Travel Guides Culinary Vacations
Matt Berry
In a 2022 Yelp survey, Asheville was named the top food destination in Yelp’s “Small Towns, Big Flavors” list, heralding the North Carolina city’s “unique mountain-to-urban creative food scene.” In 2020, Yelp also ranked Asheville as the top overall U.S. Foodie Destinations. Needless to say, Asheville’s food scene has been growing in recent years, evolving from a regional Southern cuisine powerhouse to a nationally recognized culinary force serving eclectic fare.
Equal to its gastronomical plate-scapes, Asheville’s natural landscapes are celebrated for their mountain views, lush valleys, temperate forests, and cascading waterfalls. Combining Asheville’s natural beauty with the city’s culinary prowess, one historic hotel is the crème de la crème for grabbing a quality meal with an equally fantastic view.
For your next weekend getaway, consider dining (and staying at) the famed Omni Grove Park Inn, especially if you’re planning to add a bit of romance to your next time in Asheville.
Omni Grove Park Inn offers spectacular mountain views
Irina Mos/Shutterstock
According to the Historic Hotels of America, the Omni Grove Park Inn opened its doors in 1913. Since then, the hotel has hosted ten U.S. presidents and countless dignitaries from around the world. Today, the Inn features an award-winning spa, a Donald Ross-designed golf course, as well as accommodations and restaurants that offer spectacular views of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Per its website, the Omni Grove Park Inn boasts four world-class restaurants, three distinctive bars, a cabana grill, as well as a spa café. While each restaurant offers innovative menu items utilizing seasonal, farm-to-table ingredients, the hotel’s Sunset Terrace restaurant offers diners the most sweeping Blue Ridge Mountain views.
By partnering with local farmers, the Sunset Terrace serves hand-cut steaks, chops, as well as fresh seafood. In addition, dinner is served with incredible sunset mountain views. However, as the hotel’s sole outdoor dining venue, the Sunset Terrace is seasonal and typically closes during the winter.
The Inn boasts three mountain sunset dining options
Stuart Monk/Shutterstock
If you’re planning to visit Asheville in winter, don’t worry. The Omni Grove Park Inn’s other two restaurants still provide floor-to-ceiling windows to provide indoor diners with fantastic sunset views. The Blue Ridge Restaurant serves high-end, farm-to-table buffets of creative Southern fare. While breakfast at the Blue Ridge is served daily, the restaurant only serves dinner on the weekends, making it an ideal dining option for your weekend getaway. Typically, the Blue Ridge serves a seafood buffet on Fridays and a prime rib buffet on Saturdays, giving you the choice between land or sea for your sunset dining.
The other restaurant, Vue 1913, is a brasserie-style restaurant that creates rustic, seasonal menu items for dinner Wednesday through Sunday. The restaurant regularly receives The Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence, and Vue 1913 is one of only two Western North Carolina restaurants with an AAA Four Diamond Restaurant rating, per its website.
Regardless of the time of your visit to the Omni Grove Park Inn, you’re assured a memorable dining experience with exquisite food paired with panoramic sunset views of the surrounding mountains. Needless to say, romance is included with each meal.
