Huli Sue's BBQ and Grill — Restaurant in Asheville

Update: summer 2024. The service was outstanding, even though they were very busy, and the poke nachos were the biggest and best that I’ve ever seen them serve. They were magnificent! See photo.

Update: spring, 2024. We made a reservation and took an out-of-town guest, and I know spring is busy. And something seemed to be going on at the Civic Center and downtown after five, but our server was really late getting to us and you were out of a few items. Also, we ordered our favorite sushi nacho appetizer, and the toppings were about half of what we normally receive. So just making sure you’re prepped for the busy tourist season, and not neglecting your locals or skimping on ingredients. We still love you all, but let’s amp up for the tourist season. Original review below. 5stars in a town brimming with excellent restaurants! Fun, festive, and they make their own pastrami! (Read on for tips on ordering)

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I came to Huli Sue. In Hawaii I fell in love with traditional Hawaiian barbecue (plate lunch) foods including staples such as meats (kalua pork and bbq chicken or a local catch) macaroni salad, and Loco moco. This menu does many of the staples of Hawaiian barbecue well and also adds some elements, like their not-to-be-missed homemade pastrami.

Tips on ordering: Reuben (pastrami) spring rolls: We absolutely crave them! Yes, a Reuben with homemade pastrami is such a special item, but they have somehow made it more intensely flavorful by packing it into an eggroll. You have to sample them! In addition to the pastrami eggrolls, I also often order the Reuben sandwich, because I can’t get enough homemade pastrami.

Mai tais: Huli Sue serves some of my favorite cocktails in town. While I love the craft cocktails that many local places create (often creating their own bitters and shrubs, etc) this is a refreshing break into the world of old-fashioned, fun cocktails! But… the Mai tai is not without the craft element. This sublime drink captures all of the flavors and fun of a fruity tropical drink, but on top they have lilokoi foam (sort of like a passion fruit frothed egg foam, similar to what you would serve in a gin fizz, except it is flavored with passionfruit). What a beautiful combination. The drink does not take itself too seriously (yep, that’s a big slice of pineapple on the rim, and some of the other drinks have those little umbrellas) yet that foam element rises this mai tai above your typical celebratory Hawaiian drink, but without the stuffiness of some other craft cocktails. Just delightful!

poke “nachos“ which I was a bit hesitant to try until our server insisted we would love them, and we did. Forget whatever you know about nachos (the drippy cheese, the soggy chips) and substitute it with fresh sushi ingredients such as seaweed salad and poke and tomatoes and cucumbers. Instead of tortilla chips they have wonton chips, but they’re not greasy wontons, they are perfectly crisp.

Other menu standouts include the meaty mac & cheese, and the Loco Moco. Ive had a lot of traditional local moco, and this is quite good, and my teenager gave two thumbs up to the meaty mac & cheese.

I’ll end with some items that are good, but not outstanding: I’ve had the garlic chili shrimp a couple of times and that was good. It feels a little heavy on the batter for me, but the shrimp are large and tasty. The tacos are good, but when my friends tried my pastrami sandwich, they preferred it. And the poke bowl is nice, but the poke nachos are more special.

Bottom line: go to this place. Enjoy the cocktails, enjoy the unique offerings and the celebratory fun...

Amazing! So as local foodies, we're always looking to try new restaurants in Asheville. What a pleasant surprise to discover Huli Sue's which opened less than a year ago. From the food to the service, it was all really good. We had reservations for 5:30 and were greeted at the door by one of the owners, who was serving as hostess. Right away, you understand this place is "hands on", and it clearly shows in the overall quality of the dining experience here. Interestingly, the owners moved to Asheville from Hawaii and brought together their love of Hawaiian/Asian food and barbecue and in doing so, they don't miss a beat. We started with cocktails and apps that were excellent. We chose the chicken wings for a starter, which were exceptionally large and meaty. For entrees, I had Sue's Huli chicken - a dish we're told is the most popular here. It was marinated in a sweet teriyaki kind of sauce and grilled to perfection. The blend of flavors outstanding! My wife ordered Mochiko Fried Chicken - a boneless thigh that's lightly breaded and dressed in a sweet spicy sauce and cooked to perfection. And again, another hit. We had wanted to try the barbecue but simply didn't have room for it -- but heard others around us talking it up. The fact that it was sold out by 6:30 convinced us that it must be really good. We closed out our meal with desert and coffee, and the cost for everything was very reasonable. Kudos to our waitress, too. She was attentive and very helpful in helping us make our choices off the menu. So it isn't a question of "if" we'll return, but when. Next time, it'll be to try the BBQ and...

I brought my 15 year old son, and had my dog with us, to this restaurant and thought I lucked out by getting a parking spot right next to the outside dining area. Our server was nice and the food was alright. As we were opening the door to leave at least 15 - 20 people that were eating outside stood up and proceeded to clap and literally scream at me and my son! They were yelling at us that we were thest inconsiderate people and that they hoped that we enjoyed our dinner because they didn't because they claim my dog was constantly barking. They were screaming obscenities at us. I sat where I could keep an eye on my car and my dog might have barked twice. Regardless, the staff was witnessing this happening and did absolutely nothing to deescalate the situation. I could see by how it happened that they had all planned on doing this and I find it hard to believe that at least one of the many servers didn't know that this was going to happen. If my dog was bothering someone they easily could have informed an employee who could have informed me and I would have moved and parked farther away. My son has agoraphobia and is on the autism spectrum. I have an anxiety disorder. This was a very terrifying and humiliating experience and I doubt I'll ever get my son to go out to eat again! I was shaking so bad I couldn't even get to my keys so I could leave. There were many other ways this problem could have been handled but an entire group of grown albeit drunk adults decided to hang up on and terrorize a mother...