As Western North Carolina approaches the 7-month mark of Tropical Storm Helene, its tourism and entertainment industries, including many small businesses, are still feeling pain from the disaster.
In Hendersonville, though, while restaurants closed in the aftermath, a handful have already sprung up in the first quarter of 2025.
Many of the bars and restaurants that opened in 2025 “have been working on their space for a while," said Jamie Carpenter, downtown manager for the City of Hendersonville. "A lot of them were already in the process of fitting and getting their space together, probably, even before the storm."
While Downtown Hendersonville was spared the worst of the historic flooding itself, ripple effects like decimated tourism in the months after the storm and downed electronic payment systems took their toll, said Ben Smith, director of the Small Business Center at Blue Ridge Community College, who spoke to the Times-News in his personal capacity.
In other areas of the city and the county, businesses are still working to bounce back from the physical destruction.
"I'm seeing a lot of resiliency," Smith said. "I'm seeing a lot of businesses that are really committed to trying to see themselves through, and I'm encouraged by what we have here in Henderson County."
Here are some of the many Hendersonville-area restaurants that have opened so far — or are set to reopen — in 2025.
Bake Me House
The Asian-style bakery Bake Me House, run by owner-operator Emily Roper, opened its doors at the beginning of March.
People were lining up on the sidewalk soon after the bakery opened and it often sold out of certain pastries, Roper told the Asheville Citizen Times in March.
A Japanese cheesecake is one of the bestselling menu items. There are also Thai-style iced tea and coffee, a wide variety of cakes (chocolate, red velvet, carrot) biscoff and eclairs, among other specialties.
Where: 414 N. Church St., Hendersonville.
Hours: 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday.
Old Haywood Filling Station
The bar and cafe? officially opened for business in early January, serving beer, wine and espresso drinks. Owner-operator Max Vander Ploeg said the spot, in a repurposed gas station from 1958, hosts food trucks in its lot as well, serving Indian food, sandwiches and salads from area restaurants Mehfil and Mosaic.
Where: 5664 Old Haywood Rd., Mills River
Hours: 12 p.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday
Adair’s Cajun Cooking
This new Hendersonville food truck announced its opening day at the end of January. Parked outside The Buzz bar and cafe?, the Adair family serves gumbo, sausage, red beans and rice, etouffee and shrimp, which they announced on Facebook they personally source directly from Louisiana.
Where: 225 S Grove St., Hendersonville
Hours: 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday
Tipsy Taco
Hendersonville’s Tipsy Taco appears to be the first location outside Upstate South Carolina for this chain, which serves all the classic Tex-Mex staples and, of course, Margaritas.
Where: 119 South Main St., Hendersonville
Opening (or Reopening) Soon:
Moe’s Original BBQ
This local franchise of the Moe’s Original BBQ chain had recently moved to its new location at 1794 Asheville Highway, from a spot downtown, soon before Tropical Storm Helene hit. Its brick-and-mortar restaurant has been out of commission since, though it’s continued to operate out of a food truck, the Asheville Citizen Times reported.
“The whole restaurant had to be taken down to the studs; all the drywall had to be ripped out. … Basically, starting everything from scratch,” owner Dave Rice told the Citizen Times in March. He added, though, that the restaurant should be back up and running by the end of April.
Caffe? REL
This French-Italian bistro, serving pasta, steak and seafood, is expanding from its current location in a building it shares with a gas station in Franklin, NC.
“We’re a little bit different that most of the restaurants that I’ve seen,” co-owner Tracy Passmore told the Hendersonville Times-News last year. “We want to be very classy and a little upscale.”
It announced on Facebook that it was holding a hiring event for all positions on April 23 at its new Hendersonville location at 425 North Main St., the former site of D9 Brewing.
According to the City of Hendersonville, these new drinking and dining establishments are also in the works:
Closures:
Elevations Chophouse
This steakhouse at Skylaranna Resort and Spa in Hendersonville is permanently closed.
The Main Event
This event space and wedding venue with studios for photography and recording announced that it will be closing, effective June 7, according to the city.
Tiana Kennell and Karrigan Monk contributed to this story.
George Fabe Russell is the Henderson County Reporter for the Hendersonville Times-News. Tips, questions, comments? Email him at [email protected].