The Flying Squirrel Pub — Attraction in Royal Pines

Drove by the location on Sunday and it looked as though they were having a sort of unannounced soft opening (grand opening is slated for Tuesday of this week), and my initial impressions were pretty fantastic, tbh. I was skeptical of a (smallish) chain establishment moving in, as I prefer to support locally owned spots and frankly we have a wealth of good beer already in the area. That said, there we clear upsides to the experience these folks have at running brewpubs- gone were many of the kinks it takes fledgling spots weeks or months to work out; instead we had a smooth, friendly experience with some nice surprises. The ordering system is efficient- scan the QR code on your table and pay via phone (with Apple Pay option available which made for a nice fast checkout for me)- and your table info is transmitted to the back of house. Within a minute or two we had beers in hand, just a few minutes later and our food arrived from an exceedingly friendly wait staff, who took care to bring water for our dogs who sat with us on the rear patio. For drinks, we had the NEIPA and Ecto sour- both true to form. The IPA tasted fresh without the hop fall off that might happen with beers that are shipped in vs brewed onsite, the sour was on point and not overpowered by adjuncts- a great choice for an unseasonably warm fall day. For food, we only tried a couple of appetizers- the nachos, which came with a nicely dialed-in topping distribution (beer cheese, salsa, crema, etc) that complemented nicely and the hummus platter which offered a colorful blend of veggies & pita bread. Both portions were sized as one would expect at their price points, and the pricing across the menu felt fair. As for the menu, it was far more expansive than I'd anticipated, and the choices are interesting and cover a lot of ground- my only suggestion here would be to offer a veggie patty option for the burgers as their vegetarian choices are somewhat limited and this would be a simple way to expand the meat-free menu considerably. What they did have on the menu was widely varied- they had some really unique pizza options, mussels and pierogies, all ideal & interesting brewpub type foods IMO. The key thing that really won me over to the idea of this chain entering our space though was their advertised partnerships with local distributors such as Annie B's, a wonderful little local ice cream shop that's doing great things for our community. Really cool to see Voodoo incorporating into the local economy like this, hopefully they continue to find ways to locally source their foods. (They also had locally brewed beers on tap too, an appreciated nod to our strong brewing scene). As for the environment, well, it was packed which one might expect on day one. For my own selfish purposes, I'm hoping it slows down just a little but do want them to be successful so I'd much rather see it like this. Fortunately, they offer ample parking and a good deal of outdoor space on either side of the building. I only peeked inside briefly as all the seating was occupied, but did spot a pinball table I anticipate sinking a few quarters into every so often. Their color scheme is vibrant but not obnoxious, and the interior sound was a loud hum of the crowd, not overpowered by music which is nice- people genuinely seemed to be enjoying the space (as we did on the back patio). Didn't bring the kids this visit, but it's clear this spot will be kid friendly (with menu options for the younger folks) and it was certainly dog friendly as well (which is increasingly necessary to stay afloat in Asheville imo). All in all, a superb first impression- really happy to have this spot so close to home and anticipate visiting often. Looking forward to seeing how they grow and evolve, and hopefully some big chewy stouts for the winter months.

Update: Voodoo now offers a veggie patty for their burgers which is not only delicious but they appear to have taken the care to make in-house. They've also added a handful of new menu items which...

It seems like this would be a great place when the weather is good, and you can sit outside. However, inside, was not my favorite environment. When we walked in, we were blinded by so many bright overhead lights that it was difficult to see. Then we were introduced to the ordering system. We were told we can use our phones to scan the QR codes on the table where we can do all our ordering and paying ourselves. It didn’t work on my phone. Of course we were told we could go to the counter and order there if we wanted, but we were not able to get table service. I went to the counter to order a beer, and though there was no line and no one else waiting it took 10 minutes to get my beer. I suppose this is very common now in brewpubs. Overall ordering was quite confusing for most of the people at our table. And at some point a staff member brought us somebody else’s order. Beer was on par with the rest. A few of us ordered flights and two people left most of their beer behind.

The food was typical pub food, nothing fancy, but pretty good. The house chips that came with most of our food were over cooked and were borderline burnt. This, of course, is a preference that might be some thing that some people like, but our table did not. Overall, It’s a typical Asheville (though it’s in Arden) brewpub that I would try again when I can sit outside. But inside, I don’t think I...

Just got home from trying Voodoo Brewing for the first time. I was really hoping to be able to leave an amazing review, as we were so excited to have a new dinner/beer spot close to the house. But sadly that is not the case. We ordered two beers (a pint and a half pour), a cheese pizza, the blitzed pierogis, and a side of mac & cheese (for our toddler). The beers and the pierogis were good and our son liked the mac, but the pizza was an absolute waste of money. It was sent out raw. The cheese was melted, but the dough was white and raw. Not a toasty brown anywhere. So I brought it back to the person that dropped it off and kindly asked if they could finish cooking it. She brought the same pizza back a few minutes later and it looked almost exactly the same, raw. But it was hotter! It was like when you microwave a frozen pizza instead of putting it in the oven. I was just crushed that they sent out a raw pizza not once, but twice. We boxed it up and brought it home to finish cooking it. We are just hoping this is just them working out kinks as they find their footing. We will give it a second chance. Otherwise it might just be a place to grab a beer...