Lex 18

We were in town and saw this place. Decided to make reservations and so glad we did. Great atmosphere, great food, great music. Definitely our favorite meal during our four day stay. Very small and eclectic, with a good jazzy singer and pianist the night we were there. They do a lot of themed nights too, which would fit in very well here. Got a chance to speak with a lady that seemed like the owner. She was very «hands on» and was taking good care of her guests. Would almost be worth a trip back to Asheville just to come here!

While it was a little chilly in parts of this drafty old speakeasy, the service and food more than made up for that! We were moved to the ideal warmer table at first request, served excellent cocktails, and were very well taken care of considering they were understaffed for the evening.
Our crispy duck appetizer was a perfect balance of sweet, sour, and savory. Truffled potato wedges could have had a bit more truffle, but we cleaned them up with their tasty horseradish sauce.
Dinner was a venison special, a rare treat as I almost never consume red meat anymore. It’s tender juicy layers compared with some of the best steaks I’ve ever had growing up in the Southwest, yet it had a classy flavor profile and style that marks five star restaurants in San Francisco.
Their Earl Grey and Lavender cocktail is a must, though fitting as an apéritif or dessert. The jalapeño tequila cocktail is good, but needs a little more lime. The New Fashioned is fantastic. Don’t miss it if you like Manhattans or Old Fashioned cocktails.
Bravo, Lex 18. We’ll be back.

Had a great time. Absolutely loved the atmosphere and the silent movie playing over the fireplace. Our service was incredible and before the night was over, a gentlemen came and sat with us for a bit who had some amazing stories about the building and the history. Turns out he owned the joint. He food menu was rather interesting but everything we ordered was as promised and delicious. We made friends with the table next to us and they were extremely satisfied with their dishes too. The menus contained some unique dishes, like their burger was prepared with rabbit. (No beef burger was available) but turns out the rabbit burger was great. Great cheese selection. Highly recommend this place.

I quite possibly had one of the best nights ever here. Part of that was due to the awesome company I keep, but the other part was Lex 18.
I saw that the Resonant Rogues were playing there while we were in town and Lex 18 seemed cool so I thought we could check it out. We ended up running a little late so I called to see about pushing our reservation back a bit. Cameron was a pleasure on the phone and said it would be no problem.
When we arrived we were seated immediately and Cameron ended up being not only our reservationist but also our host and waiter. He’s fantastic in every possible way.
We were seated immediately with a front row seat for the band. Lex 18 is lovely and feels rich and well worn with love and care. The attention to detail really makes this place cozy. It’s warm and romantic without being overwhelming.
Cameron returned to get our drink orders and we both ordered a new fashioned which I’m pretty sure was ginger and bourbon and a few other awesome things. It was delicious. We ordered dinner and had a few minutes to talk and listen to the band (even though we were sitting right in front of them the music wasn’t too loud to carry on a conversation) before our plates arrived.
Cameron had talked so highly of the new kalettes that I had to try them. They came with my hangar steak with bacon demi and parmesan truffle potato wedges. This whole plate was amazing. The steak was a little under cooked for what I normally prefer but it made no difference. I ate every last bit (except what I shared with my dinner companion). He ordered the rabbit and waffle dish (rabbit crispy fried with house made savory tomato and caramelized leek waffle and red eye maple drizzle) which I also tried. I’m thinking you could order anything and be extremely pleased. Sadly we were stuffed after all of this and didn’t order dessert. There’s always next time, right?
You can also purchase gift certificates. They have a 20’s themed design and add the recipients name (s) and your name to the certificate. It’s pretty cool! I can’t wait to go back.

… ever wonder why Asheville has been voted «friendliest people» «best food» in the US? It because of places like Lex 18. It tops the list. The perfect dimly lit atmosphere that most of us didn’t live through during the days of good jazz, umoonshine and the speakeasy.
You’ll miss the best of the best of Asheville if you walk by and not stop in. Alan’s sonorous voice is as velvety and smooth a delight as the red velvet cake! And piano man, … you know who you are… play on.

Bartender was great! He gave a lot of helpful tips. Tried the moonshine flight. Something different for me, typically I’m a bourbon drinker. Nice quiet atmosphere. From what was said its a very touristy location.

We had an amazing experience! Our Wait staff, Thomas was the best and one of our favorites in all of Asheville– his recommendations were spot on. The catfish and grits was perfect and highly recommended. The moonshine amazing and the ambience was well worth it!

We had been trying to get to Lex 18 since it opened and finally got a chance last night, when we decided to go for an early dinner before the Asheville Symphony.
We made reservations for 5:45, to be sure we had enough time for a relaxed dinner before the 8 pm Symphony start and were the first to arrive. We were seated promptly at a small two-​top by the owner and given an interesting history lesson on the building (it has been owned by the same local family for more than a century). A German silent film on Nosferatu, I guess because Halloween is coming up, was playing on the walls.
Other guests started coming in immediately, heading either to the bar or to the restaurant seating area (they are accessed by two different doors off Lexington), and by 6:30 on this Saturday Lex 18 was virtually full.
As others have noted, the dining room really is a tiny space, with tables placed very close together. At around 6:30, a two-​piece jazz ensemble (bass and piano) began playing, but while the sound level was fairly high it was never too noisy to talk.
I’m not sure exactly what I expected, perhaps something a little more upscale, but the décor is a little more kitschy than I thought it would be. The speakeasy, jazz club atmosphere with lots of candles (real and electric), knick-​knacks, pressed tin ceiling and bordello-​ish knick-​knacks and the silent movies projected on the walls is, well, a bit too precious for me, but taste is personal, and I understand many people think it is romantic and interesting. Lex 18 definitely has character, which is good.
Despite the bar/restaurant’s reputation for moonshine cocktails, for some reason we weren’t given a moonshine menu. That was fine with me, because I’m not a fan of the grain alcohol taste of moonshine, even the trendy $ 50 bottles distilleries are doing these days. I had a well vodka Gibson up (a real bargain at $ 6) and my companion had a «New Fashioned» (fairly pricey at $ 13) with Knob Creek bourbon and ginger ale instead of soda. The large square ice cube in the New Fashioned was frozen with bitters and orange juice in it, a nice touch. My Gibson was perfectly made, except that the bartender committed the cardinal sin of martini making — it wasn’t ice cold.
With drinks we shared an appetizer — the fried oysters with cornbread breading ($ 12). They were delicious.
For an entrée my companion had the catfish with haricots verts ($ 19), which she liked very much.
I had planned to try the burger, as I’m on a continuing search to find Asheville’s best burger — so far the winner is the one at Bull and Beggar in the RAD — but this night’s version was a lamb burger. Sorry, for me that’s not a real burger. Instead I went with the waiter-​recommended hanger steak medium rare with parmesan potato wedges and haricots verts ($ 28), and it was perfect. With it I had a glass of pinot noir ($ 10). The wine list is fairly short, and wine by the glass is a little more expensive than at most Asheville restaurants.
Service was excellent throughout dinner.
With tax and tip our dinner for two, with one shared appetizer, one cocktail each, one glass of wine for me and two entrees came to a little over $ 110, about what you’d expect for this kind of restaurant in Asheville, but not a cheap night out.
We easily finished by 7 and while we weren’t hustled out, we didn’t feel comfortable taking up a table in such a small restaurant, so we walked around Downtown before the Symphony. This is not a restaurant where you can linger over a long dinner.
As almost always, Downtown was packed with locals and visitors. It was chilly but not cold, a near perfect fall night.
The Asheville Symphony, by the way, was excellent. The program included a short piece by contemporary Argentinian composer Osvaldo Golijov; Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 1, the best-​known piece of the otherwise fairly obscure 19^th century composer Max Bruch with guest violin soloist David Kim; and Robert Schumann’s 1846 Romantic Symphony No. 2 in C Major. I’m not particularly a lover of the Romantic period (in more ways than one, I guess), but the fourth movement was extraordinary. Conductor Daniel Meyer did his usual amazing and energetic job.
Dinner and a Symphony — a perfect fall evening in Asheville!

I loved this place! The atmosphere is so cool! It is a little bit darker in here and the rooms are lit with all sorts of old, industrial lighting. It is similar to what a speakeasy would be like. They had live jazz music that I really enjoyed and added to the atmosphere.
The moonshine drinks were awesome. The bartender was spot on. We both wanted to try something new and he made some specialty cocktails that were delicious.
This is such a cool place and I definitely recommend this as a must do.

Just had cocktails, but they were some of the best during our entire trip. We sat at the bar and listened to some awesome live music going on in the main dining area. The bartender was very friendly and knowledgeable. It comes off wanting to be more of a moonshine bar, but I felt like they had more bourbon on the menu than shine. I would have liked to see more craft cocktail choices made with moonshine (even though the grain flavor may get lost amongst the other ingredients). You could do a tasting flight of shine though.

The décor and ambiance is gorgeous — tin ceiling, hardwood floors, curious knickknacks, live music. The moonshine flight is a fantastic way to get started; and, the craft moonshine cocktails are out of this world. The food is simple/​clean and well done — everything from the pumpkin vinagrette to our perfectly cooked ribeye with celery root purée to the from-​scratch banana pudding was cooked with skill and with love. The service was a bit slow; however, the wait staff was super friendly. I would absolutely go back to Lex 18 again!

I wanted to give 5 stars but considering the rude hostess and less than attentive waiter I just couldn’t. I have been wanting to try Lex18 for awhile and after inviting another couple up for the weekend we decided to try it. We arrived about 15 minutes early for our reservation and were quickly told our table wouldn’t be ready until the time we had scheduled would have been fine except she wasn’t very nice about telling us then suggested the bar which she knew was full and then walked away.
We walked around town for a bit then came back and was seated. We loved the décor and the silent movie playing was a great addition to the already wonderful 20’s theme. The jazz playing was great and we were greeted by our waiter who rushed to get our drink orders in before the bar got busy and asked to skip telling us the specials until he got back. We waited about 8 to 10 minutes for our initial drink order. Once we got our drinks our server told us the specials for the evening and we quickly ordered appetizers.
The food was not disappointing, in fact it was the highlight of the evening. We ordered a cheese plate and the special which was grilled shrimp with a goat cheese croquet. The shrimp was a little small but the sauce and goat cheese were wonderful. I ordered the beef tenderloin which was very well seasoned and cooked to my liking (medium rare). It came with a sautéed vegetables which were just ok and although the potatoes looked dry they were pretty tasty.
We ordered a second round of drinks during our appetizer course and had to ask the manager about them which arrived after we were served our dinner course.
We decided not to stay for dessert as our waiter was no where to be seen after the appetizer course. I asked when he came to check how our dinner was if he was the only server but he informed me that he wasn’t. I would have been more understanding if he was the only one for the whole restaurant but that was not the case.
Overall I’m not sure we will return. I wanted to like this place so much because of the fun atmosphere and theme but to be a great restaurant you need more than a theme and a band.

I’m a little conflicted writing this review. I’ve had drinks here a few times and only eaten here once. The drinks, the atmosphere, and the staff get five stars. Unfortunately the food was disappointing. I ate here on a Saturday night. My salad (a special of the night) was very good, but my pork chop entrée was so salty (and i like salt). The pork, the sauce, the greens… everything on my plate was so over salted. I didn’t want to drink my wine; all I wanted was water. I can’t even comment on the other flavors because I couldn’t get past the salt. My pork was also over cooked and tough to chew. My date’s meal was equally salty. I had high expectations for the food and was drastically let down. The staff was so nice that neither of us wanted to complain, but I don’t think I’ll be eating here again.

We had been wanting to try this place. Happy to get 8:00 reservations on a Saturday night, we strolled to Lex 18 with great anticipation. The place is small, and we had to wait a bit for our table, but we got drinks from the bar and took in the beautiful décor. The walls are gray with a beautiful, silvery stencil print. And, the bar was lit up with sparkling crystal. The whole place is opulently appointed, complete with books, candles and heavy velvet drapes. Fresh flowers adorn each table.
The gracious Cameron showed us to our table. That night, there was a musical duo playing piano and bass. The music added greatly to the atmosphere.
Our sweet, giggly server approached us immediately. My husband ordered the dinner entrée salad with fried oysters. He marveled at their size and remarked that he had never eaten strawberries in his salad before and loved it. I got the vegetarian and gluten free entrée (thanks for the thoughtfulness, Lex 18). What I loved about the entrée is that the chef took a savory approach with the acorn squash. It was perfectly roasted with nice bursts of butter flavor and filled with spinach, mushrooms, and fried onions, accompanied with celery root purée and Brussels sprouts.
Both of our entrees needed a pinch of salt, and there was none on the table. However, as we enjoyed our meal featuring fresh ingredients, a beautiful atmosphere and timeless music, that pinch of salt lost its importance.
Dining at Lex 18 was like being part of a lavish theatre production. I will be back for another supporting role.

Very cool place to check out!
Make a reservation! We walked in on a Wednesday night and there where no tables but luckily we got one in the bar area.
They were busy so the service was lost which I don’t think should happen for the prices they charge.
Skirt stake was cooked to perfection and the entrée salad was good but like another review I to left hungry after spending over $ 70 for two people.
This is a great place to have a drink and app at the bar or even a nice dinner out. Very chic and fun place. I also heard an employee say they have fifty types of bourbon.

This restaurant deserves 5 stars. The food was excellent, the atmosphere was 1920’s chic, and the service was top notch.
We had the Cat fish and grits, scallops risotto, and the shrimp and corn soup of the day. All were excellent. And I do mean excellent. The atmosphere was meticulously reminiscent of the 20’s: the clothing of the wait staff; the guiding on the ceiling and walls; the silent Charlie Chaplin movie playing on the wall framed in curtains like an old theatre; and the pianist playing in the background.
We really enjoyed it and highly recommend!

Place felt a little stuffy from the outside looking in, but don’t let it fool you. The décor, the service and the wonderful food bring it to life. We had a wonderful time and it made our night as Asheville tourists!

Absolutely phenomenal! We went here for our anniversary and it was a great night out. The restaurant is tiny, and very intimate. I would say a reservation is a must. That being said, two parties with no reservation did walk in and despite being fully booked with reservations the hostess managed to accommodate them. She was also extraordinarily polite and handled the situation as well as I have ever seen.
The speakeasy vibe is perfect and the live music on Saturday night was wonderful. It really felt like being in a secret hole in the wall, having dinner with friends. When the manager introduced the music, it felt like we were being personally welcomed to dine. Everything was warm and personal.
Drinks were great. The dinner was executed flawlessly. The presentation was beautiful and the portions were perfect. Our server was attentive without being overbearing and provided a level of service that was truly exceptional, both to our table and the table next to us, which he was also serving.
All in all outstanding. I can’t wait to go back!

This is such a cool place! They did a really nice job with the speakeasy vibe. When we arrived on Sat night, there was live music in the main room. Then later, a DJ set up an electric Gatsby party with electro swing music and old-​timey movies. Super fun.
Importantly, I had the BEST new cocktail I’ve had in a long time: Earl of Asheville. Moonshine, earl gray syrup, a bit of lavender, and vanilla rice milk. Sounds bizarre, but it was DELICIOUS and really different. Go try it! Big thanks to the amazing Cameron, who gave me pointers on recreating the recipe for my friends in Boston!

I was at Lex 18 for a tasting last night, and let me say I had an amazing time. Myself and one of my writers sampled all of the food offered that night, and we each experienced moonshine for the first time. The moonshine was delicious, the blackberry fizz drink (sorry can’t recall the correct name) was delightful, and the hot toddy was just the right thing for a cold night. I was pleased to meet the new chef, who made me swoon over his cheesecake — and I am not a cheesecake fan at all! All in all our experience was delightful.
I gave 4 stars only because I have yet to actually go in for a full meal and experience the staff and service on a normal business night.
To those complaining about drink choices — I have to admit I am surprised, as the business clearly states they are a moonshine bar. There are plenty of other establishments in Asheville that will serve you a wider range of beverage if you so desire.