Freeborne’s Eatery & Lodge

This place is cooler than the other side of the pillow. The owners and staff are so friendly and make you feel so welcome. And the food is delicious, quick and served with a smile. Do yourself a favor and make the trip for some fun and excitement. You’ll be glad you did.

I visited Freeborne’s on July 5^th, 2014. If you’re a motorcycle enthusiast, and anywhere near Laurel Springs, NC then you’re going to want to stop here. Believe me, getting here is spectacular! This is a biker friendly establishment and often you’ll find vendor tents with various wares for sale on the weekends. But we came here for the food. So we got our table and sat down.
Being someone who loves hot spicy foods one of my first checks of a new menu is to see if they have hot wings. I don’t mean those Buffalo wings, those are for amateurs. Don’t get me wrong, they’re good, I love them, but when you’re looking for heat, they don’t deliver. I always ask «What’s the hottest sauce you have for your wings?» The polite staff at Freeborne’s let me know that «Dragon’s Breath» is there hottest. Being a well qualified capsaicin gastronomy aficionado I doubted these wings were going to cause me any grief; so I ordered 5 of them.
Well, they arrived at the table with everyone else’s orders and we all dug in. The very first bite of these wings let me know that I wasn’t at BW3’s or anywhere else I’d been for wings in the last 10 years or so. They bit me back immediately! I was pleasantly surprised that they were actually full of flavor and abundantly spicy. One wing down and I was on to number two. The heat was not subsiding. The second wing just fueled the fire in my mouth. I was happy, but now watchful. Those at the table saw my sweating and the slow down on consumption. I pressed on to number three. The burn was fully enveloping my mouth and was now beginning to make its way down my throat. Wing three was a chore. To spare you the agonizing details of this encounter I folded here. Being humbled in front of my tablemates was just salt on the wound. My wife, regarding my love of spicy food, says «food shouldn’t hurt». I was at this time, inclined to agree with her; much akin to the drunken promises of «I’ll never do it again.»
So yea, if you’re a lover of spicy food, and I mean a serious one, then you owe yourself a trip here to challenge the Dragon’s Breath wings. I came back some weeks later, being better prepared mentally, and took down all the wings. They are blistering hot! (a couple times) wink. I will definately be back and I will certainly order these wings!

I went here for lunch on 8÷20÷14 with my boyfriend, as we were driving the Blue Ridge Parkway. If you’re looking for somewhere close off the Parkway, this place is a good bet — it’s right off the ramp as you get off. We drove the Parkway for three days, and this was far and away the best meal we had. I ordered a ham and cheese sandwich with swiss and my boyfriend ordered The Hangover Cure burger (burger with cheese, bacon, and a fried egg).
We both absolutely loved our meals. You never expect something as simple as a ham and cheese sandwich to blow you away, but this sandwich was spectacular. The bread was delicious and toasted beautifully; I highly recommend it. My sandwich came with fries on the side, which were excellent. My boyfriend loved his hamburger, saying it was «thick and greasy» just how he likes it. He also really enjoyed his side of pork rinds, even though he typically is not a huge fan of them. Additionally, he really enjoyed his sweet tea, remarking that it was «as good as any you get in the South.»
Our waitress was sweet as sugar and very helpful, overall the service was great. The interior of the restaurant is very divey — there’s a bar, a jukebox, and neon signs. My boyfriend noted the impressive selection of craft and local beers on tap, though we did not partake as we were driving all day. Overall, I would absolutely recommend this to someone looking for a good local meal off of the Parkway.

This place has an identity crisis.
Menu quality and pricing = fine dining. (The steak is $ 24 and would be worth it if the atmosphere was fine dining, deserts are 5 star)
Atmosphere and décor = cheaply done sports bar/​café.
Staff has the training and formal attire of a cash only dive bar. (It would be advantageous if the staff was fluent with the P.O.S. system)
Patrons are local mountain folks and bikers. (Seems they want cheap beers and burgers).
The whole thing led to a bad experience for our group on Sunday.

Well folks, 5 stars to 1 star just that fast. See below for my original review. They have totally changed up their menu. In effect, they have become a typical sports bar or biker bar food type of place, but the quality of food is bad.
Sausage cheese dip had no sausage and too much velvetta. Bland and boring. I added a ton of Texas Pete.
Bacon cheeseburger with egg. Burger overbooked, egg over cooked, bacon was like that that already cooked bacon crap you can buy in supermarket.
Chicken tenders, how can you screw these up? Well, buy frozen chicken and deep fry it until it’s a piece of bark.
Very sad that they had to change up, times are hard, I get it but this was our Sunday destination dinner ride for at least five years.
Love this place, ribeye to perfection. We ride up there for Sunday brunch every couple weeks or so. This past Sunday, I had the famous Appalachian Chicken, perfecto!!! Big chicken breast smothered in cheese sauce, mushrooms and bacon! This meal was featured in the top 100 dishes from each county! Check it out!
We have stayed in the motel a few times, good times on Saturday with bikers coming and going. They ususally have bands in the field out back… Good times!

Great food in a fantastic spot off the Blue Ridge Parkway. Burger is good. Looking forward to the new menu. Stop for a beer and enjoy a live band on Sundays in the summer.

I spent the weekend here with a bunch of friends. The restaurant, bar, and store, and motel are owned by the same people. The rooms are small, with 2 double beds, nightstand, desk, and bathroom with stand up shower. Very clean and cozy, reminded me somewhat of a ski lodge type room.
The restaurant serves opens at 7am for breakfast. They also serve lunch, dinner, and appetizers. There is something for everyone on the menu and we did not try anything we did not like. We ate here all weekend! You can eat in the restaurant area which is very casual and clean and there are several tables, or you can eat in the bar, which also is very clean and has some high top tables. They even delivered a pizza to my friend’s room. Get a burger and hot chips or fried pickles (or both!) Yummy!
There is entertainment all weekend. Friday was a 2 man band, Saturday was a DJ, and Sunday was an outside band at 2pm, but we had to leave in the morning. There were several picnic tables out back, and I’m told it gets pretty busy. We left for a ride after a late breakfast on Saturday and the parking lot was
FULL of motorcycles. Apparently many people stop here for lunch on the weekend when out for a ride. DO NOT LET THE MOTORCYCLES SCARE YOU AWAY! This is NOT your rough kinda biker bar/​restaurant! The staff is so friendly and will go out of their way to make your visit comfortable. My husband and I cannot wait to visit again!

Freeborne’s was featured in an article in Our State magazine as the best restaurant in Alleghany County, so we were taking a winery tour, so we
planned on eating here. On the way to the winery, we passed a place where the parking lot was full of motorcycles and the place looked like a
50’s motorlodge, so we decided this could not possibly be the place. We
went on to the winery, and while there, we asked where they would recommend a place to eat lunch. Everybody said, Freeborne’s. I asked if it was a biker bar and they said not to pay attention to that. Boy! Am I glad
we decided to eat here!
I had the absolute best hamburger I’ve ever had in my life. It tasted as if they had just taken it off the charcoal grill. No way was it a typical diner
burger. My friend, who I have never seen eat a burger, had one too. We
fell in love with this place.
This proves to me you can’t always tell by the outside of the place, what you might find inside. Do yourself a favor and make a trip here.