New Bridge Cafe

Clearly the best place for a great breakfast in N. Asheville @ a reasonable price. Not a fancy place, simple but ‘just right”. Do yourself a favor, try it! Local sausage spicy & good!

Today, I had a somewhat Hawaiian restaurant experience, at the New Bridge Café. It’s not associated with Hawaiian food, by any means, but by the feeling I had when I visited Hawaii. Let me explain: when tourists visit Hawaii, they are often treated as second class citizens, because they aren’t local. Sometimes, it’s very blatant, when you’re «haole,» being charged 25−100% more than the locals. The idea being, if you’re not local, you deserve to pay more, an informal tourist tax. There are ways around this phenomenon, but that’s digressing. The point being, I felt like I overpaid for what I got, by about 35%.
The food actually tasted quite good, with my veggie omelet being fresh and well-​prepared, with home-​made tortilla chips substituting for traditional potatoes or grits. But it was nine dollars for a two egg, and an extra $ 1.50 for a spoonful of sour cream and a spoonful of salsa. Granted, the condiments DID seem to be home-​made or high quality, but still… The coffee wasn’t the worst I have ever had, but it wasn’t good; fairly industrial stuff. Wifey had the basic $ 7 breakfast for one egg, traditional biscuit and grits. She said they were good, but too pricey — each additional egg would cost you a dollar.
The atmosphere was… cluttered, and marginally comfortable. The restaurant is decorated in 1990’s NASCAR style, with touches of antique country whimsy thrown in. Care to sit next to a life-​sized cutout of Jeff Gordon, or a fist-​sized ceramic egg with snakes crawling out of it? Go no further than the New Bridge. The rest room was pretty telling, though. There was a line drawing of Don Knotts as Barney Fife, a spoiler stuck to the wall next to the sink, a car hood nailed to the wall, and a used racing slick tire next to the toilet, that provided the aroma of a tire shop. Maybe that’s the New Bridge version of an air freshener? The paper towel dispenser was a 1970’s vintage thing where you had to wind the tiny metal crank to wheel out the paper from a roll, yuck. The faucet hardware was pretty dilapidated, and EVERYTHING in there seemed to be grungy. I was thinking, «this is the place where the cook washes his hands? Yuck.»
Even though we were the only people in the restaurant when we arrived, the regulars began showing up around 9:00, and seemed happy and comfortable. I wondered if they got a different menu, with lower prices… I’d give the food four stars, but subtract one for the prices. I’d give the atmosphere three stars, minus one for the bathroom grunge, and the general run-​down clutter of it all. I’m sorry it wasn’t a better experience.

A hidden gem indeed! From the looks of the outside (and inside for that matter), it doesn’t look like much, but wow, wow, wow terrific food! And really that’s all that matters right?
Dug into their burger special (per other Unilocalers’ pictures, I couldn’t pass it up) and got a mouthwatering stacked burger with all the trimmings on a buttered and grilled bun, with chips and a pickle on the side for under $ 10. It’s one of those burgers where the bun falls apart after awhile and you just keep finding ways to put it back together to enjoy every last bite. Also had a chicken salad sandwich with potato salad which was top notch. Note that they don’t take credit cards, so be sure to bring cash, and when you’re entering, there are two doors below the restaurant’s sign, enter through the door on the left, it’s not clear which one is the entrance.

Delicious food! Beautifully presented and extremely fresh! Friendly, kind staff. Love it! Dont be fooled by the humble exterior. Would definitely eat here again!

Listen, people. This place is a diamond in the rough! I had the exact breakfast I wanted– one egg scrambled with cheddar (perfect), grits (perfect), homefries instead of meat (seasoned well and plentiful) and a biscuit (fluffy, yummy). I left full. It’s good quality, homestyle at a perfectly reasonable price. My boo had a scramble that was on special with sausage and gravy he said was really good.
The service was very friendly and quick. The décor is a hodge-​podge of super fun local tchotke. Everything added up to an atmosphere that was just laid-​back and home-​y.
Two caveats: the biscuit was yummy, but not the best and the jam was in those packets you might find in a cafeteria. Still, despite those two things, I loved having breakfast here and highly recommend it!
Also, I kept hearing comments from people around me eating lunch that the food was exactly what they were hoping for.

I’ve been in Asheville for two weeks for a project and have eaten here 3 times (4 before we leave). The breakfast is great — big portions, small prices. I’ve had the gravy and biscuits twice and the sausage is definitely not purchased at the grocery store — it is too good.
Don’t let the outside of the building fool you — it’s home style food at it’s best. The owner is extrememly nice and recognized us upon our return.
Lunch was really good — they said it was the best fried chicken in Asheville and it was pretty darn good. Not typical batter fried, it was full of flavor.
Big portions, really reasonable prices and a good time.