Bonfire Barbecue

I have eaten at Bonfire twice. Both times I got the Dark Crystal, fries and mac and cheese. Was not disappointed with any part of my meal. The sandwich was absolutely delicious as were the fries and mac and cheese. Don’t even get me started on the banana pudding. I ate 3 bowls of that stuff in 2 visits. Unfortunately because of medical issues I won’t be able to enjoy the Dark Crystal anymore but I’m am so glad I experienced it when I did. The service was great. Very friendly and very attentive! The owners are doing an amazing job and I look forward to seeing their add on! Great job Bonfire!

Well it has taken me a whole 7 months to get back to Bonfire to give them another shot and a much needed update, but on Saturday it finally happened.
I’m thrilled to report that Bonfire has made quite a few changes for the better, and that my overall experience this time was immensely better than my last one.
First off, let’s talk about the heart of the matter, the meat! This time I ordered the hickory smoked pulled pork plate and man… their pork was on point. Moist, sweet smokiness, and the perfect texture, I was amazed by the serving size for the price.
Next up there’s the sauce bar which has undergone quite the makeover. Now you can make your choice of sauces from a very easy sauce pump. Nice!
Finally, the over all cohesion of this place has improved. This makes sense, they’ve been in the groove for nearly a year now, and it shows. Service was prompt and courteous. My food arrived super quickly. My bartender John was constantly available, checked on me numerous times, and when there was a slight mix up with a side order, right as I mentioned it my order was corrected.
This might be one of my new top lunch spots. For the price and the speed along with the quality and serving size, you’d be hard pressed to find a better place to dine during a lunch break.
The menu is large and super accessible to nearly everyone. There’s pork, brisket, ribs, and even seitan. I can’t comment on all of them, but I’m really looking forward to coming back here again to try them all out. Next time I won’t wait 7 months to do so.

Really good stuff here. Way better than the competition. Nice moist brisket, flavorful chicken, great sides, and some creative menu items (like the Cuban with pulled pork). Definitely glad to have some good bbq around.

Best catfish in town. Love this place! Brisket is moist and tender. Mac & cheese is awesome.

Excellent food. Excellent service. We were passing through looking for BBQ and came across Bonfire. Wings were tasty. Viva Cubano delish and Pork Slam delish. Owners on site and very friendly. Bartender on top of things and good service. Would definitely come back if in Ashville again.

Stopped by here while visiting Asheville and looking through Unilocal.Had the campfire fries as our appetizer (enough for 5 – 6 to share). Everything piled on just worked so well together. The brisket was perfectly cooked and tender. We ordered a couple of the sampler platter. The only thing I didn’t care for was the chicken wings but it was still ok. Everything was already flavorful I didn’t even need any sauce but they have the cutest sauce bar if you do. My favorite side was the macaroni and cheese and the Brussels sprouts, but everything is good! Can’t go wrong.

Wow was the food yummy!!! Great service and even better food. I shared the sampler with my dad and we all shared the fries, so good.

The wife and I finally made it here last week. We were impressed by the menu, which has the usual pulled pork, ribs, etc. that one expects to find in a BBQ joint but they also offer an intriguing variety of sandwiches and other choices that sounded delicious and looked to be worth trying on another visit. As it was our first time we were here for the Q. We ordered a sampler platter which includes four meats and four sides for $ 21.95.
There was more than enough food for the two of us. Meats included brisket, pulled pork, wings, and ribs. We chose the side of the day (green beans with onions and bacon), fried Brussels sprouts, mac & cheese, and smoked potato salad. The brisket was top notch. The pulled pork was suitably moist and tender. On the other hand, the ribs were semi-​tough, definitely not fall-​off-​the-​bone, which we both prefer. The wings were probably the worst I’ve had: dry, crispy, and without a lot of flavor. The four sides were excellent. The daily side was smoky, flavorful, and delicious. I could have eaten a quart of those Brussels sprouts. The potato salad was creamy, with just the right amount of smoke, and the mac & cheese, while not the best we’ve tasted, was perfectly edible and a good accompaniment to the meats. They offer a sauce bar with a variety of choices, including Bonfire (tomato-​vinegar), SC mustard, and a sweet honey sauce. Thanks to my aging gut I skipped the ghost pepper hot sauce but I did try the sriracha. It was a perfect choice for the meats, with the classic hot and sweet character one would expect.
The beer choices were excellent, featuring about a dozen drafts and another 30 or so bottles. I had the draft Long Leaf IPA from Appalachian Mountain Brewery in Boone. Service was friendly, welcoming, and attentive. I went back and forth on giving three or four stars, and the sides and the service swayed it to 4. We’ll definitely be back to try those sandwiches, but will stick to the pulled pork or brisket for the BBQ (though I will try the turkey that wasn’t part of the sampler). Improving the quality of the ribs and wings would easily make this a five-​star place.

Why aren’t more people talking about their mac n cheese??? Their mac n cheese was the best I have ever had in a restaurant. Yes, in my opinion better than the Southerns. Taste like a true southern grandmama made it just for you with love. Other than that the service was fantastic, the food was fantastic, the place is super clean and new. Perfect place for bbq and football. I really like that it doesn’t have that pretentious/​prude vibe so many places in Asheville have now. It’s laid back, everyone is welcome, sports bar bbq joint fusion.

I have been hearing about Bön Fire for several months now. It’s location is pretty convenient to our house so I figured I would sit tight and wait a while and see how things settled after they had dialed in their processes. Today was my first day here.
The Atmosphere — 4 Stars. Think of a sports bar mixed with tractor barn décor with a full bar, 6 taps of local brews and the obligatory PBR tap. TVs line the walls with a screen in every direction you look with one large projection screen. There are about 10 – 12 stools at the bar. Then there a few 6 seater high top tables. The rest of the restaurant is booth seating or 4 chair tables. Personally, sitting at a 30″ tall table bores the ever living mess out of me so I’m glad they have to high tops. It makes me happy to sit up and see things from above.
Service — 4 Stars. our server was great. And I was surprised to learn that Bön Fire is owned and operated by two former employees of my favorite West Asheville hangout, WALK. So it’s understandable why the service is good. When you go from being a server to an owner you have a pretty good understanding of what customers want in order to see them come back. These folks have that nailed down.
Price– 4 stars. We got the sampler dinner that was as a shared meal for 2 and washed it down with 3 beers for $ 35 before tip. I thought that was well worth it. The portions here are plentiful so come with an appetite. If you don’t you can always take it home and get 2 meals out of it.
Food — Bön Fire has the best Brisket I’ve had in Asheville. I’ll need to get the entire entrée next time to truly determine if it’s the best I’ve ever had anywhere. The pulled pork… Well it was very very dry. In fact I gotta be honest it was Griswold Christmas Turkey dry (you the scene I’m talking about). But when you douse it with your favorite sauce the smoked flavor carries through and is quite tasty, but this is not the best pulled pork in town. Along with the plate came 4 sides. Notable standouts — the Smoked Potato Salad and Brussels Sprouts. They are some of the best tasting side options in Asheville.
This is definitely going to be a place I hit much more frequently and hope to be a regular as I’ve found my local spot for perfectly cooked brisket. I’m looking forward to tasting more of the options on the menu as well!

Absolutely great Barbecue
Ribs were moist and favorable Great Wings and Sides –Cole Slaw, Potatoes Salad, Greens Brussels Sprouts all were excellent
Nice choices for Sauces at their Sauce Bar
Good Sports Bar atmosphere
Ranks very high on the top tier of Barbecue places

We really enjoy this place! Everything has been super tasty each time. The Brussels sprouts are perfect, THE PACK is an amazing sandwich completely meant to fill you up. The mac and cheese… soul comfort food for sure. and the smoked wings… awesome. Downside: slow service. but that’s it. everything else… we LOVE!

Went here with my family while visiting Asheville and seeing and ad in one of the local magazines.
We started out with and appetizer, which we don’t normally do, but the one we ordered sounded soooo good! And good it was. We got their brisket cheese dip that came with house made potato chips. Probably the best appetizer I’ve ever had. The brisket was perfect and the chips and cheese sauce were amazing. I kind of just wanted to eat the dip with a spoon. Our entrees were just as good. I ordered the pulled pork platter with the turnip greens and a side salad. Others in my party ordered a brisket sandwich w/​fries, one of the sandwiches that had like everything on it w/​mac and cheese, and another pulled pork plate w/​beans and coleslaw.
My pulled pork was delicious and I’ve never gotten such a large portion of barbecue at a restaurant before, it had to be almost a half pound, it was crazy. My salad was also really good as it came with a homemade ranch. My turnip greens were just ok, the had a bit of a funky flavor that I just couldn’t get over. The others in my party also enjoyed their food, but also said that the sides they ordered were just ok, which is one reason why I only rated them 4 stars. The sides simply weren’t the best. The other reason being is that while they had an assortment of homemade sauces, which were good, they didn’t really have just like a plain bbq sauce. All of the sauces were a little different and most were spicy.
Overall we all really enjoyed our experience here and would love to come back if we are in the area again.

You might miss this place if you don’t know Asheville very well. It’s just down the street from downtown Asheville in a strip mall on Patton Ave. It doesn’t look very big but it can accommodate groups as we had a party of seven and were able to push two tables together and were seated comfortably. I think you’re supposed to seat yourself, which is what we did.
It’s a sport bar type atmosphere with games on all the TVs. It can be noisy, especially on a Sunday afternoon during football season but that’s to be expected of a sports bar. The owners are Packers fans, hence the «Packer» burger. I’m told it’s delicious. That’s what my wife ordered. I sprung for the campfire sampler, which is really way too much food for one person, but that’s OK because it’s meant to be shared. But everything sounded so good so I wanted to try a little of everything. It came with smoked wings, pulled pork, brisket, and ribs. You choose four sides, so I chose the molasses bbq beans, triple greens, potato salad, and coleslaw. Overall, it was a very satisfying meal.
First, the not so great. I would have liked the slaw to be dressed a little more and maybe sliced/​shredded a bit finer. The flavor of the smoked potato salad was just OK and the potatoes were under cooked. The greens were a little tough but had good flavor.
Now for the great. The meat. This place knows how to smoke meat. The wings had a wonderful smoke flavor and were nice and crispy. The brisket had great smoke flavor and seasoning. It paired perfectly with the barnburner sauce which was one of the thinner sauces with a nice kick to it. This brisket wasn’t too fatty. The pulled pork was excellent and would pair well with pretty much any of the sauces, but I preferred the Eastern vinegar sauce as well as the WNC vinegar sauce which was a little thicker and sweeter than the Eastern sauce due to the added tomato sauce. Now, the ribs. Let me start off by saying the last couple of places I got ribs from were bad. Bonfire’s smoked ribs were perfectly seasoned with salt and coarse black pepper, then smoked to perfection. The meat does not fall off the bone. Instead, the meat pulls effortlessly off the bone with each bite, which is exactly how it should be. Well done, guys. The KC Honey and bonfire bbq sauces are great choices for the ribs. And unless I’m mistaken, these are spare ribs.
What’s with all the sauces? They have a BBQ sauce bar that includes about 8 different sauces, from sweet to tangy to spicy to very spicy. They even have an Asian sauce but I didn’t try that one.
The blackstrap smoked beans are ridiculous and some of the best bbq beans I’ve ever had. The French fries were also well seasoned and crispy. I also tried the fried Brussels sprouts off my wife’s plate and I must say they were pretty killer.
There are several highly rated bbq joints in Asheville, so it was hard to choose. We definitely made the right choice today and we will DEFINITELY be hitting up this place again the next time we’re in Asheville and I highly recommend you do the same!

Decently new business in town right off of Patton Ave, on the out skirts of downtown. Typical BBQ joint, and delicious all the same. Atmosphere can be a little loud at times, so if you’re looking for a quiet meal perhaps save this place for another day. Typical prices and the staff is very attentive!

Great service and good food. Pulled pork was good and sauces made it even better (similar thoughts like Scott’s review). The fries had good seasoning and Mac and cheese was VERY good… tasted like baked and eggy. The wings were good but nothing like Luella’s.
I wish it was counter service. Doesn’t seem like it needs to be table service. It was very fast though.
Glad we tried it even after reading mixed reviews. Def a convenient location for some bbq and delicious greasy food!

I was pretty excited about this place, because of the fanfare it’s received, but honestly, I was slightly disappointed. It’s not bad, by any stretch, but it’s not amazing, so I think the 3 is warranted.
We tried a variety of things, just to make sure that we got a good cross-​section of things. Y’all already have a strike in my book for having a sign on the wall that says «barbecue is a verb.» No, it’s not. But that’s the purist in me.
If you’re going to set up shop in NC, you’d better do pulled pork right. Theirs isn’t bad, but like I said, nothing overly special. It was a bit dry and bland, which is made up for by the sauce bar (a first that I’ve seen here), and that was pleasant. Some good sauces up there.
The slaw wasn’t the type I’m used to with barbecue around here (white stuff…), but it wasn’t terrible either.
Brisket was pretty good, but not the best I’ve had around here. I do miss brisket, having grown up out in beef country, so I’m always appreciative of a new place to get it, but it’s not my favorite in Asheville.
Overall, that about sums it up. It’s decent enough, but didn’t blow my mind.

I give this place a solid 3 star as an A-​OK meaning I did like it. This is not a bad review. I will most likely go back.
When I saw we had a new restaurant in our neck of the woods I got excited! My husband and I went in on a Thursday night. I love the atmosphere and décor. It is very «Asheville». Industrial but rustic feel. Open space. Clean and shiny new.
Daily specials on tap and in the can. I got the Lagunitas IPA for $ 2.50 on tap. Service was prompt and super friendly. Our server was Nicole, and from the time we sat down to when we left we left she was Johnny on the Spot. We had a few different employees come by and check on us, we were well taken care of.
They surprisingly had a decent selection of vegetarian options. They also have burgers and a large selection of sandwiches.
After being advised they no longer had the pulled chicken (which is what I wanted) I went with the pulled pork, side of coleslaw and mac n cheese.
The pork was hickory smoked, super tender and delicious. The smoke flavor was very strong but tasty. There really wasn’t a need for sauce.
The mac n cheese was very good, homemade with a nice balance of cheese. Fresh and hot.
The coleslaw was a flop. It was literally like the Fresh Express chopped bagged coleslaw with a bland watered down dressing.
They also served it with a sliced piece of toasted white bread. Not much to brag about but it served it’s purpose.
The Sauces — They have a Sauce «bar» with at least 6+ sauces to try.
I can not take any heat what so ever, so when I saw the Sweet Honey sauce I was excited, but it had a slow building heat. My husband who lives for spicy said he could taste the heat, but to him it was mild and he loved it. Unfortunately for me it was like having the flaming fires of hell on my tongue.
I moved onto the Asian sauce. It was very good, but extremely salty. Still a great flavor on it, you could definitely taste the oyster sauce in it.
My husband let me try one of his pork ribs and fried Brussels sprouts. The rib was so tender and delicious with a mouthwatering crust. The sprouts were also delicious with a tasty char on them.
All in all I’d like to come back and try something else, definitely skipping the coleslaw next time.

Had lunch here today.
Just because a place has «pulled pork» on their menu doesn’t mean they know how to make it right. Bonfire Barbecue DOES know how to make it right.
I believe they’re using a combo gas/​wood cooker but using enough whole logs that you really can’t tell the difference. Sometimes that log smoke on some gas heat in a tight box actually gives it a better, richer, deeper smoke flavor than if it were cooked directly over wood in a more open cooker. If they know what they are doing. Bonfire knows.
Had the pulled pork sandwich — smoky, tender mix of outside brown and inside juicy goodness. And not too lean (nor too mystery) either. Great mix. This tasted more like something someone cooked in their back yard (with lots of love and care) than something a restaurant would churn out.
Hands down the best pulled pork in Asheville. (So far; awaiting Elliot Moss’ Buxton Hall).
Good white slaw (although a finer dice is my personal preference), and a bun that appropriately turns into nothing more than a handle for your Q and slaw and doesn’t get in the way. And Eastern NC sauce that actually tastes like eastern sauce. Nice.
Also had the triple greens (collards, mustard, turnip). Delicious. Perfectly bitter, but at the same time sweet and bright.
Can’t wait to go back again. Maybe I’ll go back for dinner. Or lunch tomorrow. Or maybe both.

Husband and I dined here on opening night. Overall impressed with the new place!
The location seems a little off. I’ve been watching this place go up since I pass it every time I leave my house. It looks super nice compared to everything around it. The shopping center is a little old and dated, so of course something shiny and new will stand out. It’s not a bad spot by any means, but it’s noticeably different than its surroundings. Refreshing I think!
A little disclaimer before I talk about the food: I’m a Tennessee native and as such have a different opinion of barbecue than most of you Carolina folk. That being said:
The meat is awesome. We ordered the bar-​queterie plate which consists of 3 meats, pimento cheese, and a small assortment of pickles. On this tray you have a generous portion of pulled pork, brisket, and two ribs. Honestly, this is enough for a meal if you aren’t interested in sides.
Not thinking, we also decided to split the 4 meat plate with 4 sides. Kind of wish our server had pointed out that this dinner was basically the same as our appetizer, but it was his first day so I’ll forgive!
The meats are chosen by the chef. We had smoked wings, more ribs, and two different briskets… I think. We chose our 4 sides: Mac n cheese, Brussels sprouts, bbq beans, and caramelized turnips. The sprouts were definitely our favorite. The Mac n cheese was good, beans also good – nothing crazy. The turnips were different. They weren’t that impressive, a little strange. They didn’t taste bad, but we probably won’t get them next time. The smoked wings were surprisingly awesome. I’d almost get those on their own… but the brisket is insane. If I had to choose one meat, it would be that one. The ribs aren’t too shabby either. Super moist and smoky. The pulled pork from our appetizer was a little on the dry side… the obvious answer is to add sauce, but…
I didn’t like ANY of the sauces. Not even one. Like I said, Tennessee barbecue isn’t the same as Carolina style. It’s all in the sauce. I like mine sweet and tomato based. Here in NC, tangy vinegar or mustard sauce is the winner. But I can’t. Bonfire doesn’t offer a sweet option. Their signature sauce is super vinegar-​y. Even my husband wasn’t into it. The tangy wine sauce was even less appealing for me. They also have a mustard sauce that my husband liked, but I’m no fan of mustard to begin with. I thought the Asian bbq sauce might appease my taste buds, but it was way too salty (soy sauce based). It was fine in moderation on the fattier brisket.
BUT, even though the sauce was not boss, the meat was so tender and flavorful that I’m fine without sauce. I will definitely be back! I wouldn’t be upset if they added a sweet sauce to the lineup!