Boone is a gorgeous mountain town located near popular Appalachian mountain sights like Grandfather Mountain. But, while it does see a good number of mountain-heading tourists, this is also a college town and Black Cat Burrito is a quintessential college restaurant and bar.
You’ll find Black Cat Burrito located just off of the city’s main throughway of King Street or US Highway 321. They’re housed in a large brick building with off-street parking. The interior has an almost industrial feel with red brick walls, exposed ductwork, and metal framed chairs. You’ll enter into a large open dining room with plenty of central tables, side booths, and a nice long bar along the business’s windows facing Depot Street. There’s also a small bar area in the corner of the restaurant and between the dining room and kitchen.
This is a semi-counter-serve restaurant. You’ll head to the cashier and make your order with them and a server will bring your order when it’s ready. In other words, no actual waiters or waitresses but the people here are friendly and fast. There is a drink station to fill up on sodas, water, and tea, or you can order beers at the bar and cashier area. They have a nice selection of drafts as well as bottled beer — both are pretty cheap in relation to other bars and restaurants in the area. You can even get a specialty no-liquor margarita here that is quite good.
In fact, Black Cat Burrito overall boasts a low-cost menu featuring large plate meals. Of course, that shouldn’t come as too surprising once you find out this is a much-beloved college spot. Most times of day and night you’ll see younger patrons hanging out and enjoying the atmosphere and cheap eats and drinks. Weekends and select Thursdays are especially popular and busy as Black Cat Burrito brings out a small stage and local musicians offer entertaining live acts.
As their name suggests, Black Cat Burrito is a place for tasty Tex-Mex items like tacos and burritos. Some of their most popular entrees include:
Don’t Be a Jerk Burrito
This burrito comes stuffed with your choice of chicken or tofu, black beans, rice, cheese, grilled pineapple, and, of course, their signature spiced jerk sauce. You can also opt to get the whole thing topped with hot salsa and sour cream. The Don’t Be a Jerk Burrito, like all their burritos, comes served with a side of chips and southwest slaw.
Gang of Four Tacos
Black Cat Burrito is very vegetarian and vegan-friendly with the Gang of Four Tacos an excellent example of their more vegetable-focused options. This entree features steamed carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, and an in-house Asian vinaigrette all served over a bed of rice and in a specialty taco shell.
The All-Nighter
A true breakfast burrito, The All Nighter features scrambled eggs, Italian sausage, cheese, roasted potatoes, and red beans stuffed in a chipotle tortilla that is drizzled with queso.
Insider Tips:
-This location does not have a dedicated parking lot. Thus, you will need to find either parking on the street via a metered spot or at one of the city’s pay-for parking lots. If you’re looking to skip putting dollars in the meter, then visit on Sunday or after five o’clock when all street parking is free. There is also a small Depot Street parking lot one block south of Black Cat Burrito that is open to the public on the weekends and weekdays after 4 p.m.
-If you’re looking to work up an appetite, then check out Rock Dimensions, Black Cat Burrito’s next-door neighbor. Rock Dimensions is a robust climbing company that features group climbing adventures out in the mountains, an off-site discovery course that includes a zipline, on-site classes, and an on-site climbing tower that is perfect for a quick and fun workout experience.