From locals, devour the best breakfast in Asheville, including places like All Day Darling (Montford), Pulp & Sprout (North Asheville), The Smokin’ Onion (West Asheville), and Abeja’s House Cafe (South Asheville). Start your day – or hike – off right!
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There is certainly no shortage of great restaurants in Asheville, and as residents, the city has officially turned Tom and I into professional foodies. These are just a few of our favorite places for breakfast tacos and burritos, sweet pastries on the run (GF and vegan included), all things eggs and bacon, smoothies, bowls, and more. 📸 All photos and experiences are 100% our own across years of living here. 💙 Christine
🎷 You might also enjoy these top spots for weekend brunch. Think live music, tipsy libations, and jazzy ambiance. Many of the places below make for terrific Asheville lunch spots, too. Let us know your favorites in the comments. We are always changing up these lists. 🍴
Liberty House Cafe
☕️ In North Asheville’s Wellness District, a farm-to-table, family-owned cafe 🥓
Liberty House Vibes
For classic breakfast and lunch favorites, Liberty House Cafe is your go-to for pancakes, skillets, overnight oats, avocado toast, and BLATs (bacon, lettuce, avocado, and tomato). Their bustling outdoor seating will truly make you feel like an Asheville local.
Why Tom and I Recommend Liberty House Cafe
This is one of our favorite Asheville coffee shops, especially in yoga pants and hiking boots. Liberty House Cafe sits next to Pulp and Sprout (keep reading) on an acre of land in a repurposed 1920s cottage. We love pairing their budget-friendly food with an Asheville Salt Cave session; it’s heavenly.
The Smokin’ Onion
🥞 Late morning vegan breakfast in West Asheville 🧇
What The Smokin’ Onion Is All About
What began as a food truck, Tom and I love The Smokin’ Onion’s West Asheville brick-and-mortar restaurant. A dedicated vegan spot – that non-vegans like us also covet – The Smokin’ Onion serves all-day breakfast and lunch with a few dinner services.
Why Tom and I Love Ordering A Late Breakfast Here
Imagine vegan chicken and waffles, pancakes, and biscuits and gravy paired with a mimosa, matcha latte, or Bloody Mary. Grab housemade dressings and dessert.
Their cookies are the size of my face, and they sell Back Porch Baking Co. pastries (my favorite in town). It’s a small, local business with the sweetest staff in the same plaza as Botiwalla. Plus, they aren’t afraid to speak up about injustices in the world.
Abeja’s House Cafe
🥑 A hidden South Asheville local gem for breakfast and lunch 🥬
What To Expect From Abeja’s House Cafe
For budget-friendly, local breakfast restaurants in Asheville, Abeja’s House Cafe promises no-frills Latin and American cuisine with great service and plenty of options. They currently don’t have an active website or updated social media channels, so check their Google listing for recent reviews, address, and more.
Why Abeja’s House
Don’t let South Asheville’s busy Hendersonville Road deter you from dining here (it’s not my favorite road/area). The breakfast burritos, platters, sandwiches, and omelets are worth it. Everything is deliciously fresh.
If it’s a nice day, enjoy their outdoor seating. We love coming here for breakfast, brunch, and lunch. If open, head to the wine shop next door.
All Day Darling
🥯 Casual Montford eatery perfect for outside dining 🥗
What To Know About This Neighborhood Favorite
One of the best places for locals and visitors alike, All Day Darling is open 7 days a week and sits at the edge of downtown in Asheville’s quaint Historic Montford neighborhood. Order at the jumping counter and grab a seat.
Why Tom and I Recommend All Day Darling
Select from matcha lattes, lox, gluten-free pancakes, breakfast bowls, and steak and eggs. Make tough decisions between avocado, mushroom, and almond butter toast.
This is one of our top picks for budget-friendly and casual eats in a neighborhood full of character (and love!). We most enjoy All Day Darling’s outdoor patio, so go on a gorgeous day.
For our gluten-free diners: While All Day Darling doesn’t have a dedicated gluten-free kitchen, they have a dedicated GF fryer and make gluten-free bread (always double-check). Read more about Asheville’s gluten-free dining scene from our Celiac household.
5 Points Restaurant
🍳 5 Points neighborhood Greek and American diner 🍞
What 5 Points Is All About
A local hot spot, 5 Points Restaurant is at the intersection of Historic Montford and North and Downtown Asheville. Owned by a third-generation Greek family, enjoy no-frills and budget-friendly Greek, Italian, and American cuisine, great for the entire family. The lines out the door attest to its greasy goodness.
Why Choose 5 Points
Five Points promises the best hangover menu with all-day breakfast like corned beef hash, eggs, ham, pancakes, and Southern grits. Or, order French toast, breakfast sandwiches, breakfast wraps, and Eggs Benedict paired with never-ending coffee pours. I love a good diner, and they are harder to come by in Asheville.
Green Sage Cafe
🍌 Casual, quick, and healthy cafes across Asheville 🧃
Breakfast at Green Sage
With multiple locations across the city, Green Sage Cafe is perfect for a healthier, organic breakfast in Asheville. I’ll never forget their sign letting Asheville know they were out of organic avocados that day (because that’s truly a crisis in AVL, haha). We drop in after running errands across town, in need of quick, easy, affordable, and good-for-you fuel.
Why Tom and I Recommend Green Sage
Think smoothies, bowls, eggs, kale, toast – you name it, and Green Sage serves it. I love their fresh juices with bagels and lox. We like to bring home vegan and gluten-free muffins. Their numerous locations across town feel like casual cafes. Could they be swept/wiped down more? Yes.
Pulp & Sprout
🥞 North Asheville vegan smoothies, bowls, and broths 🧇
What To Expect From Pulp & Sprout
Find plenty of charming breakfast restaurants hiding in North Asheville, including Pulp & Sprout. A counter-service, dedicated vegan breakfast and lunch cafe, start your day with a healthy cold-pressed juice or smoothie.
Why Tom and I Love Eating at Pulp & Sprout
I love their avocado toast, broths, and bowls filled with fruits and veggies like beets, carrots, bananas, and blueberries. Or, order a muffin, granola, or shortbread. If they have peanut butter bars, get one for later (or, ya know…).
Sunny Point Cafe
🥂 Jumping casual West Asheville restaurant with comfort food 🍓
Why Sunny Point Cafe
Sunny Point Cafe is always packed. Offering breakfast, brunch, and lunch, eat inside or out, enjoying Southern classics like chicken and waffles, fried green tomatoes, and shrimp and grits. Select from French toast, hotcakes, avocado toast, candied bacon, huevos rancheros, and breakfast burritos – kids’ menu and local libations included.
Why Tom and I Love Getting A Late Breakfast at Sunny Point Cafe
Sunny Point provides a bit of local love and flavor, perfect to soak in West Asheville life – a vibrant neighborhood with mural-spying, local shopping (bookstores!), and friendly, hipster vibes. Budget-friendly, Sunny Point Cafe was notably mentioned in the 2025 Michelin Guide.
Biscuit Head
🥐 Cult-following visitor restaurant with biscuits (including vegan/GF options) 🥚
The Biscuit Head Experience
It’s no secret that Biscuit Head has a cult following similar to White Duck Taco and might just be considered an Asheville tourist attraction for first-timers. For many, Biscuit Head serves some of the best Southern comfort food.
Why Tom and I Enjoy Ordering A Late Breakfast Here
Choose from traditional biscuits with spicy, fun gravy flavors or transform them into massive sandwiches with all the meats. We’ve even seen a mimosa fried chicken biscuit. We most appreciate the vegan and gluten-free options, which are hard to come by with biscuits. Enjoy their locations across Asheville.
More Great Breakfast Places In Asheville
There are so many highly rated places that we couldn’t possibly name them all.
Along with cool coffee shops and delicious donut spots, a few more places to stop for breakfast in Asheville include:
- Ultra Coffeebar
- Taco Billy or Mamacita’s Taco Temple (breakfast tacos)
- Flour
- Mother
- Joey’s Bagels (think bagels and cream cheese; we also like to-go sandwiches from here)
- Abuela’s Little Kitchen
- Moose Cafe
- Village Social (Biltmore Estate visitors)
- Early Girl Eatery
- The Rhu (Downtown AVL coffee cafe)
- Vortex Doughnuts
- Tupelo Honey Cafe
- Owl Bakery
👩🏻🌾 On Saturdays, consider local shopping at the North Asheville Tailgate Market with breakfast food trucks and stalls like Cecilia’s Kitchen, Bridge & Tunnel Coffee, Dolci di Maria, and other local businesses selling bread, breakfast sandwiches, and more. 🛍️
Benne on Eagle is Excellent! They have one of the best breakfasts I’ve ever eaten. The flavors of their food are amazing. Also, they make the best pancake I’ve ever put in my mouth, and I’m from
Alabama!
We love their atmosphere! It’s a great spot (and the hotel is beautiful too). Thanks so much for sharing your experience with us.