The Best Food Trucks in Asheville, North Carolina
Wining & Dining

The 14 Best Food Trucks in Asheville

There are tons of reasons to sample the best food trucks in Asheville. Some people are actually trying to find the most delicious cheap eats in town – simple fare that will be filling and delicious. Others are always on the hunt for the best restaurants in Asheville and want to make sure they check the food trucks for hidden gems. 

Asheville’s restaurant scene is indeed vibrant, and one way to break in when you’re trying to make a go of it in a food town is to start with a food truck. Food trucks have lower overhead and can be operated primarily in spots where there will be a steady crowd, like festivals or farmers’ markets

Another major reason why food trucks are popular is that Asheville is home to so many breweries. Many breweries decide not to have an in-house kitchen and instead offer semi-permanent spots to the food trucks that are most popular with their beer-drinking customers. This allows for variety when you go to get a beer but also offers food trucks a ready-made hungry audience.

Finding your favorite food truck can sometimes be serendipitous, just ordering from what is at your current hangout, but you can be more deliberate. You can track all the Asheville food trucks at avlfoodtrucks.com, but we personally think you’ll love the ones we’ve chosen as we consider these 15 roving restaurants to be some of the best food trucks in Asheville!

Don’t forget to check out our web story: The Best Food Trucks In Asheville

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase or booking through one of our links we may earn a small commission (don’t worry, it’s at no extra cost to you).

14 Delicious Food Trucks in Asheville

1. Bun Intended 

Best Food Trucks in Asheville: Bun Intended
Image courtesy of Bun Intended

If you haven’t tried “Thai-inspired street food” before, you’re in for a treat at Bun Intended. While they began as a food truck and their truck is still a mainstay at breweries and festivals, they also have taken up a spot at the S&W Market in downtown Asheville. 

If you haven’t considered S&W before, do drop by. This retro, cafeteria-style space is home to a handful of trendy restaurants, and it’s where you’ll find some of the best food in Asheville. There is a bit of a pipeline from food truck to S&W spot to standalone restaurant, offering a way for restaurants to gauge their growth and move to their next level of menu complexity and capital investment in a sustainable way. 

Anyway, back to Bun Intended, since they deserve the focus: their core offering are baos, or steamed buns, which are moist, cloud-like rolls full of tasty fillings like pork belly, veggies, or fried chicken. 

There is usually also a crispy fried tofu snack on the menu, as well as Thai fried rice, a Thai cucumber salad, and various specials. Stop by for bubble tea or a sweet Thai iced coffee. For a combination that is flavorful and fresh – you can’t go wrong here. 


2. Tin Can Pizzeria

Most Recommended Food Trucks in Asheville: Tin Can Pizzeria
Image courtesy of Tin Can Pizzeria

While pizza is popular everywhere, it makes sense that the fleet of the best food trucks in Asheville would include one with obsessively well-designed pizza. Tin Can Pizzeria starts with a 72-hour bulk fermented sourdough crust, which is then hand-tossed and made to order right on-site in the truck. 

They offer innovative, fresh topping options like their pineapple and bacon or their multi-veggie Veggie Lovers pizza. They also cater and will create a variety of amazing salads, like their spinach, strawberry, and pecan salad. 

For some events, they set up a simple cheese or pepperoni menu to keep things flowing into and out of the oven quickly and efficiently. Come for the chewy, crispy crust, and stay for how fresh everything is. 

They particularly shine if you’re trying to find event catering since pizza is a crowd-pleaser, and you can work with them on the menu, keeping the pie pans filled until your guests are all stuffed with some of the best pizza in Asheville.


3. Root Down

Top Food Trucks in Asheville: Root Down
Image courtesy of Root Down

When you’re in the mood for creole soul food, Root Down has you covered with some of the most delicious food in town. One of the best places to eat southern comfort food in Asheville, this truck specializes in various scratch-made sliders, from a BLT to a buffalo chicken slider to a seitan sausage slider for the vegan crowd. 

By opting for small plates, Root Down gives you the chance to pair one or two mains with a side like their quinoa salad, or you can just dive into some incredible hot wings and make that your meal. 

Like some of the other most successful food trucks in Asheville, Root Down’s creole soul food has become so popular that they’ve found a permanent spot in addition to catering/selling out of the truck at events. 

Root Down Kitchen is located at the larger outdoor music venue Salvage Station, offering a more extended menu than the food truck at times but still serving up everything from fried Brussels sprouts with pepper jelly to a watermelon salad with coriander syrup. 


4. Taqueria Muñoz

Excellent tacos, tasty tortas, and stuffed quesadillas are the name of the game at this wonderful taco truck. The authentic flavors at Taqueria Muñoz make it a favorite among the many tasty Mexican food restaurants in Asheville. 

For people seeking cheap eats, Taqueria Muñoz delivers excellent portion sizes that make them a great value. While their brick-and-mortar location is one of the coolest restaurants in Asheville, you’ll find their food truck at its permanent location in Woodfin, NC, at Zillicoah Beer Co. 

The taste is just different: from the scratch-made flour and corn tortillas to the various sauces that are made in-house and spice up your tacos and quesadillas. Reviewers are always commenting on the fact that this food bursts with flavor – carne asada and beef tongue, for example, may not be your typical cheese, chicken, and rice on a tortilla, but they are made to perfection at this truck. 

Tacos are generally a great food truck food simply because you don’t have to just try one menu item and can instead order two or three to sample multiple flavors in one meal. Once you’ve tried the chorizo tacos, believe me, you’ll also be a Taqueria Muñoz fan!


5. Foothills Local Meats

Must Try Food Trucks in Asheville: Foothills Local Meats
Image courtesy of Foothills Local Meats

If you want your delicious meals as carnivorous as possible while keeping it local and handcrafted, head to one of Foothills Local Meats’ Asheville food trucks. That’s right – food trucks! They have a truck at Hi-Wire’s River Arts District beer garden, a truck at Hi-Wire in Biltmore Village, and their combo permanent space and bar with a food truck at Foothills Grange in Black Mountain. 

Each place features a simple menu: burgers, pork sandwiches, hot dogs, and even bologna sandwiches, served alongside salads and tallow fries. It makes for a simple and simply delicious meal. If you happen to have little kids, the Foothills Grange location features a kids’ play area, making it one of the coolest restaurants in Asheville if you’re toting little ones with you. 

The Hi-Wire River Arts District location has so much space that your little ones will be able to explore while you sip a beer and eat your French fries… though kiddos are likely to love this food, so you might not be able to keep them off your order! 

By caring intensely about sourcing and doing as much as possible in-house, Foothills works to create the best quality as well as the best flavor. 


6. El Kimchi

Best Food Trucks in Asheville, North Carolina: El Kimchi
Image courtesy of El Kimchi

If you can’t get enough of bibimbap, dumplings, and spicy fermented cabbage, but your friends are in the mood for tacos, Asheville literally has a food truck for that! 

El Kimchi combines authentically prepared Korean barbecue and rice bowls with a menu that allows you to put Korean-style bulgogi beef in a burrito, quesadilla, or taco. The flavor combos work so well that they are frequently hailed as one of the best food trucks in Asheville. 

Best Food Trucks in Asheville: El Kimchi

El Kimchi has frequent appearances at a few local breweries but also are available for private catering. With food trucks becoming a more and more popular route for outdoor wedding receptions, workplace celebrations, and more, El Kimchi offers something for everyone and also something new for the most adventurous of eaters. Get the spicy kick from the kimchi quesadilla or the bulgogi burger, a rotating special. 


7. Cecelia’s Kitchen

Passionate Chef Cecelia delivers a surprising combination: a restaurant and food truck business that serves both incredible empanadas and tamales and both sweet and savory crepes. The menu allows for a group to choose one of everything and split so that they can try it all, or you can simply pick your crepe and pick your empanadas and dive in. 

Cecelia’s Kitchen is found at a variety of festivals and breweries, like so many of the local food trucks in Asheville, but they also are often available at the iconic North Asheville Tailgate Market, one of the bigger and more busy farmer’s markets on Saturdays on the UNC-A campus. 

Eat your empanada full of eggplant, spinach and ricotta, corn, or chicken as you shop for fresh produce and other local products. While the combination is unique, you’ll see why Cecelia paired these types of food when you leave full, happy, and ready for more next time.


8. Bridge & Tunnel Coffee Company

Best Food Trucks in Asheville: Bridge & Tunnel
Image courtesy of Bridge & Tunnel

This wonderful coffee food truck is a staple at farmers’ markets around Asheville. They offer many of the coffee shop favorites but in a perfect location so that you can sip while you peruse the stalls and pick out your weekly staples. 

Bridge & Tunnel primarily offers the basics of a fancy coffee shop: single-estate brewed coffee, latte, mocha, cappuccino, and cortados, for instance. They create a craft nitro cold brew that is delightful on its own but is also popular over fancy flake ice or with whipped cream and a cookie on top. 

Best Food Trucks in Asheville, North Carolina: Bridge & Tunnel

They focus on making sure every single drink is top-notch. There’s milk options like whole, 2%, and oat milk, and there’s a lot of local love on the truck: they were early adopters of a local green tea powder from the company Matcha Nude, and they buy their honey from local apiaries. 

If you want a roller coaster, read the story of how the iconic yellow truck got its start on their website. It’s truly amazing how much ingenuity went into this one truck! 


9. Deli Llammma

This quirky “little bit of everything” food truck is run by a seasoned chef who has worked in kitchens since she was 15, seeing and serving every possible kind of cuisine. She launched Deli Llammma as an attempt to share amazing food created from local ingredients that she sources with care. 

Try her seasonal menu items, many of which are available vegetarian or vegan. There are taco pies full of beef, beans, and veggies, Korean-style steak burritos, a French dip-style corned beef Reuben, and fries covered in buffalo fried chicken and cheese… yum

While the menu tends to be just a few items at a time, a standard among Asheville food trucks, you’ll likely find new additions, and every menu item is layers of flavors. The Deli Llammma team loves scratch-made everything. It’s part of why they make their own irreverently named hot sauce, called Llammma Spit, and it’s sold in various brick-and-mortar establishments and on their website. 

They are quick to tell you the three M’s is a purposeful misspelling since food should always be MMM good. 


10. Purple People Feeder

Look no further than the Purple People Feeder when you’re deciding where to eat in Asheville. They specialize in hibachi grill-style cooking, with their plates including a protein like tofu, veggies, chicken, shrimp, or ahi tuna, and sides like egg fried rice, sweet carrots, and mixed vegetables. 

You’ll occasionally find them offering specials like egg rolls as well. One fun feature that is popular at breweries and festivals is the dog bowl, a serving of rice, steak fat, peas, and carrots that is perfect for canine companions. 

Part of why their reviews are so positive is that they offer generous serving sizes for the money, perfect for a crew that is searching for cheap eats in Asheville. Another fun feature is that they have a schedule for where they’ll be, but they also offer takeout through Kickback AVL, a local delivery service that focuses primarily on local businesses. 


11. Sunshine Sammies

Must Try Food Trucks in Asheville: Sunshine Sammies
Image courtesy of Sunshine Sammies

Get all the excitement of the neighborhood ice cream truck in this delicious treat truck in Asheville. Sunshine Sammies started as a little solar-powered pushcart, and they focused on doing one thing really, really well: the best, creamiest ice cream sandwiched between delicious, mouthwatering cookies. 

They only needed a few signature flavors at first to become a local icon, and their expansion has included a bake shop and creamery in South Slope, distribution of sammies to grocery stores, and yes, a delicious treat truck that both visits festivals and is available for catering – it’s a very popular choice for weddings! 

From blueberry basil ice cream and malted vanilla to chewy chocolate chip cookies and their unconventional pretzel cookie, you’ll find something truly tasty on the ever-shifting menu. It’s a classic Asheville dessert that is easy to carry while you explore a festival in Pack Square or beat the heat at a local brewery.


12. Well-Bred Bakery

Best Food Trucks in Asheville, North Carolina: Well-Bred Bakery
Image courtesy of Well-Bred Bakery

Just outside Asheville, Well-Bred Bakery’s food truck location serves up many of the treats that their three brick-and-mortar locations are known for. Try an enormous Mountain Eclair filled with whipped cream and dipped in chocolate, or opt for Austrian Tea Cake, a shortbread cookie that has vanilla and walnuts in it. Well-Bred holds a well-deserved spot on our list of the best bakeries in Asheville.

One of their most intricate items is a ginger florentine, a caramelized almond cookie with candied ginger and chocolate – its crunchy snap feels more like toffee than a cookie and is totally addictive. 

Best Food Trucks in Asheville: Well-Bred Bakery

There are also a variety of breakfast and lunch options made to order that you can eat at the shaded tables in their standard location along Reems Creek Road. If your route through the Asheville area takes you by here, you’ll also be happy with their coffee, which is tasty and fresh.


13. The Smokin’ Onion

Top Food Trucks in Asheville: The Smokin' Onion
Image courtesy of The Smokin’ Onion

Billed as “damn good food that happens to be vegan,” The Smokin’ Onion offers a variety of delicious and creative entrees and sides that use the bounty of the plant world to create incredible flavor.

While their menu at the many breweries and events where they set up shop does change, you’ll always find something inventive: from a crab-cake homage made with jackfruit and a tasty remoulade to The Town Gyro, made with seitan plant-based meat alternative that has been shaved and marinated to perfection before being placed in a scratch-made pita with fresh veggies.

Enjoy an incredible chocolate peanut butter bar for dessert if you’re lucky enough to catch one. The team brings decades of combined experience in plant-based kitchens and cooking and puts their heart and soul into their cuisine, making nearly everything themselves and creating unforgettable tastes as a result.


14. The Scarlet Bee

Must Try Food Trucks in Asheville: The Scarlet Bee
Image courtesy of The Scarlet Bee

Whether you’re in the mood for chicken shawarma or falafel sliders, The Scarlet Bee delivers the Lebanese-style food you’re looking for. They feature their schedule on their website, moving the food truck around Western NC for different private events and public spaces, including breweries like Turgua Brewing and events like Christmas markets and festivals. 

A fun twist is that they also offer herbal sodas in flavors like lavender thyme, hibiscus rose, and bee balm ginger. For the vegetarians among us, try the cauliflower shawarma or the Middle Eastern fries, and for the carnivores, the kofta sliders and chicken kebabs are filling and flavorful. 

They’ll also often have a salad option and one of my personal favorites – you can add feta cheese to any of their menu items for an extra $2. Warm up the next time you see the Scarlet Bee with one of their hearty meals and a craft herbal soda. 

One Note about Asheville Food Trucks:

Asheville’s food scene is constantly seeing growth, and so some of these trucks could be pulled from the road tomorrow, or they could have the hottest new brick-and-mortar location in downtown! 

Once you’ve tried this set, make sure to check out the Asheville food trucks website (avlfoodtrucks.com). Many food trucks update their social media more often than they update their websites, so social feeds like Facebook and Instagram, in addition to services like streetfoodfinder.com, can be really helpful for confirming where your favorite eats will be. 

There you have it! The 14 best food trucks in Asheville, NC. What are your favorite food trucks in Asheville? Let us know so we can give them a try!


SHARE THIS ON PINTEREST


Laura finally got to move to Asheville in 2021 after a decade of visits and hangouts here. She loves the food, the coffee shops, and the riverfront in Asheville. Laura is always finding something new and wonderful to try.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *