Once an area of vacant buildings and warehouses, South Slope is now an emerging district south of downtown with craft breweries, galleries, restaurants and boutique shops.
Housed in a building that was once Standard Paper Sales Company, a roller rink, boat showroom and multiple auto shops, Buxton Hall Barbecue (www.buxtonhall.com) debuted in mid-2015. Elliott Moss and Meherwan Irani met in 2013, and over a mutual appreciation for food and all things Asheville, decided to change North Carolina’s barbecue history. Since opening, Buxton Hall has been listed as one of “The South’s Best New Restaurants” by Southern Living and “Best New BBQ Joint in America” by Bon Appetit. The Remington Room offers private event space, and catering from the hot spot is also available.
What started as a brewpub in 1997, Green Man Brewery shifted its focus on production, distribution and growth in 2010 and continues to successfully produce traditional ales, as well as seasonal brews. In spring 2016, the company opened a three-story, 20,000-square-foot packaging hall and brew-house, or “brewtique,” as it’s known. The new space, nicknamed “Greenmansion,” features a retail shop and indoor/outdoor tap room that overlooks the production floor inside and the Blue Ridge Mountains on the open-air patio.
Lexington Glassworks is a hand-blown glass studio and gallery space that encourages visitors to come in, watch, learn and shop, and even features a bar. The open-door policy is for both the community and local artists in order to build relationships between the two. Offering live glassblowing demonstrations six days a week, Lexington Glassworks can also arrange for private demonstrations of groups larger than 10.
For those exploring South Slope, there is the nearby Aloft Asheville Downtown (www.aloftashevilledowntown.com). The 115-room hotel offers three meeting rooms and over 800 square feet of event space. The brand’s W XYZ bar serves specialty cocktails, local brews and hand-selected wines. But most unique to this property is The Ledge, an outdoor veranda that overlooks Biltmore Avenue.
