If you’re in the mood for something savory, healthy, and filling for breakfast or lunch, then we recommend dropping by Abuela’s Little Kitchen in South Asheville. This popular mom-and-pop restaurant is well-known for serving up some tasty traditional Mexican and American dishes throughout the day.
You will find Abuela’s Little Kitchen located on Long Shoals Road just one block west from where it intersects with Hendersonville Road. This is a relatively new restaurant that sits within a stand-alone business location that once housed JK’s Kitchen, another breakfast and lunch joint. JK’s Kitchen was considered a strong local staple for breakfast, brunch, and lunch, but the owners announced an impending retirement in August 2022 and happily transferred the location and business amenities to the new location owners who rechristened the restaurant Abulea’s Little Kitchen.
While many locals were saddened by the news of JK’s Kitchen’s closure, this new rendition has earned back their loyalty — and then some! In the year (and some months) since opening, Abule’as Little Kitchen has quickly earned an outstanding reputation for its high-quality food, affordable prices, and friendly staff.
Walk into Asheville’s Abuela’s Little Kitchen and you will find yourself in a large open dining area. The walls are painted a bright cheery red that is nicely contrasted with dark wooden floors and black dining table sets. There is a small bar situated at one end of the room and an extended breakfast counter situated near the kitchen area, with plenty of tables dispersed in between. While you might see this stated otherwise in certain areas online, Abuela’s Little Kitchen does accept reservations, and you may find reserving a table useful during the busiest breakfast and lunch hours on the weekends and holidays.
Abuela’s Little Kitchen serves up a nice array of dishes that mesh traditional American breakfast fare with Mexican tastes. Some fantastic examples of such dishes on their menu include:
Huevos Rancheros
This is probably the most popular menu item at Abuela’s Little Kitchen. Here, you get a massive dish loaded with refried beans, Mexican chorizo sausage, and two eggs cooked to your style. These are served atop a bed of home-fried potatoes and topped with homemade green tomatillo salsa, Fresco cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips with a nice garnish of cilantro.
Mexican Egg Benedict
This is a delicious twist on an old breakfast favorite! With this meal, diners enjoy an English muffin that’s layered with avocado slices and topped with two poached eggs, bacon, chipotle hollandaise, jalapenos, and cilantro. The meal comes served with their home-fried potatoes.
Philly Cheesesteak Melt
It’s not all breakfast items here! Abuela’s Little Kitchen is open until early afternoon and offers a nice array of sandwich and burger meals like the Philly Cheesesteak Melt. This menu item features freshly cooked ribeye steak that’s sliced thin and served with American cheese, salted onions, and grilled peppers atop Texas toast. The meal comes served with your choice of home potatoes, French fries, or onion rings.
We also want to add that Abuela’s Little Kitchen is a fantastic choice for those with picky or otherwise more discerning diners in their group. Here, you will readily find a good mix of kid’s foods, vegetarian options, and dishes served with special notes to food sensitives, such as those with gluten allergies.
Insider Tips:
-Credit cards are now welcome! For a while, Abuelas Little Kitchen was a cash-only operation, but no longer. Ignore any site that says otherwise as this location does now accept all major credit cards in addition to cash.
-Consider dessert at the neighboring business of Baked Pie Company. Now, Abuelas Little Kitchen does have its own nice dessert menu, but pie lovers may find something truly unique and delicious at another business in the same shopping center. The Baked Pie Company is just one store over and is a specialty pie company that features dozens of award-winning pies served by slice or whole.