The Local Joint

Chanced upon this place after a hike at bearwallow mountain, and we are so glad we did! My husband said it was the best burger he has had, and my chicken philly was out of this world! Reasonable prices, and they also have everything from local beers to sangria to bloody Mary’s. We will definitely be back! This place is amazing!

This place has gone downhill.
It has been a couple of months since my wife and I dined here — last night, we were in the area and decided to stop by for dinner. I ordered the pork sliders with the house made chips and she ordered the fried chicken special. Once our food arrived, this is where my once great impression of this place was sullied.
First, my pork sliders. The sandwiches themselves were fine, but there were a few chips that appeared to be not fully cooked and had a limp, rubbery texture. I ate them regardless, they were still decent but just tasted like raw potatoes with seasoning… not a big deal. My wife’s dish was a different story.
She began to eat the chicken, and it was ok at the start. However, once she reached the middle part of the chicken the meat had a pink hue to it — we assumed at this point that the meat was not cooked fully so my wife sent it back to the kitchen. Since this is an open diner, we could see everything that the cook was doing (including his annoyed facial expressions) and watched, in horror, as he simply threw the ¼ eaten chicken back into the fryer. This, of course, made the dish a greasy mess, not to mention the potential sanitary issues of throwing a partially eaten piece of food back into a fryer where other customer’s dishes were being served (yes, I’m aware that the grease is hot, but still… that’s disgusting). We could tell from our server’s expression when handed the plate back that she really did not want to bring it back to us, further evident when she took it away almost immediately after realizing that my wife would not be eating the greasy mess placed before her.
This was the coup de grâce to a mediocre meal at best. The cook staff used to be completely solid and consistent here — I can’t remember a time where we ever had to send anything back to the kitchen (other than a clean plate). I would have been more forgiving if the place had been busy at the time, but, unless there was a massive rush before we got there, it wasn’t busy at all.
The only positive thing I can say for the experience is that our server was extremely nice and very attentive. I felt sorry that she was representing food that she probably wouldn’t have eaten. We have had this place cater several functions that my wife organized and the food was always top notch, it’s unfortunate that the kitchen has seemed to take a downward turn.

I ordered the Corned Beef breakfast. It was a joke. I counted 3 small shavings of corned beef in a a cup of hash browns with 1 egg. Cook got very angry when I asked if I got the wrong meal. Terrible service and a Rip off!

Solid lunch spot. Great burgers, innovative specials, and great service! Very fast and tasty! Don’t let it being connected to a gas station fool you, those are some of the best diners. Not to mention it reminded me I needed air in my tires! ;)

Amazing food. The shrimp and grits were great as was the Cajun chicken. The grit and homey cake was excellent. We also enjoyed the Brussels sprouts.

Absolutely love this place!!! Don’t let the fact it’s attached to a gas station deter you from checking this place out. I promise you that you will be amazed and glad you stopped in. I love the vibe of this place really cool atmosphere and enjoy the fact all the food products and meat come from local farms and businesses! The service is always on point been here several times and never had any problems with service. The staff is always up beat and have very positive attitudes. The cooks are amazing Terry is awesome and friendly and quite frankly cooks some damn good food! I usually come here for breakfast before work and always try the specials. My favorite so far was the Prime rib eggs benedict it was OMG good! Been coming here more and more for lunch and dinner! Honestly have to say everything I have tried I enjoyed and would eat again! If you are ever driving through Fairview stop in and check this amazing place out!

Yes, it is attached to a gas station off a high way. Total diners, drive-​ins, and dives feel going on here. All local food products, great service and they’ll learn your name and peculiarities if you give them the chance. I have never gone wrong with a special, currently finishing up the pot roast with fried shoestring potatoes on top. NOM, NOM I SAY! When you decide you’re going to become a regular make sure you get a punch card, it’s like racking up free meals at your favorite place. Try the big bear and ask for the firewalker hot sauce for my favorite breakfast option. It’s also a good idea to go ahead and like them on Facebook to stay up to date on what that meals specials are. One time they had an amazing fried bologna with fried green tomato sandwich lunch special that I missed, I Facebooked them about it the following morning and they still made it happen. These are truly good people!

Impressive quality, price and quantity. Wait staff was great. Of all the places to eat in the area, this place should be on your short list!

Very good meal and a great value! Love the number of local sources they use. We both ordered the Big Bear. A large bowl was filled with a huge fresh biscuit, open faced with two slices of applewood bacon, large breaded chicken breast, melted cheddar and good old southern style sausage gravy. Yum! I’m thinking we may return before our trip home! Excellent hot and fresh coffee and super friendly service too!

I agree with other reviews in that it is located at the back of a gas station and it does look a little sketchy. But I have eaten at the Local Joint a number of times and have never had a bad meal. The Pork Tenderloin is fantastic, as is the Reuben sandwich. I have had their fish fry which is their Friday night special. The Haddock is cooked to perfection. Saturday night is Beef rib night although when they came to the table they were clearly Pork Baby Back Ribs. As we were looking forward to Beef ribs we were disappointed at first, but the Baby Backs were delicious. We would definitely have them again.

Very disappointing. The service was possibly the worst I have received in North Carolina as a whole. The company I was with are well acclaimed chefs in the Asheville. The poached eggs were raw which is not the server’s fault. However her attitude was the kicker of it all. She NEVER checked on us after our food was served. Two of us were done before I finally flagged down another server to explain how disappointed we were. The server came over and questioned my friends comment about the eggs being raw and had the audacity to state «I don’t think you’re a liar.»
Needless to say this is the first and last time we will be here. I hope the gratuity we left sends a statement.

So this place was a very cute, eat local diner. The service was great and the food was great but our experience was quickly ruined. My girlfriends and I grabbed breakfast before leaving our weekend trip. My friend ordered a bacon egg and cheese biscuit. When it came out there was a long hair on the egg… Kinda gross so we sent it back. They were apologetic and She got a new biscuit within 2 minutes. She wanted to double check that there wasn’t any hair in the new biscuit and there was the longest piece of hair cooked into the egg. We knew this wasn’t the same biscuit from before because they showed us where the last biscuit was so they had to make her a THIRD biscuit. Just a heads up, the cooks have long beards and don’t wear hair nets so check your food before you take a bite!

Get The Fairview on the breakfast menu! Absolutely amazing!

Don’t let the location fool you. It’s in a gas station strip mall on a scenic highway in the mountains. I had the shrimp & grits — maybe the best I’ve ever had. Definitely stop in if you’re anywhere near Asheville.

The Local Joint is right on the highway, connected to a service station. Their menu is imaginative and they serve breakfast till 3 pm. We just popped in for lunch and it was exceptional. My friend had the daily special: grilled chicken, bacon, Brie and spinach on a focaccia roll, tarted up with Lusty Monk mustard. My choice was a Rachel (Reuben with turkey instead of pastrami). Both were served with delicious house made potato chips.
We’ll be back for breakfast tomorrow.

We came here for breakfast one Friday.
Let’s start with one important detail, the portions are HUGE. Big portion sizes didn’t impact the quality of the food, everything we ate was fantastic. The Big Bear sandwich was a monster, but delicious. Huevos Rancheros and Corned Beef Hash were also hits. The sausage gravy was to die for. I would highly recommend this place for breakfast and would be excited to see what they had to offer at lunchtime.

One of my favorite restaurants in the Asheville area, and I think I’ve eaten at almost all of them. My wife and I make the drive out to Fairview monthly just to eat some delicious food. The building is in a weird strip mall, connected to a gas station. Do not let this location fool you, it’s where you find the best food. The service is attentive, the chefs are friendly, and the food is all homemade and locally sourced. It is really affordable compared to some Asheville restaurants. Some of my favorite items are the Big Bear breakfast biscuit (cajun chicken, smoked bacon, a biscuit, gravy) for 5.99! The ribs on Saturday nights are juicy, big, and delicious. Great burgers, great dinner specials, affordable, delicious!

Being from Fairview, I go to The Local Joint several times a week. I’ve probably done breakfast, lunch and dinner an equal number of times, week days and weekends, so I feel I’m writing a solid «report».
In some aspects, I absolutely love The Local Joint. It’s wonderful to see a business finally «make it», in this particular spot, where so many have failed. It’s even more wonderful to have a restaurant in Fairview who uses local farmers and merchants and cares about good, quality, local and organic foods, beers and wines.
With that said:
THE GOOD: A pretty unique menu consisting of mostly good food, made from a lot of local farmers and merchants. Warm, fun, local environment when you’re there with your neighbors or friends, especially on a cold morning (with good coffee!!); a nice local gathering spot.
THE BAD: The wait staff. While they are all different ages and personalities, they all seem to have a common thread… and its NOT a good one; A apathetic attitude and a sense of entitlement. I’ve seen 1 female server with a friendly attitude but all of the rest of the waitstaff seems to be hurried, stressed out and very angry or unhappy.
THE UGLY: ATTITUDES. None of the wait staff seem to give a SH*T if you are there or not and most all of them act as if THEY are doing YOU a huge favor by waiting on you OR as if you are encroaching upon them if you ask more than 1 question. GOD FORBID if you ask more than one question or have a special request; they don’t bother trying to hide their displeasure and dirty looks. One of my friends who I dine with often has food allergies and simply must ask questions! Some of the servers do little «huffs» and one female server (who seems to be there all the time and works every station) all but rolls her eyes at you every time you say or ask anything.
I also have to say here that I have put in my years as wait staff, in every environment from Mom & Pop greasy spoons to 5-​star restaurants, so I know the life. I know how ugly the public can be and I know how you can be treated and then not get tipped or make any money from it, THEREFORE servers have my empathy and I always treat wait staff with respect and I always tip well, even when the service is less than ideal. (I’ve even tried tipping the one really obnoxious female server there really well to see if it would make a difference in how she treats me the next time I come in. Nope. She doesn’t care. She’s always just as impatient and obnoxious every single time.)
HOW DO THESE PEOPLE KEEP THEIR JOBS?
The cook staff doesn’t seem any better. Often their eyebrows are furrowed in the most unhappy and even angry expressions. Are they unhappy or hung over or just plain miserable, or what? I’ve heard the wait staff and cook staff fussing and snapping at each other. «Why is this here?» «Where’s my _​_​_​_​?» If you go to the counter at the end to place or pick up a To Go order, the cook staff will be all over the place within a foot in front of you and will not even bother to look up to see if you need anything. I realize that’s not their job but I really don’t think it would kill them if they could at least look up, make eye contact and at least smile. I don’t know… maybe a few of the rigid faces would, indeed, break, crack and fall off.
Fairview as a whole is such an artsy fun community and most people in Fairview have really great attitudes. All of this negative stuff seems SO OUT OF PLACE in Fairview!!! Attitudes like this usually «trickle down». If management or the lead wait staff have horrible attitudes, they tend to hire people with the same «energy» or «vibration». I’ve heard good things about the owner of The Local Joint, so I have to wonder… is it coming from her? Or is she too far removed from the daily grind and it’s coming from her management or lead staff?
Whatever the source of it is, I sure hope the owner sees this and has a wakeup call.
As much as I love my little local restaurant, I’m afraid my experience there yesterday was just about the last straw. I’ve tried to look over it, and focus on the good aspects and I’ve tried to deal with it but I think I’ve had about enough of the really negative attitudes and I think it’s worth it to drive further into Asheville, to the restaurants where you’re treated as valued and appreciated.
It’s a P-​I-​T-​Y.

this dish was called the Fungi and man I want another one all it needed was a few dashed of the habanero hot sauce. the home fries were nice and crispy the poached eggs cooked perfectly for my taste, the basil citrus sauce tied it all together with the wild mushrooms! Luckily I already had my coffee and was able to enjoy a fresh local Pisgah Brewing Pale Ale with this wonderful meal.
This place is called the local joint in Fairview, NC.

Always excellant food and great service ! Black Bean burger rules and the dish tacos ! Today haddock was on the menu so I chose the hamburger !
Anastasia is the best server too!