Best Cocktail Bars in Asheville—A Local’s Perspective

Marshall Manche
Feb 28, 2022
4 min read

Updated: Aug 30

Asheville goes by many names. “Paris of the South, San Francisco of the East.” Some even call it the “Budapest of the West.” But I think most people remember Asheville as “Beer City.” The breweries and tasting rooms out here are plentiful, I’ll give you that. Yet I fear that in all this fervor for yeasty ferments, people can forget about one crucial thing: cocktails.

Like any self-respecting tourist town, Asheville boasts some of the best cocktail bars for miles around. In fact, they’re worthy competitors to the city’s best breweries. So that you too may enjoy the fruits of my hometown’s eclectic cocktail scene, I invite you to read on and discover the five best cocktail bars in Asheville.

1: Antidote at Chemist Spirits

Nestled within the South Slope brewing district, Chemist Spirits formulates not beer (like its neighbors) but gin. Award-winning gin, in fact.

Their tasting room, Antidote, serves gin-focused cocktails in a Prohibition-inspired setting, spanning an indoor dining area, a rooftop terrace, and a patio. This season’s libations at Antidote include a gimlet, the “Bee’s Knees” (infused with house-made honey syrup) and “East Meets West” (oolong gin, lime cordial, and umeboshi).

Pair your drink with some of their gourmet popcorn, and you have yourself an evening real sophisticated gin-sampling.

Hours: 8am to 11pm. Open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.

2: Rankin Vault Cocktail Lounge

This downtown taproom, located just a couple blocks west of Pack Square, prides itself on a full menu packed with fresh, local ingredients. With salads, tacos, nachos, and a burger voted best in the city several years in a row, the Rankin Vault is a solid choice for those seeking not only drinks, but dinner.

But speaking of drinks, the Rankin Vault's house margarita and cucumber martini are the talk of the town. More adventurous cocktail enthusiasts will be pleased to find a variety of creative beverages, such as their “Apple-at-Cha" (Rum, allspice dram, black tea cider syrup, and pineapple).

Hours: Noon to midnight. Open until 2am on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.

3: Sovereign Remedies

Another downtown cocktail bar, Sovereign takes its name from the old home-treatments Appalachian families used to deal with their everyday illnesses. Whether these curatives usually included whiskey is unknown. But I'd venture to guess: yes.

While Rankin styles itself as a casual kind of place, Sovereign goes for more of a chic, haute cuisine feel, featuring seasonal menus.

This winter, they’re serving duck poutine, beef tartare, hand-cut pappardelle, and butter-poached NC shrimp, to give you an idea. The winter cocktail list contains “Old King Junior,” (tequila, banana lacquerer, and long pepper) a “Root Daiquiri” (Sarsaparilla-dandelion-burdock), and my personal favorite, the Appalachian Hot Butter Rum, which our ancestors once used to cure the common cold.

All these sparkling options can be enjoyed inside, on their patio, or atop their private mezzanine, overlooking the bar.

Hours: 4pm to 10pm, Wednesdays and Thursdays. 4pm to 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays. 2pm to 8pm on Sundays. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

4: The Times Bar and Coffee Shop

I’m something of a coffee connoisseur myself, so if you tell me you’ve found a way to infuse coffee into just about anything—be it birthday cakes, clamshells, or cocktails—you have my attention.

Here at the Times Bar, attached to the historic S&W Cafeteria, they take this culinary breakthrough to its logical conclusion, with espresso martinis, Irish coffee, and “The Ol’ Razzle Dazzle” (vodka with dark chocolate, raspberry, and espresso).

If you’re more in the mood for a straight pick-me-up, their non-alcoholic coffee menu is nothing to sneeze at, with raspberry mochas, coconut-cardamom espresso, and a hot buttered pecan late.

I’d like to conclude this entry with mention of their “beer-mosa." It's orange juice and pilsner. Zero-percent coffee. One hundred percent one of the most dastardly concoctions I have ever heard of.

Hours: 5pm to 11pm on Tuesdays. 10am to 11pm on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. 10am to 1am on Fridays and Saturdays. Closed Mondays. Coffee served on Thursdays through Sundays, from open to 4pm.

5: The Golden Pineapple

Finally, we leave downtown for west Asheville. We're off the beaten path now, but it's certainly worth it, as the Golden Pineapple stands out as the most Ashevillean of the best cocktail bars in Asheville. And what do I mean by this? Eclectic taste.

The Golden Pineapple’s namesake drink is a rye whiskey with overproof rum, lime, amaro, tepache, and almond orgeat. Tropical excellence, just like the name suggests.

They're also known for their ice-cold Japanese highballs, the “Benne Conspiracy” (Whiskey, sesame, shitake mushrooms, and milk stout) and a slew of other fascinating admixtures. Basically: anything you can imagine and then some.

If that hasn’t yet wet your whistle, let's talk about their food. Szechuan spiced peanuts, chicken wings, Spanish tinned fish, a smoked meatloaf sandwich, and east-Asian noodles. If you’re looking for a pattern here, I’ll tell you: they serve whatever tastes the best. That’s Asheville for you.

Hours: 5pm to 11pm. Open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. Close at 10pm on Sundays. Closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Businesses Mentioned

Antidote at Chemist Spirits

151 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC 28801

Rankin Vault Cocktail Lounge

(828)-254-4993

7 Rankin Ave, Asheville, NC 28801

Sovereign Remedies

(828)-919-9518

29 N Market St #105, Asheville, NC 28801

The Times Bar & Coffee Shop

(828)-774-5028