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Asheville Restaurant Scene Becomes America’s First Green Dining Destination™


Tupelo Honey Restaurant in downtown Asheville NC

For the first time ever, one of America’s cities, Asheville, North Carolina, has earned the official designation of being a Green Dining Destination™ with Certified Green Restaurants® throughout Asheville. This accomplishment was driven by the Green Restaurant Association (GRA), Asheville Independent Restaurant Association (AIR), and the Blue Ridge Sustainability Institute (BRSI), who formed a local Coalition to encourage more environmentally sustainable practices within the city’s restaurants.

This month, Asheville has met and exceeded its goal of having 16 Certified Green Restaurants® throughout the city, all of which have met the GRA’s rigorous certification standards by earning at least 100 GreenPoints™ in the categories of food, water, waste, energy, chemicals, and disposables. Additionally, each Certified Green Restaurant® has eliminated use of polystyrene foam, (aka StyroFoam™), and has implemented a full-scale recycling program.

The 16 Certified Green Restaurants® in Asheville are:

  • The French Broad Chocolate Lounge
  • Homegrown
  • Laughing Seed Café
  • Luella’s Bar-B-Que
  • Plant Restaurant
  • Neo Cantina
  • Posana Cafe Rosetta’s Kitchen
  • Strada Italiano
  • The Corner Kitchen
  • The Green Sage
  • The Green Sage South
  • Tupelo Honey Café
  • Tupelo Honey Cafe South
  • Cedric’s Tavern on the Biltmore Estate
  • Bouchon

The Green Restaurant Association is a national non-profit organization that provides the only official Certified Green Restaurants® mark in the country. For 22 years, the GRA has pioneered the Green Restaurant® movement and has been the leading voice within the industry encouraging restaurants to listen to consumer demand and green their operations using transparent, science-based certification standards. The Asheville Independent Restaurant Association (AIR) has a mission to unite the independent restaurant community of Asheville NC as committed to local people, local philanthropies, local businesses, local food and the local economy, with a promise to preserve the authenticity of our mountain home through genuine food and signature hospitality.

See our list of the best Asheville restaurants.