The Hungry Bear Cafe — Restaurant in Asheville

A HIDDEN GEM!! And the best bang for your buck for lunch in this area. Love that the hours are only 6 Am-2 Pm on weekdays, so you know it is a spot for locals!! Thank you for that. And thank you for amazing prices.

I have been working in the Candler area for 7 years and I am so regretful that I just tried the Hungry Bear Cafe for the first time. If I could review myself, I would give myself 1 star for being such an idiot for missing out on amazing burgers for lunch for all this time.

BUT yesterday, I finally came to my senses and went to lunch at the Hungry Bear Cafe with a couple of co-worker's.

As soon as I walked in and saw the red and white checkered table cloths, I knew I had made the right choice and this place was about to HIT. The next thing I noticed was all the cool decor ..like the cut out of cowboy John Wayne, a classic 80s photo of a cop in a Lamborghini patrol car pulling someone over in the desert that said “I can’t drive 55”, and all kinds of other old school 1950s-1980s memorabilia. To be able to catch this kind of vibe in Candler/Asheville for breakfast of lunch? You won’t anywhere else.. everything is just… well… not this cool around here. Too trendy if and fit for tourist only.

And then I get the menu, and the huge selection, and wow the prices! BINGO. I thought to myself, “as long as the food is good, this is literally my new favorite lunch spot.” I wanted to find a type of burger that would be similar to a homemade big mac (like tastee diner on haywood rd. used to have, but boy does that place suck after they changed ownership and remodeled and got an all new menu. lameeee). I see the Big Boy burger on the menu. It’s a double cheese burger, lettuce, pickles, onions, middle bun, and the hungry bear sauce. I had found my homemade big mac and it was quite possibly the best burger I have had anywhere in a WHILE. Crinkle cut fries were also perfectly warm, crisp and delicious.

The only thing missing in this place was a little music, I don’t remember hearing any and they had a small tv playing instead.

I cant wait to go back and try everything, especially the breakfast!!

Stop wasting your time and go here...

Hands down the best place to get breakfast in Buncombe County.

I consider myself a... connoisseur of breakfast foods. If I'm going to a sit-down restaurant, I'm most likely there for breakfast. So in recent years, I've been going to as many local restaurants to find the best breakfast menu in the area. I've been all over. Happy Hills, Tastee Diner, CA's Diner, you name it. I've most likely been there. But of all the places I've been, I'd never been to the Hungry Bear Café. So finally, yesterday, I went.

I honestly didn't expect that much. The building is extremely small (and therefore the dining area) and the prices are very low. I ordered biscuits & gravy, bacon and two pancakes. And boy let me tell you: This is easily the best place to get breakfast in the Buncombe area. I was blown away by the taste of all three things I ordered that I left the building full smiles all the way. The service is lightning fast and the staff are very friendly. The overall atmosphere of the place is very "cozy American diner"— Wood-carved bear statues, John Wayne, diner memorabilia, Coca-Cola, it's all there and from the moment you walk in the door, you get the feeling that you've been there before.

If you've never been here before, I HIGHLY recommend it. You will not be...

My wife and I recently spent a week in Asheville. After seeing some reviews about this restaurant we decided to check it out for breakfast. So glad we did! It's a great option to get away from chain restaurants. This diner is truly home cooking at its finest. The only exception to that from what we ate would be the home fries. They seemed to be from a frozen bag of home fries. But everything else we had seemed to defintely be homemade and delicious! The pancakes were some of the lightest and fluffiest I think I've ever eaten. Their sausage patties are flavorful with the right amount of seasoning. The French Toast is perfection. Eggs over medium were cooked the way they should be - the whites were cooked through (but not rubbery) and the yolk still runny. We ended up going back for a second day because everything was so good. I had a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit one morning and it was truly delightful. The service was terrific and the place was full of locals. That tells you the food is excellent! We will make this a go-to for our future trips! One thing to note is that the prices on their website are not acurate so plan on a couple dollars higher than...