Waynesville to Swannanoa

If you’re traveling west to east on Interstate 40 in North Carolina–which is the common summertime direction–this is where your journey begins.

Exit 20: Ben’s Backdraft Barbecue

Interstate 40 rolls on to Tennessee, but Ben’s Backdraft Barbecue is so far west that its output tastes like Texas. The 2025 successor to a food truck launched by former firefighter Ben Hooper, Ben’s Backdraft deliberately burns apple and oak wood in the smoker which once anchored Asheville’s Buxton Hall Barbecue. The resultant meat lineup includes pork, chicken, and brisket distinguished by exceptional texture and peppery bark: it’s a forcefully smoky reminder that the cut hails from the same creature as expense-check steaks.

EXIT 27: Sherrill’s Pioneer Restaurant

Locally known as The Pioneer—or The Pine Ear, as it’s rendered on a wooden sign that dates to when mountaineers wisely cashed in on tourists’ fascination with backwoods culture—Sherrill’s is a 70-year-old roadside diner where servers pour coffee with a stay-all-day attitude. Should you take them up on the offer, you’ll likely start at sausage-darkened sawmill gravy over biscuits, and wind up at homemade fruit cobbler. But the essential stopover is a bowlful of Appalachian soup beans, simmered in potlikker and paired with cornbread.  

EXIT 37: The Hot Dog King

Roughly 20 years ago, The Hot Dog King figured into the fall of Buncombe County sheriff Bobby Medford, sentenced for extorting bribes from business owners who operated video poker machines. What’s strangest about the story is that the restaurant probably didn’t need illegal schemes to lure patrons. Since 1979, slaw dog fans have flocked to the Asheville area chain’s locations for dogs bedded down with sweet cabbage and robust Greek chili on a buttery bun, a sterling take on the Mountain South classic.

EXIT 51: Hillman Beer

Other than vast quantities of beer, which most highway drivers aren’t seeking, breweries offer just about everything a road tripper needs, including family-friendly menus, outdoor seating, and socializing space for dogs. But Hillman goes one better by serving top-notch food that screams—sorry, thoughtfully intones—Asheville and its ethos. Picture pimento cheese with naan, blackberry hot wings ringed by kale, and a tempeh rice bowl studded with black beans. Or just order them with a local nonalcoholic craft ginger beer.

EXIT 59: Blunt Pretzels

Emblematic of the passion-driven artisanship that flourishes on Asheville’s fringes, Blunt Pretzels in 2020 relocated to Swannanoa from Marshall, two communities later devastated by Hurricane Helene. Yet there’s no sign of hardship at Eddy Schoeffmann’s sunny bakery; furnished with multiple ping-pong tables, it’s the source of standout Bavarian-style organic knots and sandwich-ready buns. For snackers, the pretzels—recognizable by their snowy white interior and caramelized shell—are sold with beer cheese or locally-made Lusty Monk mustard.