#TBT: From Dreamland Drive-In to Biltmore Dairy

Ali here. 👋 I was born right here at Mission Hospital (when it was still Mission/St. Joseph’s), and I’ve always been proud to be a born-and-raised Ashevillian. Even after moving away (to Chapel Hill and then Rochester, N.Y.), the mountains called, and I moved back about six years ago. I haven’t regretted it for a moment.

As is true with any local, I’ve seen a lot change over the years. When I was a kid, we used to only go to two or three restaurants downtown (yes way), and now there are literally hundreds of choices. At the time, the craft breweries count was more like three (instead of 30). And while the new (and not so new) restaurants, breweries, and shops make our city what it is today, it’s fun to look back on memories of earlier (some would say simpler) times.

So in honor of #TBT, we asked you: You know you’re from Asheville if…

Over 100 of you responded on Facebook, Instagram + email – and many of you listed your favorite things from earlier times in the city.

What topped the list?

Beanstreets Coffee House. This beloved spot at the corner of Biltmore Ave. + College St. served up a mean bean and had a case full of pastries (the crumb cake was always my go-to). It was also home to chess matches, tabletop Galaga, and one of the most popular open mic nights.
The Asheville Motor Speedway. NASCAR came to town in 1951, and the first professional track opened for the races in 1961 on Amboy Rd. After NASCAR left in 1999, the track was converted into velodrome for bike racing at Carrier Park.
Be Here Now. This popular venue on Biltmore Ave., which held just under 300 people, was open for just a few years in the 90s (it lost its lease in 1998), but in its brief time in this world it achieved legendary status, hosting acts like Ben Harper, Shawn Colvin, Gran Torino + Emmylou Harris.
Stone Soup. A co-op restaurant open for nearly three decades, it served up hearty, healthful meals from its (final) location on Broadway, where Mellow Mushroom is now.
Biltmore Dairy Bar. At its spot next to the edge of Biltmore Forest on Hendersonville Rd., the spacious Dairy Bar, decorated with images of cows and cheery homespun furniture + art, was a go-to place for families to grab lunch + hang out. Of course, the ice cream helped, too.
Cruising Tunnel Rd. + Patton Ave. Cruisers on Tunnel would hit the three drive-in restaurants, Buck’s, Babe’s, and Wink’s, to see which of their friends was there. And if you were heading to Patton Ave. on a Friday night to do anything besides cruise, you were going to be there for a while. Though that’s still the case if you’re going to Cookout on a Saturday night.

Read on for all the memories you brought back.⬇

Biltmore Dairy Farms milkmen and trucks. Photo courtesy of the Biltmore Company.

Some of you miss the food (+ drinks)

...and you shouted out spots like the Biltmore Dairy Bar (and the actual Biltmore Dairy, which delivered milk to local families); family-friendly, casual eatery McGuffey’s (on the hill above Tunnel Rd.); OG fine-dining establishments The Windmill (owned by the family of restaurateur Vijay Shastri) and 23 Page; employee-owned restaurant Stone Soup; Annabelle’s (which served up comfort food in the Asheville Mall); late-night eatery 51 Grill, Cafe on the Square; and Mom & Pop’s Fried Chicken in West Asheville.

A lot of you also shared your love for long-closed coffeehouses Beanstreets (the “SEX” sign got a few mentions) + Vincent’s Ear on Lexington Ave. That last spot is now the commissary kitchen for The Blind Pig, and AUX Bar are finally using that beautiful courtyard again for outdoor tables. Beanstreets’ former location, a funky, split-level building at the corner of Biltmore + College St., is now Green Sage’s downtown cafe.

In your words…

Biltmore had a dairy and they had a milkman who came to your house.
My great-grandfather worked for Biltmore Dairy. My parents still have some milk crates. One ended up with me somehow. I used it to move several times starting in college.
You got your ice cream cones at the Biltmore Dairy Bar.
You know you’re from AVL if...you went to Orang-O-Tang’s and dinner at McGuffey’s on the hill.... or The Windmill for amazing cuisine
You remember the first restaurant collective called Stone Soup. It was employee owned and operated. They started in the Allen Center moved to the Manor on Charlotte St., then to downtown where Mellow Mushroom is now.
Paradise Chinese restaurant on Broadway St. Downtown one of the original Chinese restaurants to Asheville area.
You remember Ike’s restaurant where Luella’s is now. Ike was Turkish and often played a large string instrument to entertain customers. He went up Merrimon to Grace Plaza and Boston Pizza came to his space.
The first vegetarian restaurant was on Market St upstairs where Vincenzo’s was for years
Eating at Annabelle's at the Asheville Mall and at Stone Soup, the Windmill, and 23 Page, and ice cream and grilled cheese from the Biltmore Dairy Bar
Eating all the things at Rio Burrito and Nick and Willy's after buying a bunch of CDs at Sounds Familiar!
Mom's and Pop’s fried chicken
AnnaBelle’s and McGuffey’s, the best 2 places to eat and hang out..
Eating at the original Frank’s Pizza in the Innsbruck Mall. The fountain that we used to throw pennies in, in the center of the mall. Getting an O’Joy from the Peanut Shack. Baskin Robbins! The French Dip at Annabelle’s and the onion rings at McGuffeys. The Paradise Chinese Restaurant on N Lexington.
The best hot dog from Woolworths downtown and a blueberry icee made by a little sweet lady named Jesse, the S&W Cafeteria on Patton Avenue—-YUMMY!
How about Fine Friends, Ike's, and Rolling Pin Bakery?
Fine Friends!!!! I love love loved the smell of Rolling Pin. They made numerous birthday cakes.
When you had a penny with One cent on the back of it. And the lady at the Towne House Bakery would give you a doughnut for that penny. I think it was the year she was born.
You had many a late-night meal at 51 Grill! (Still the best black bean burger I’ve ever had.)
Bill Stanley's BBQ! Oh, miss them.
Remember the Krispy Kreme in the traffic island on the corner of Tunnel and South Tunnel?
THE KRISPY KREME ISLAND by the mall. Oh man.
You ate at Boston Pizza!
Bavarian Cellar
”Sex! Now that we have your attention, please bus your table.” (a sign hanging at long-running coffee shop Beanstreets)
You remember the great vibes from Vincent's Ear and the former beautiful courtyard.

Some of you miss the entertainment + nightlife

Before the Orange Peel, Asheville’s go-to music spot when I was growing up was Be Here Now, a cozy, wood-walled venue on Biltmore Ave. where locals gathered to see bands like Jump, Little Children, David Wilcox, Leftover Salmon + Gran Torino. Several of you shared your favorite shows there, along with other nightlife destinations like Gatsby’s, Doc’s Rock Shop, disco-dance spot Cosmic Ballroom, CinJade’s and Cool World. And a few of you remembered your late-night food go-to’s after the parties were over.

Other people remember good times at the Asheville Motor Speedway (which held its last race in 1999), the Dreamland Drive-In, and the saltier sections of Lexington Ave. (we won’t go into too many details there 😜). And of course you guys miss Asheville’s OG street fest, Bele Chere.

In your words...

If you remember the sounds of Asheville Motor Speedway (even if you were just driving by it) and the conversations about the races and drivers.
I recall driving around Babe’s and Buck’s in the 60’s to see who might be there with whom. Also I recall going to Dreamland outdoor movie. (Babe’s and Buck’s were two local drive-in restaurants
Cruising Tunnel Rd Drive-ins – We’d go from the Shoney’s drive-in (where Cornerstone is now) up to Babe Malloy’s (I think there’s a tire store there now) across to Wink’s (Papa’s & beer now) back down to Buck’s (Olive Garden now) – and sometimes we’d even get something to eat somewhere along the way! I know – I’m ancient!
Gatsby’s rock and blues club!
Drinks at Vincenzo’s or maybe dancing at CinJades. Oh....and looking forward to Bele Chere all year long. Wow!
A pub – Drinkin' with Lincoln!
Seeing Gran Torino and Jump Little Children at spots like Be Here Now, drinking waaay too much coffee and getting into trouble at Vincent's Ear, hanging out at the mall and staying up all night
Oh wow! Yea, Be Here Now and cruising were the things to do in high school.
You used to go to Be Here Now and see Gov't Mule.
U were hanging with Warren in 1973.
You were playing in a band with Warren in 1978.
Bele Chere, making fun of Cool World but secretly wanting to go, hanging out at the Asheville Racquet Club pool.
You know you’re from Asheville if you remember: Doc’s Rock Shop, Cosmic Ballroom, and Yesterday’s
David Wilcox, Jump Little Children, Leftover Salmon, etc at Be Here Now
Be Here Now, the best!
Listening to Warren Haynes jam solo at the Brass Tap, drinking 50 cent Bud in plastic cups.
You used to go to Cool World nightclub on Biltmore Ave JUST to go on the rotating dancefloor.
Saw Elvis at the Civic Center.
Buck Dancing at Bill Stanley’s BBQ and Blue Grass
That Lexington Ave was not a place you walked at night unless you were looking for business.
You remember the first Bele Chere when it was just on Haywood st downtown
Driving all the way out to McDibb’s [a venue in Black Mountain], because it was always worth it
I really miss BoBo Gallery! Sake slushee machine! And great music.
2 a.m. breakfast at Hot Shot Cafe
You used to stand in line to get a table at the Capri Pancake House on Tunnel Rd at 3 a.m. on Sunday morning.

Some of you miss the shopping

90s staple Interplanet Janet on Lexington Ave. stocked allll the cool kicks, snarky t-shirts + Manic Panic. Tops for Shoes, still a shopping destination at its original location (27 N. Lexington Ave.), carried the latest styles for kids and adults.

Many of you had fond memories of shopping downtown + at the mall, at places Fain’s Thrift Store (now Mast General). And a few of you shouted out the supermarkets that used to be downtown (the Winn-Dixie and the A&P both closed in the 70s).

In your words...

Buying Mary Jane shoes from Interplanet Janet.
going downtown to Tops to buy shoes in the early 80's.
You shopped at Masons and Fains.
... you recall where Winn-Dixie and A&P were located downtown.
You remember buying car magazines at Chilton's News Stand.
...you got your ears pierced at the Brendle’s counter.
You bought bike parts from Strick's when they were on Patton. And bike parts meant motorcycle parts without need for clarification.
Shopped at Roses and Grant's Westgate.
Sears, Bon Marché’s, Ivey’s, etc. when downtown was the local shopping center.
You remember the first location of Malaprop’s Bookstore

Some of you miss being a kid

...and going to field trips at the Health Adventure at Pack Place, birthday parties at Skate-A-Round USA, Hey Day fall family festival at the Nature Center, getting ice cream at the Hop and Woolworth’s, and, of course, the prom.

In your words...

Oh man so many things! Every field trip was either to skate around, the downtown library, or the Pack Place. Anyone else remember the skeleton on the bike? Miss that guy. If anyone knows where he went, I want him.
If you grew up getting ice cream from The Hop’s original location with the crazy paintings in the drive through, feeding the ducks at Beaver Lake, and going down the long slide on the hill at Ira B Jones Elementary’s playground (on wax paper).
When The Nature Center still had Hey Day!
You remember racing Ted E. Tourist as a kid, having the best hot dogs and burgers from Hot Dog King, remembered when the mall had the Disney Store
birthday parties at Skate-A-Round USA (even though I could never roller-skate!)
Had your prom at Battery Park Hotel.
My Grandma skating at the rink in the 50’s that is now the Orange Peel ✨
If you went to Claxton School in the 4th grade and played Red Rover on the front lawn, and carried a sock full of marbles to school and played marbles on the ground next to the back door. (And Mrs. Crisp was your teacher.)
If you walked to the Grove Park Inn on a snow day and joined your friends on the 18th hole for the best sledding evah!
You remember going to Woolworths uptown with your Mother and popping a balloon with a piece of paper inside to get a banana split for 1 cent.
When Biltmore Park was a field you could go four wheeling at.
When you could swim at Lake Julian....even though looking back we probably shouldn’t have! Ha ha
The Biltmore House is just a place you take field trips to EVERY YEAR of school
You remember when pack place was a pond with a fountain and you took boat rides around it during Bele Chere.

And some our favorites…

Which might be the snarkiest of the bunch.

...you see a man dressed liked a nun riding on a unicycle screaming "I'm a lady! I'm a lady!" while holding a mug of beer and you just shrug and go about your day like it's no big deal.
You can no longer afford to live there.
...if your car won't crank over, and your first thought is that maybe the crystal on the dash needs recharging…;);-)
...you're the only person you know that's from Asheville.
If you despise being behind vehicles with Florida plates
If your family made you cathead biscuits before @biscuitheadavl did. 😏
you didn't have to look so hard to find someone else actually from Asheville
... you're from South Florida?

As one reader put it, “You know you're from Asheville if...You were born there.” And while that’s technically true, there are many of us who have come to call this place home, whether or not we can claim native status.

And change is pretty much constant in our little corner of the mountains, but looking back on the places many of us loved can help us appreciate where we came from – and where we’re headed next.

What’s your favorite memory of Asheville “back in the day”?

Whether you were born here or you’ve just lived here for a while, chances are you’ve seen something you love come – and perhaps go. Let us know by replying to this email, or tell us over on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. I’ll just be over here looking through these old photo albums and reminiscing. I’m not crying, you’re crying.

– Ali