Ben’s Tune Up

Sake bomb? You’ve come to the right place! This funky little bar serves about 5 different sakes and why not take a sake bomb to start the night out? A group of my friends and I ordered the sake flights which came with 5 different types. From Apple cider to jalapeño the flavors were flowing…
If you like sake this is your place. If not they also have a full bar. No one will leave thirsty.
Ps. The sake hits you hard so be careful. I learned the hard way ;-)

Really cool place and great for a drink, but we came and ate the pork egg rolls and all became super violently ill. We all spent the next day fighting for the bathroom. Be warned, do not eat the food here.

I came here excited about trying their sake. Sooooo disappointing. The environment was nice and I like the outdoor area but the bartender was condescending in her interactions with us and for a very mediocre product. I tried the strawberry– cucumber, the lemon ginger, and the American heavy. No balance to the American heavy, it was so rough. They really should have perfected this before they start making sake with frills. The lemon ginger just tasted like a ginger beer, and the strawberry cucumber just tasted like a smoothie and were okay if you didn’t think of them as sake but i came for sake. But god, the heavy. Really unforgettably bad. Sorry ben’s! I wanted to like you! Don’t think you don’t need to strive for perfection just because you’ve found a niche!

I love sake so I ordered a flight, I was stoked that it was made in house. By the time it got to me, a lot of it had been spilled all over, so it was kind of a mess that took a lot of napkins to clean up. I had the straight up, the unfiltered, and the ginger. Each was somewhere between mediocre to just OK. I’ve had a lot of sake, and the flavors presented here were just a bit off, weak, and not at al intriguing.
Shared Wonton Nachos, those were fun and went pretty quick. I should have stuck with Asian, but nothing else was speaking to me so I went for a burger. It was OK, but the bacon was way undercooked and honestly a little scary.
They had a fun ska band playing (but billed as Reggae, hello — there is a huge difference and that band was Ska, perhaps someone should tell them?).
All in all I found the identity confusing… almost like an American joint wanting to be Asian and just not quite getting there.

Love their wonton nachos with pulled pork! Great casual atmosphere. It’s not uncommon for people to bring their dog or kids. Service has been hit or miss, but the staff is always nice.

Our friends recently relocated to Asheville, and this was the first time visiting the area. They brought us to Ben’s and we had a good time! Okay, being Asian, I’m always a bit suspect of fusian restaurants, and a sake brewery in NC? We all ordered various versions of ramen. It wasn’t like ramen in Japan, but it was tasty. I liked the lemon ginger sake even better! Nice on a warm, summer night. They also have suggestions of food pairings with their brews. Nice!

Amazing find just down the block from weekend apartment. Place really has to be experienced. It’s like a play fort that you would build as a kid … only with great design sense and plants.
Saki was a new experience and one not to miss. Paired drinks with food recommendations from our server, Shaun. Grilled Fish tacos and followed up with the humus platter. Yum! Need to copycat the humus recipe. Shaun was really helpful with the menu and explaining the drinks.

The atmosphere is relaxed and really cool. The service was dandy. The food. eh hit and miss. We had the pupu platter to try an arrangement of appetizers. The egg rolls and shrimp were the best part. The seeweed salad and wings were enjoyable but not mind-​blowing. The tofu and dumplings were disappointing. They were terribly bland and seemed like they had been sitting around for a couple hours. The array of sauces helped, especially the Siracha honey orangey sauce. I also tried the Ginger Lemon Sake, which tasted like perfume. However that was my first sake experience, so it could just be my preference. All of this was plus one beer and tip was almost $ 60 :0.
Cool place to go drink in the evening, I would not go back to dine.

I had high hopes from all these reviews. But alas the dumplings were meh and the ramen was aweful the meat was toooo chewy and the salad on top should have come on the side it was drenched in lettuce. The best part was the egg cause the broth was meaty but plain. I did love the ginger lemon saki, bought a 4pack from the store it was the best part. The outdoor seating is interesting a wee bit cold and not being offered a seat inside was a let down but it was crowded. The music was… ummmm…yeah. I did enjoy the ironic grunge scene look of the employees. I came home and listened to Alice n chains and Nivana immediately. It looked like Seattle via 1991… that made the even saki better. So in all will. go back for the saki and my L7 flashbacks.

We stopped in for a beer and liked the atmosphere but the menu wasn’t really anything to write home about so we decided to try something else.
I’m assuming this place could be fun in the evening as a laid back bar scene but as a restaurant there are so many other restaurant/​bars in town to visit prior to this.

This isn’t your parent’s bar. Asian fusion, sake and cocktails? In an open air setting. Our massive group could have had a terrible experience rolling up unannounced on a Saturday night. We didn’t though.
I was surprised they were out of several cocktail ingredients on a Saturday night. Though my third choice, the ninja kick, was good stuff and packed a punch of fresh ginger + ginger beer.
I was able to sample quite a few items and I loved my green curry chicken stew. The chicken was succulent and dish very well seasoned. I love hot sauce but it didn’t need any.
Other top picks were the dumplings, won ton nachos, ramen and the beef curry.
Though it was crowded it never got too loud and our waitress made sure we were taken care of.
This was the perfect start to a chill night out in Asheville.

I went in to have a beer in what seemed like a fun place. Dang if I wasn’t ¾ finished with my first beer and she pressed me to close out. Not offer to open a tab or asking if I wanted more. I paid left my unfinished beer and went to Burial who rocks.
Was visiting from out of town with the goal of trying all of the breweries in town. There were two of their beers and the staff didn’t have much to offer in information about them. Asheville is beer city, seems that a company that wants to be a participant in that sentiment would be more favorably pushing their beers.
Not. A. Fan.

I hope this comes across as a compliment — being at Ben’s is like being in Austin, TX. Great courtyard seating with live music. Add in fun home brewed sake flights and you are in store for a relaxing enjoyable afternoon.
We highly recommend the sake flight of three sakes. Great variety and great tasting. Spring rolls were magnificent as well. If you are downtown Asheville and have an afternoon to kill or just time for a quick beer — Bens is worth a stop.

I believe I found about this place while researching Hiwire Brewing which is right next door in the same building. After drinking a lot of beer in Beer City, home-​brewed sake was a nice change of pace. To get to the place you walk through Ben’s Penny Mart which is a small maze. We were seated by our waitress who was very nice and sweet. The place is unique because there is no roof in the middle of it and the perimeter surrounding the open area is covered. The place used to be an automotive shop and some of the seats are old car seats — including the bench style ones. We each ordered a flight of sake and although the sake was served cold it was still very good. I had lemon ginger, jalapeño pineapple, and strawberry cucumber and would order all of them again.
When we ordered the food I asked if one of the dishes had soy in it. The waitress asked the chef and found out there was soy sauce in the broth. This is one of the things that I love about Asheville. The people working actually know what is in the food which is rare in a lot of places. I ordered the red curry beef instead and it was delicious. I normally do not like rice but even the rice was good. The wife ordered fish tacos which she also loved. For dessert we got fried breading which was very good. It was my wife’s birthday so the waitress put a candle in the bread.
The one thing I did not like about this place is that people are allowed to smoke in the open alley which is basically inside the dining area. It was the most smoke I’ve smelled while eating in a long time. Asheville is weirtd. Everyone eats healthy and waits to save the planet but everybody smokes — go figure.
Ben’s Tune Up is a lot like Asheville. It is not sure what it is doing most of the time but does it well. And they realized that there is enough beer here so they brewed something else. The food was good, the service was good, but the cigarette smoke has got to go.

I really like the atmosphere here especially on a clear evening the open roof is awesome. During the day or early evening it’s a good place for a quiet drink, definitely gets busy later. I don’t love the location, it’s not really close to much else in downtown so it’s usually a bit of a walk from wherever I parked, but worth it.

At first, I was all about this place. The open air dining is just what the doctor ordered during this perfect May weather. The entry to the restaurant is pretty intriguing — the entrance to the place looks and feels like a convenience store. No one inside will tell you otherwise. Walk through to the back, and you’ll find an eclectic atmosphere, a unique menu, and friendly service. It took a while for our friends to get their more traditional menu items — burgers and fries. But we got our curry and ramen immediately and they were on fleek.
The service kind of ruined it for us. Unhappy. Unenthusiastic. Definitely made us wonder if we should have come in the first place. If they would fix that, they might really have something here.

EDIT***
As a restaurant, Ben’s Tune up is a one or two star business. Very inconsistent food, not very tasty and slow service. When it comes to rating Ben’s Tune Up as a bar alone, it is five stars…
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It is unfortunate to give Ben’s Tune Up such a low rating but it what they deserve. The atmosphere is super bad ass. Huge, spacious space with great decoration and set up. Inside has a ginormous chandelier, outside has big long wooden tables with benches. Depending on where you sit, you will have a totally different ambience. Ben’s gets a 3 stars simply because of this and because they have delicious sake.
Unfortunately though the food is inconsistent, often ill-​prepared and often is left uneaten or sent back to the kitchen. The service is similar to food quality-​slow, forgetful, inconsistent. Huge bummer almost every time. Bummer, bummer.

Ben’s tune up was great fun. Fried tofu, potstickers and fresh brewed saki! Awesome! The ginger lemon saki was worth the trip alone! Very friendly bar staff and kitchen staff (had the pleasure of talking to one I the cooks). This was an unexpected stand out in our 15 brewery/​bar weekend.

Stumbled across this gem of a place by accident.
We had no idea that this was a bar/​restaurant/​brewery, but when we spotted a few jovial patrons walking out the door we figured this wasn’t an actual tune-​up place.
Walking up to this former tune up shop, we really dug the style of their outdoor patio, though we opted to stay inside both because there were no other patrons on the patio and because it was a bit chilly for us Southern Californian’s in late December.
When we got inside and found out they brewed their own cold sakes, I was happy to be able to get a taster set of their sake (pick 3 of their 4 sakes), and was pretty stoked at how good they were.
Can’t comment on the food or beer since I didn’t have any. The bartender was great though.

Ben’s is a chameleon. In the evenings around sunset, it’s a charming and intimate outdoor garden restaurant. At night, it’s a raucous dance club frequented by out of town college students. The only other place I’ve seen pull something like this off is Five Star in Raleigh, and the two establishments share a similar vibe.
Ben’s makes food in the Trader Vic’s tradition. A lot of people are confused about how to categorize it. Is it American? Chinese? Something else? There’s no easy answer, but I’m gonna attempt a long explanation, right here, on the spot, based on nothing but pure conjecture:
This is asian food as my Yankee gourmande grandmother might have imagined it. A cuisine that’s heavily influenced by the tiki romanticism of the 60’s. Ben’s is a place you go and drink Mai Tais with frilly embellishments like parasols and squiggly straws. You can watch the sunset by the crackling warmth of a flaming Pu Pu platter. You can eat delightful Firecracker Chicken, which is basically sweetish buffalo chicken on some sticky rice. So yum!
The menu here seems to be an homage to the original «Oriental» food craze that hit U.S. shores decades ago, before anyone started to consider authenticity as a virtue. Think of the the same flavor fads that brought us LaChoy chow mein in a can. It’s a little Chinese, a little Hawaiian, a little Nixonian Cold-​War exoticism, a lot of whimsy, a little kitsch.
But in Ben’s case, it’s also very delicious because, unlike those infamous LaChoy chinese suppers, the chefs at Ben’s are making their stuff fresh on the spot from really good local meat and produce, so the flavors are seriously nice, with a flamboyance you just won’t find elsewhere in town.
After the lights go off and the dinner crowd goes home, Ben’s transforms into a thumping bumping hip-​hop/​Top 40 venue attracting about 50% Floridians, 20% Locals, and 30% Other. Booze and beer flow freely from about 4 little tiki shack bars on each corner of the dance floor. College kids shake their booties year round. On a good night, someone will try a much-​too-​challenging dance move and fall down on the floor, which is always good for a laugh.
In conclusion: If’ you’re in Asheville and you really wanna have a nice quiet dinner and then dance like a nasty fiend, Ben’s Tune Up is a very solid choice.