Avenue M restaurant closes, co-owner calls it a 'heartbreaking,' 'sudden decision'
ASHEVILLE - Avenue M's closing came with little notice for the staff and customers of the North Asheville restaurant and bar.
On July 6, Avenue M co-owners Tony Creed and Ralph Lonow announced via social media that the business would close the same day at the end of dinner service at 791 Merrimon Ave.
Lonow, co-owner, told Citizen Times in an email on July 10 that the closure was a “heartbreaking” and “sudden decision.”
Lonow said Avenue M had about 20 employees. On July 3, they were told about the closure and offered unemployment and job assistance.
The North Asheville neighborhood dining and gathering place has provided nearly 15 years of memories for diners.
Avenue M has received an outpouring of well wishes and gratitude from the community on social media following the announcement. Customers have shared memories of getting married and celebrating other special occasions at the restaurant, praised the owners and staff’s personal and welcoming hospitality, and applauded the food and beverage quality and service.
Some guests called Avenue M a “community builder” and a “second home where everyone knows your name” and called the closure a loss for the community.
In 2010, Greg and Teri Siegel opened Avenue M at the former location of the neighborhood bar, Usual Suspects.
In 2019, Creed and Lonow carried on the torch, purchasing the restaurant and bar.
“Avenue M is all about the neighborhood, the community,” Lonow previously told the Citizen Times. “You can come in here and we’re going to serve you great food, and we have one of the best beverage programs in the city but we’re a neighborhood place. It’s laid-back.”
Avenue M offered American and Appalachian cuisine and an award-winning wine program.
Dishes recently featured on the restaurant’s rotating menu included a meatloaf sandwich, N.C. catfish and chips, carne asada with Hickory Nut Gap flank steak, and a Grasshopper Financier dessert made with chocolate and mint.
In June, Wine Spectator, considered “the world’s leading authority on wine” and producer of Wine Spectator magazine, recognized 3,777 global restaurants showing their dedication to wine and possessing exemplary wine lines with its prestigious Restaurant Awards.
Avenue M was one of the 2,150 recipients of the Award of Excellence for having a wine program that displays “excellent breadth across multiple winegrowing regions and/or significant vertical depth of top producers, along with superior presentation.”
Avenue M’s wine cellar, curated by Lonow, wine director and sommelier, has maintained the award-standing since 2021. Nine Asheville restaurants were honored by Wine Spectator’s Restaurant Awards in 2024.
In the past year, Avenue M received upgrades to add fresh, modern touches while maintaining historic elements, like the original, exposed brick walls and mural in the enclosed patio and dining room. Lonow previously told the Citizen Times the building was a grocery market called Dixie Home Store in the 1940s-50s.
Last month, community members rallied to remove painted graffiti from the building and wave the flag of Israel after the restaurant was vandalized with images of a large red swastika and an upside-down pitchfork, considered hate symbols.
Avenue M gave back to the community in charitable acts like the Good Epicurean Dinner fundraiser series benefiting local nonprofits and programs. In 2023, the event reportedly raised more than $16,000 for the YMCA Mobile Markets and Youth Transformed for Life at Grace Covenant.
The social media announcement, signed by Creed and Lonow, reads in part:
"Tonight will be our final last call at Avenue M. It is time for us to write a new chapter. We are forever grateful for all of the support we have received from this amazing community and we genuinely cherish so many of the moments we have shared. It has been our pleasure to celebrate your special moments, share your lives, and to honor our friends we have lost along the way ... All we can say, as many local folks have this past year, is to remember to continue to support our local 828 business community. It's been a difficult year for so many and your support means everything to them. Be kind to one another and take care of each other."
Avenue M owners declined to comment further about details leading to the closing of the restaurant and bar.
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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: Avenue M closure called a 'heartbreaking,' 'sudden decision'
