Guests visiting Waynesville and Western North Carolina have no shortage of options for grabbing a drink or enjoying tasty libations. In fact, Western North Carolina is known for its buzzing craft beer scene, led by the explosion of craft breweries in Asheville, in particular. That being said, Waynesville (and many other small WNC towns like Sylva, Dillsboro, Bryson City and Brevard) boast some amazing breweries. As evidenced by the high quality breweries in this area, the water quality is amazing and really helps companies in this area create some top notch product. Check out this great article from Our State Magazine written in 2022 outlining the extensive lengths that Haywood County has gone to to protect the fresh, clean mountain water we all love.
While Waynesville is definitely a town known for its beer and brewing, there are also great wine stores and all our bars and restaurants are serving up some seriously creative cocktails. What follows is our guide to what to do and where to go when you want some good drinks and to experience the unique creative flair of our local business owners and creators in the beer, wine and spirits space.
CRAFT BEER – If you are looking for a craft beer experience, Waynesville has three excellent options, all very close to the Inn. On Main Street, Boojum Brewing Company is one of the best places to be as it has a great variety of crafted beers, amazing food and plenty of seating and space, including a great outdoor bar overlooking Wall Street. Not to be outdone in the atmosphere and ambiance department is Frog Level Brewing Company in the resurgent Frog Level area of Waynesville (only 0.5 miles from Main Street and about 1 mile from the Inn). Frog Level has an excellent outdoor seating area that sits along Richland Creek; it’s a great area to enjoy one of their featured Gose offerings or their signature Frogger Lager. It’s one of our favorite places to hang out when we are not at the Inn. BearWaters Brewing Company is one of the newer establishments in Waynesville even though it has an already established footprint in Maggie Valley and Canton. BearWaters returned in 2023 and refurbished an old factory building in West Waynesville and has done an amazing job with the space. Plenty of indoor and outdoor seating, an arcade, axe-throwing, and a cornhole field are just a few of the features of this excellent new addition to the Waynesville dining and brewery scene.
BARS, TAPROOMS & CREATIVE COCKTAILS – In addition to the bars at our local craft breweries, Waynesville also boasts some great tap rooms and bars that serve amazing assortments of beers and spirits. For great beer options, you can’t go wrong with Mad Anthony’s Tap Room (which shares space with Dough Boys Pizza and Wings, also highly recommended!), Sauced or Pub 319. All three feature abundant beer options and all feature local brews from both Waynesville and broader Western North Carolina. For creative cocktails, you should definitely try The Scotsman, whose cocktail list is the best in town and frequently features drinks inspired by other local businesses like recent concoctions featuring the Southern Porch in Canton or the Funky Fern Emporium in Frog Level. Maybe someday the Andon-Reid will be featured!
WINE AND BEER STORES – Of course, the Andon-Reid is a great place to just relax with a glass of wine or beer and enjoy the mountain views without the bustle of heading out the bar so to help you stock up, Waynesville has some really cool wine and beer stores, all a very short distance from the Inn. For wine, we recommend checking out The Classic Wineseller or Bosu’s Wine Shop, both of which feature extensive selection and knowledgeable staff. Also be on the lookout for their special events, like Bosu’s Flights and Bites on Thursdays and Fridays and the Classic Wineseller’s Dinner Shows. Other places to check out with great selection and fun atmosphere include Blue Ridge Beer Hub (so many beers to choose from and also has a tap room!) and 828 Market on Main, both of which offer pours and seating to enjoy a break in the midst of your Main Street shopping.
FURTHER AFIELD – While we’ve focused above on the town of Waynesville, the surrounding area has tons of great options for beer and wine as well. If you are heading to Asheville, you can’t go wrong with any of the downtown craft breweries, which all feature tasting rooms and fun, eclectic spaces. Also, the Sierra Nevada Brewing Tours offer a great glimpse into the brewing process and is an excellent option for a nice day trip to Asheville. If you have tickets to the Biltmore Estate, we definitely recommend swinging by the Biltmore Winery for a tasting or for lunch; it’s another of our favorite places to hang out in the area.
Also, west of Waynesville, there are three towns that all feature excellent craft breweries and you can’t go wrong choosing any of the great options in Sylva, Dillsboro, or Bryson City, like Balsam Falls Brewing Company, Innovation Brewing, or Mountain Layers.
And even though there are no wineries super close to Waynesville, there are some amazing options about 45-60 minutes from the Inn including an emerging wine scene in Hendersonville (we recommend Point Lookout Vineyards) and an option just north of Asheville called Addison Farms Vineyard. For a longer trip, or perhaps a stop on the way home from the Inn, we also recommend the Yadkin Valley area for some of North Carolina’s best wine.
As you can see, there really must be something in the water in Western North Carolina as it has definitely become a haven for high quality craft beers and wines! We hope to see you at the Inn soon so you too can enjoy all that these amazing companies and businesses have to offer!
-Your Innkeepers, Brenda and Peter
