West Asheville eatery is No. 2 on national Best New Restaurants list: What's on the menu
ASHEVILLE - A West Asheville restaurant that opened less than a year ago has caught the attention and earned high praise from customers locally and nationwide.
On Jan. 5, 10Best, a media component of USA TODAY, announced the results of its Readers’ Choice 2024 Best New Restaurants.
Food and travel experts across the country nominated and compiled a list of their 20 favorite new restaurants to open in 2023.
The contenders ranged from “chef-driven fast casual concepts to high-end dining with a focus on hyper-local and sustainable ingredients.”
Regina’s Westside, at 1400 Patton Ave., was among the 20 in consideration. Then, the public voted for their favorite restaurant to make the top 10 list.
Opened last June, Regina’s was ranked No. 2 on 10Best’s Readers’ Choice 2024 Best New Restaurants.
“I’m just happy to be here,” said co-owner Lisa Wagner. “It’s a lovely recognition and I hope it gets more people in here because everyone who comes in gives us the best feedback. They love it.”
The No. 1 spot was claimed by Otto’s High Dive in Orlando, Florida. View the full list at 10best.usatoday.com/awards/travel/best-new-restaurant-2024/.
“It’s great news. It’s wonderful,” Regina’s Executive Chef Kathryn Fitzgerald said. “We’ve only been open six months and it’s a great accomplishment for everyone here in the building and we’ve been working hard for it ― bringing the community together and I think this is a solid recognition of that. Hopefully, we will continue to bring people in the surrounding area to come break bread with us ― or break the biscuit with us.”
Here’s what to know about Regina’s Westside:
Dining at Regina’s Westside
Regina’s serves Southern comfort food for breakfast and lunch. Operation hours were adjusted to 9 a.m.-3 p.m. daily for the slower winter season, but dinner service was offered during the time of the poll and will return in the spring.
Regina's scratch-made comfort dishes on the chef-curated menu are made with locally sourced ingredients. Fitzgerald said she focuses on cohesiveness with the space and the food, as well as her knowledge of food.
“I am not pretentious with my food whatsoever. I love breakfast. I have been in this industry for many years, and I’m driven to learning and growing even more,” Fitzgerald said.
The feminine aesthetic of the venue and the quality of the comfort food are the leading reasons people enjoy visiting Regina’s, Wagner said.
“There aren’t a lot of feminine places to hang out in Asheville. There’s a lot of masculine wood and steel, and this is lipstick colors,” Wagner said. “Kat does an excellent job with the food. We get feedback about that first and foremost.”
Regina’s breakfast menu
Fitzgerald’s favorite item on the winter menu is the pork loin hash, offered for breakfast, made using a whole pork loin from Vandele Farms in Lake Lure. It’s also a top seller with diners.
The pork loin is slow-roasted for two hours, then diced and served with diced potatoes. The dish is covered with cheese sauce, bits of bacon and jalapenos and topped with two sunny-side-up eggs.
“It’s super comforting,” Fitzgerald said. “Waking up on a day off in this industry, which is typically a Monday or Tuesday, I just want to go somewhere and be fed love and warmth and for me, that’s potatoes and meat in breakfast form.”
The cathead-style biscuit with cantaloupe jam is another must-try.
Regina’s lunch menu
Wagner’s go-to is the roasted eggplant sandwich offered on the lunch menu. It’s made with pimento peppers, baba ganoush, harissa yogurt, schug and arugula on toasted challah. Sandwiches are served with fries, home fries or a side salad.
Wagner often recommends it to guests and describes it as a "party in your mouth."
Early in her culinary career, Fitzgerald helped with the opening of Yalla!, a Middle Eastern food stall at Krog Street Market in Atlanta. She said the recipe is inspired by a pita that was on a previous menu.
Another bestseller at Regina's is the burrata sandwich made with prosciutto, arugula, Calabrian chili, olive relish and cantaloupe jam served on sourdough. It may be requested as vegetarian.
“It’s my favorite thing to eat when I’m at home ― get some burrata, prosciutto and veggies from the garden and just kind of snack,” Fitzgerald said.
Wagner said the sweet and salty balance makes it a winner.
“It’s the jam,” she said.
Fitzgerald takes another classic and elevates it with layers of flavor ― the wedge salad.
It’s served with purple potato crisps, pickled vegetables, Maytag blue cheese, buttermilk ranch, bacon and Everything seasoning. Fitzgerald recommends adding fried chicken on top.
Drinks at Regina’s
Regina’s beverage program includes coffee, soft drinks, alcoholic and zero-proof craft beverages.
“I started my career in Atlanta doing an all-natural soda and lemonade program. It was a lot of fun and kind of how I got my name out there in the culinary world,” Fitzgerald said.
The chef used to sell handcrafted sodas at farmers markets and earned the nicknames “Soda Queen” and “Soda Enchantress.”
Regina’s offers house lemonades and seasonal sodas. For the winter, the restaurant is pouring sage and ginger lemonade made with fresh herbs and fresh-pressed juice.
For cocktails, Fitzgerald said a customer favorite is the Painkiller, made with fresh pineapple juice, coconut milk, rum and a splash of orange.
Like the food, drinks are made with fresh ingredients and in-house mixes, including the bloody mary.
“Pretty standard but it hits different,” Fitzgerald said.
More to know about Regina’s
Regina’s owners and chef have many aspirations for the restaurant for 2024.
Wagner said they’d like to further elevate the comfort level for guests and open the patio with a fire pit.
“I’d like to be able to cook over that fire and have a party centered around it for like if we’re doing an oyster roast,” Fitzgerald said.
Keep an eye out for announcements of fresh seafood-centered events, as well as other “fun pop-up parties” celebrating sustainable foods and local providers.
“We have people who come here once or twice a week for the six months we’ve been here,” Wagner said. “It’s a hidden gem, and I’m glad they’re enjoying it while there’s still space.”
Another perk is that Regina's offers a full parking lot, a rare find in Asheville.
Also visit Regina’s Westside’s sister properties, Little Louie’s (formerly Malvern bar), Desoto Lounge and Barksdale Bar.
“We’ve basically got you covered morning, noon, and night and even later that night,” Wagner said. “We’re all about hospitality one way or another and making all people feel welcome.”
Regina’s Westside
Where: 1400 Patton Ave., Asheville.
Hours: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. daily.
Info: For more, visit reginaswestside.com and follow on Instagram at @reginaswestside.
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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: Regina's Westside ranks on national Best New Restaurants list
