimp, tempeh, and beef tacos ($ 3.50 each) were not bad but also a little dry. The steak sandwich ($ 9.90) was a little dry but not terrible. The brasstown burger ($ 10) was decent but the requested medium rare came out well done, no pink at all. The wings were good. The meat comes right off b/​c of the confit aspect. Overall, the food was disappointing.
The waiter was really nice so he gave them a star. The design is unique and caters to a younger crowd but still maintains a touch of class to it. They have a couple of TVs at the bar playing sports but the TV in the back was playing silent movies. They have outside seating as well. They maintain the place very well.
Again, I think it was an off day b/​c the other reviews are so positive but based off my reviews I would not recommend this place.

I’ve been trying to be more stingy with the 5 star reviews lately, but the grilled chicken on focaccia was just one amazing sandwich. Being served with a small salad of mixed greens made it well worth the $ 10 price tag for lunch.
I was close by, hungry, and had had this place bookmarked to try for quite some time. They honestly looked closed when I pulled up. The open sign is written in chalk and the windows are tinted, so it just looked dark inside. I love the chalk sign, but maybe written in red to make it look more like a lit up neon sign. I went in anyhow and I’m glad I did. It was past normal lunch time, so I was the only one in there. I didn’t even see any employees at first. But took a seat at the bar none the less and was greeted shortly there after.
Everything on the menu sounded good, but I was sold on the chicken sandwich the second I read goat cheese. The bread was perfect. Softer than most focaccia, so eventually the sandwich kind of started falling apart. That is not a complaint, lol. Perfectly juicy chicken, lovely creamy goat cheese, and a great whole grain mustard to boot. My server was quick with my water refills as well. Not much more I could ask for.
I highly recommend you give this place a try, I will be back ASAP.

I have two words DUCK TACOS! this place it great– off the path, out of town and only 10 mins from home. Outdoor seating! what is not to love. Live music on weekend nights full bar but I don’t drink so whatever. Staff is great. With little turnover and they care.

Went this past weekend. Had the steak sandwich with extra horseradish and it was fantastic. One of the best roast beef sandwiches I’ve ever had. The fries were fresh and cooked perfectly.
My wife got the Buffalo chicken sandwich and the chicken was wonderfully tender and moist.
I will definitely be back.
Lindsay was a fantastic waitress, excellent sense of humor and a joy to interact with.

Food was awesome. Service was awesome. Seriously… The BEST chicken wings I have ever had. They were outstanding!!! Atmosphere was so chill and I love the support they give to the local growers & Brewers. Will definitely return!

Great local food! Blackened catfish taco’s were amazing! Loved the on tap cider:-) We will be returning with the kids to try the brick fired pizza!

Local farm burger was cooked to perfection and local bakery bun was very fresh. All vegetables were very fresh and delicious
PEAR chocolate cake was to die for very moist!!!
Dinner salad was very filling and local veggies
Will
Be back
Service was EXCELLENT!!!

Right around the corner from where we live and we love it! Always interesting dinner specials and a variety of prices available. Some of the best steak and salmon we have had here in NC since we moved here two months ago. Hubby loves the drafts of course and I tried a bruised (or massaged?) kale salad that I absolutely loved. We adore dining outside and use this place for our date nights. Great servers and nice people, fun music. Keep up the great work and thanks for the posting on FB, so we can keep in touch for the daily specials!

What a gem (almost in the middle of nowhere)! Yes, it’s in Swannanoa. And if you know where that is, and can actually spell it, then you are likely from the Asheville area. Very unsuspecting from the outside, but when you enter, it has a cool blend of primitive and modern décor. We were there for lunch and had excellent/​attentive service from Mark. There’s plenty of seating inside and out, a small stage where bands peform on Fridays and a soon to be finished «backyard» area where you can play games or gather around a fire pit (seasonal obviously). The menu does a great job of giving enough variety to please everyone (vegans and carnivores alike) without getting carried away; simple, clean ingredients, organized in creative and delicious ways. The fried green tomato caprese was a combo of light meets heavy drizzled with delicious pesto. The popcorn brussel sprouts were out of this world. The jalapeño pulled pork nachos make a good appetizer or a light main course. My main course was the buttermilk fried chicken sandwich with house made pickles, bacon, cheddar and ranchonaise; totally juicy chicken without being greasy = a real winner. I tried some of my friends dishes, the barbequed chicken pizza with pickled red onions and the kale/​quinoa salad. Both were very good, especially the kale salad. I could almost become a vegetarian (I said almost). There is a nice selection of craft beers on tap; both the beer selection and the menu rotate seasonally. Again, the service was very personable and the food excellent. Maybe they do get busy evenings and on weekends, so if you feel that you’re missing out on the true «Native Kitchen» experience, then you must go there for lunch. Bravo guys!

Great little spot in little ol Swannanoa. Food was above average, beer selection was excellent. We went on Thursday night (half price pitcher night) and apparently they can’t serve pitchers to a single diner (well I had 6yo DD with me but apparently she doesn’t count :-/​In any case server was super understanding and told me that as long as I didn’t drink more than a pitcher she would charge me the pitcher price :-) DD had Mac & Cheese and I had a BBQ pizza. I asked for no pickled Onions on my pizza and it rolled out with onions, not a big deal I just picked them off. The main reason for my 3-​star review is that we dined outside and there was the scent of vomit and \ or cat urine which was really off-​putting. I suppose we could have just moved inside but it was a beautiful night and we wanted to dine «out». I would go back, but probably eat inside next time.

Location was good, outside seating was ample.
Service was below average as it was consistently slow for such a slow night. The menus options were too limited in my opinion, almost felt like bar food in selection. Yet, it was priced in full restaurant prices.