2023 recap: Asheville restaurants, breweries rank high, earn awards locally, nationally

ASHEVILLE - In 2023, Asheville's food and beverage industry took the city and region to new heights with its stellar service, quality products and outstanding amenities.

Here's a glimpse of honors earned by area chefs, restaurants and craft beverage makers this year.

Neng Jr.’s: Restaurant, chef on the rise

This summer, Neng Jr.’s celebrated its first anniversary, and, oh, what a year it’s been for the West Asheville restaurant’s owners and team.

Since opening, Neng Jr.’s has won over locals and visitors with its Filipinx dishes and sophisticated beverage program served in an intimate dining room at 701 Haywood Road.

National media and industry groups have taken notice of the restaurant and Executive Chef Silver Iocovozzi, too. In 2023 alone, Neng Jr.’s ranked as one of the top 50 dining venues on the New York Times Restaurant List, and Bon Appétit magazine named Neng Jr.’s among “The 24 Best New Restaurants of 2023.”

Iocovozzi earned a spot on the 2023 Time100 Next Innovators list of rising leaders in industries including food and beverage, entertainment, business, and health and technology.

To top it all off, Neng Jr.’s was a finalist in this year’s James Beard Foundation’s Chef and Restaurant Awards for Best New Restaurant.

Josiah McGaughey, executive chef and co-owner of the River Arts District restaurant Vivian, was a semifinalist for Best Chefs: Southeast.

Asheville: A Food Destination

Asheville ranked No. 10 on Tripadvisor’s list of the 15 Best Food Destinations in the United States. The city won favor with the users of the online travel review platform for its quality local flavors, farm-to-table offerings — including its local, sustainable agriculture community and farmers markets — and its overall restaurant and microbrewery scene.

Jettie Rae’s Oyster House: Everyday Eats

Jettie Rae’s Oyster House ranked No. 9 on Tripadvisor’s Travelers’ Choice Best of the Best list for Everyday Eats in the U.S.

The seafood restaurant, at 143 Charlotte St., earned the honor by racking up “above-and-beyond” reviews from Tripadvisor users.

The Everyday Eats category is reserved for eateries that serve high-quality laid-back fare “that doesn’t break the bank” and the “Best of the Best” restaurants are said to have the “highest level of excellence in travel” — an honor that includes less than 1% of the company’s 8 million listings.

Juicy Lucy: Top Burger Spot

Juicy Lucy Burger Bar and Grill claimed the No. 48 spot on Yelp’s 2023 Top 100 Burgers Spots in the U.S. list. Juicy Lucy’s wide-ranging menu features the signature cheese-stuffed burger, offered at 620 Hendersonville Road. The restaurant sources local and regionally sourced meats grounded fresh, in-house, daily.

Fahrenheit Pizza & Brewhouse: Top Pizza Spots

Yelp users visited and reviewed pizzerias across the country leading to an Asheville restaurant getting named as one of the best places to get a pie.

Fahrenheit Pizza & Brewhouse ranked No. 26 out of 100 on Yelp’s list of the Top Pizza Spots in the U.S.

Fahrenheit Pizza & Brewhouse serves crispy New York-style pizza, wings and beer at 17 Lee St. South.

The Inn on Biltmore Estate: Luxury awards

The Inn on Biltmore Estate and the hotel’s restaurant, the Dining Room, received a four-star rating and the 2023 Star Award from Forbes Travel Guide, an independent, global rating system for luxury hotels, restaurants and spas.

Forbes Travel Guide’s team of anonymous, professional inspectors assessed the property based on criteria such as high levels of service and quality facility and the ability to demonstrate an “impressive commitment to creating memorable environments that nurture connection, joy and sense of place.”

Beer City, USA: Asheville

Western North Carolina breweries excel in their craft earning numerous awards and honors for their establishments and a high reputation for the region with Asheville at the center of it all.

The 27th annual World Beer Cup Awards were hosted in Nashville where Appalachian Mountain Brewery won the gold medal for its Boone Creek Blonde Ale in the Golden or Blonde Ale category and Down South received a silver medal in the American-Style Lager.

Hi-Wire Brewing’s Japanese Dry Rice Lager won the silver medal in the Experimental Beer category.

And New Belgium Brewing won the bronze medal for its VooDoo Ranger Juice Force IPA in the Experimental India Pale Ale category.

This year, The Whale: A Craft Beer Collective and Burial Beer Co. earned Craft Beer and Brewing Magazine's Readers Choice Best in Beer 2023 awards, and Asheville ranked No. 4 on the Readers’ Choice Favorite Beer Cities survey.

Burial Beer ranked No. 7 for Favorite Breweries in the U.S. in the category of small production of fewer than 5,000 barrels per year.

The Whale, which specializes in rare, global beers, was ranked No. 11 of the Best Beers Bars in the World.

Also, The Whale’s West Asheville location, at 507 Haywood Road, ranked No. 6 on USA Today’s 10Best award for Best Beer Bars in the U.S.

Wicked Weed Brewing ranked No. 1 as the most searched-for craft beer brewery in North Carolina, according to The Loupe, a digital media site from jeweler Shane Co. that analyzed consumer trends based on BeerAdvocate and Google results.

North Carolina Brewers Cup

The 12th anniversary of the N.C. Brewers Cup competition, administered by the North Carolina Craft Brewers Guild, awarded gold, silver and bronze medals in 36 style-based beer categories.

Archetype Brewing won a gold medal for its Cowboy Poet in American-Style Lager and another gold medal for its Talking to Plants in European Wheat (and Related) Beer.

Hi-Wire Brewing claimed the bronze model for Leisure Time Lager in American-Style Lager.

Riverside Rhapsody Beer Co. won a silver medal for its Mountain Chain Kolsch in European Hybrid Styles.

Cellarest Beer Project won a silver medal for its Cellarveza in Pale European Lager.

Sweeten Creek Brewing received a bronze medal for its Burn Dawger Brown in the American Porter, Amber and Brown Ales.

Urban Orchard: Best Cider

Urban Orchard Cider Company ranked No. 2 on USA Today's 10Best’s Best Cider list of “10 must-taste picks” for cider for its Vacation Station.

More rankings you may have missed:

• Asheville has one of the top places in the world to visit in the spring: report

• Asheville, WNC towns rank on 'Southern Living' magazine's 2023 South's Best lists

• Asheville ranks high in study of pet-friendly U.S. cities for travelers

• Garden & Gun magazine honors 2 Asheville 'champions' for conservation work

Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at [email protected] or follow her on Instagram @PrincessOfPage. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: 2023 recap: Asheville restaurants, breweries win national accolades