South Paw AVL — Restaurant in Asheville

We made an online reservation for South Paw AVL on a Friday evening for 6:45 pm. We arrived at 6:40 and were seated immediately, without giving our name because the restaurant was more than half empty, so a reservation was not needed. The ambiance was quiet and relaxing. We were seated far enough away from other diners so there was minimal interference to our conversations. The overhead lights were dim, and each table was decorated with little candles that had dancing flames. The walls and artwork was subdued, giving a "romantic" or "upscale" feel to the establishment. This would be the perfect place to bring a date for a nice meal, or maybe an anniversary dinner. They even provided black cloth napkins opposed to disposable ones.

We ordered everything (drinks, appetizer and entrees) by 6:50. We opted for the pork belly and apples as an appetizer, which arrived to the table at 7:25 (35 minutes after ordering).

The Pork Belly arrived as two really nice seared pieces of Pork, accompanied by a salad (that consisted of apples, shaved brussel sprouts, and fennel; topped with a light honey-flavored sauce, with Sherry vinegar and a little bit of cinnamon). Both the pork belly and salad was really tasty by itself, but mixed together set it off on another level. Each bite was an explosion of flavor for the taste buds.

Entres arrived to the table at 7:40, almost an hour after ordering. My husband ordered the Brick Roasted Chicken, which came with some mixed vegetables and fingerling potatoes and a nice pan reduction sauce. The meal was well prepared, but his only complaint was that there wasn't enough seasoning on the meal. It was bland, and took the table salt & pepper to make it acceptable. Other than that, the entree was nicely presented.

I ordered the French dip with a side of homemade shoestring french fries. The au jus sauce was well prepared, and they included a creamy horseradish sauce that complimented the sandwich deliciously. The bread (I think it was a French hoagie) was perfectly toasted and the meat was proportionally shredded and high quality (it wasn't some cheap cut). The shoestring potatoes were definitely made in our house and arrived to the table crispy with delightful flavor. I think they double fried them, and it was tough to decide which I liked better; the French Dip or the Fries. Both were equally delectable.

Both my husband and I visited the restroom facilities and they were clean and well maintained. Something about a dirty bathroom makes me cringe in restaurants, but thankfully, there was no cringing here.

The service was awfully slow, but our server did check on us an appropriate amount of times. It wasn't overbearing to the point of interrupting our conversations, but it wasn't so little where we were left twiddling our thumbs waiting for a water refill. It did take forever for anything we ordered to get to our table. Even the side of ranch I asked for to dip my fries in took 15 minutes to get to me. I was half way done with my fries before I got the dipping sauce.

When the bill came, I was sticker shocked, but in the BEST WAY POSSIBLE! Usually whenever we go out to eat, we drop a minimum of $75. We hit up Jack In The Box in Seattle to feed our family of 4, and dropped $75. Anytime we order pizza delivery, with tip and delivery fees, it's $75. Go out to eat with our family of 4 to a Mexican Restaurant? $100+. Date nights with just me and my husband? $100. So when the bill came to the table, and it was only $48 for 2 meals, an appetizer and a seltzer water... I had to do a doubletake. Because I thought for sure that they missed something. Nope, it was just a reasonably affordable restaurant, for once.

I haven't left a restaurant feeling this happy in... Honestly... I can't remember. Aside from the super slow service and somewhat bland Brick Roasted Chicken, everything was, hands down, 5 stars (out of 5 stars).

Service is a 7/10. But Ambiance, Cleanliness, Price, Food & Atmosphere are all 10/10. Would highly recommend this establishment to others and we will, without a...

When I went in the second day they were open, I ordered the Shrimp Poboy. There were two other tables in the restaurant and some obnoxiously loud woman in the bar. The server came back in a few minutes to tell me they didn’t have the breading for the poboy. She asked if grilled shrimp was okay. She then came back in a few more minutes to ask if I wanted the shrimp blackened. At that point, I just wanted some kind of food. When my poboy finally came out, it was much smaller than I expected for $16. It had no flavor even with the “blackened” shrimp. I stopped at Dunkin up the road to pick up a biscuit to fill me up. I gave them the benefit of being a new restaurant and decided to return.

The second time I went in, I sat at a table in the bar. A guy wearing a baseball hat got up from the customer side of the bar to give me a menu and said the bartender would be my server. He then went back to his drink at the bar. There were two other tables and four people at the bar. The bartender was making conversation with the people at the bar, walked right past me without acknowledging me at all and delivered some drinks to another table and then began a conversation with that table. I never saw a server or any other FOH employee. I had to be to work in 1.5 hour down the street, so I decided to leave. Given my previous experience at this restaurant, I didn’t have time to eat. I went to Vinnie’s up the street for a delicious meal and got to work early.

After these two experiences, I’ve decided not to spend my money at this establishment. The food is overpriced for the size of what is served (if available) and the service is lacking to say the least.

Given the history of the building, it probably won’t be in...

My wife and I have been passing by this place a few months now. Between busy schedules and life in general we haven’t stopped by…that was until yesterday.

For starters, the restaurant was extremely clean and cozy. We were greeted promptly by the bar tender as we walked through the front door. My wife and I are both N/A so was pleasantly surprised to find that they had a great selection of drinks catered to us.

We met an awesome person named Mimi at the bar that suggested the AHI Tuna Nachos, so we took a chance. It was a healthy portion, the Tuna was fresh and the flavor was amazing! We could have stopped there and this would have been a 5 star experience.

We chose our main entrees, my wife was feeling the Ribeye and I chose the Shrimp and Grits. We both were blown away by the food. I haven’t had shrimp and grits this tasty outside of Charleston. My wife said the steak(cooked medium rare) was extremely tender and grilled to perfection.

It’s obvious the chef cares about the food and menu, as there are plenty of choices but NOT overwhelming. In closing I would definitely recommend and I hope others will give this little hidden gem a try. We love to support local homegrown restaurants! To close, I say keep doing your thing South Paw, your food is definitely a shining star...