10Th Muse Comfort Food — Restaurant in Asheville

A critical review from a family who’s been to every coffee shop in the surrounding 20 miles!

First of all, the atmosphere is good. Nice antique shop/unique wares location. A bit of a mixed bag (Brittish flag, Beer for President, painted jeans, old furniture, skulls, Star Wars & vinyls) but that’s not a bad thing!

Secondly, the people running the place are super kind and helpful. They are an asset to the place and may be the reason for repeat business! This alone makes me feel bad about saying anything negative because they were truly great.

We only got drip coffees this time, which is sourced from Penny Cup- our favorite, but they were good.

Critiques. Way over-priced for some things. Starbucks is cheaper.. Avocado toast for $6 to $12? Cinnamon toast for $3.50? The specialty lattes sound delicious & quality (not just syrups) but also $6.

Although recyclable cups are great and all for the environment, if I’m gonna stick around for 20 minutes, I want a real cup. Maybe its just me?

Finally, for cream & sugar- your only option (set out) is refined white sugar (sorry, not snooty, just care about my health) and a pitcher of creamer. I like to see options- especially for sweetener.

I see in photos that they use to have a cool chalk board menu for their drinks.. now they have this printed paper gimmicky looking one that looks like it belongs on a third grader’s science fair project. Just sayin’

*Did I mention they have a tv going and a collection of board games? Our little ones love that!

All in all, I was critical, but the place has a lot going for it and I think you should check it out and decide for yourself. Obviously from the other great reviews and the many people we watched come in & out- people...

This place deserves a 5/5 for two main reasons -

Deep Fried Brownies - they take balls of chocolate chip brownie batter and dip them in funnel cake and deep fry them. What you end up with are, gooey, rich, chocolate-y treats that will change your life. The soft serve that it’s topped with doesn’t taste as flavorful in comparison, but it’s perfect creaminess provides the perfect balance. I also topped mine with crumbled Reese’s which melted from the heat the freshly fried brownies - so amazing!

The friendly people. Looking at the menu and sampling the flavors made me crazy excited. The girls at the register seemed to appreciate my awe and were patient while I figured out exactly what I wanted to order. They also check in with us once we were a few bites in to make sure we were happy.

There are other great things about this place. Just like all of my favorites, it’s casual. I love the decorations inside, lights - it feels like an old ice cream shop. There are only about five small tables inside, so things could get crowded. But there’s also outdoor seating which will be perfect when we return later this summer.

Also, their whole thing is they offer FLAVORS of soft serve. Not just chocolate and vanilla! I think they offer about four at a time and they change weekly. While the peanut butter I tried was nice, the caramel and the brownie batter flavors ended up making it into my sundae.

They also for the flavor blast - vanilla soft serve cone with a blast of flavor around the edges. I sampled the cherry and it was super good! Maybe I’d get that one with my fried brownies next...

Asheville is pretty rich with good coffee shops, particularly in the Biltmore Village area. So why go to 10th Muse? There are several reasons.

First, it's in a really funky space as seen in my photo. There's a ton to look at while you're waiting for your coffee or if you just want to hang out or browse.

Second, the owners are outstanding. I had a great chat with them when we came in early on a Sunday and it was really fun. They have a great story as to how they came to open 10th Muse.

Third, I love the themes with the flavored lattes. Most of them were Star Wars related when we were there.

Fourth, the ingredients are excellent. Mine actually had nutella and cookie butter in it. Not nutella or cookie butter syrup. Not nutella or cookie butter flavoring. It had actual spoonfuls of nutella and cookie butter.

Fifth (finally and most important), the drinks are outstanding. Everyone loved what they got. My son doesn't normally like coffee drinks, but he loved his because he loves nutella. I can guarantee that anyone who likes sweet lattes will find something to like here.

The next time we're in Asheville I think that we will likely go out of our way to get a drink here....