Asheville, NC
The 12 Best Rooftop Bars in Asheville
Some of Asheville's rooftop bars face the mountains. Others look over downtown. Here's which is which.
Written by Brandon Beiler Updated
The rooftops below are grouped by what you see from them. The last group is rooftop restaurants, where you go up for dinner as much as for the view.
Most of these bars are on top of hotels, and each one has its own way up.
Many of these roofs are open to the weather. If you want to see the mountains, go before sunset.
Facing the mountains
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The Montford Rooftop Bar
- The roof
- Eighth floor, by an elevator at the hotel entrance
199 Haywood
- Until 11pm Fri & Sat
- Menu checked Oct 22
The Montford's terrace is on the eighth floor and faces west, with nothing between you and the Blue Ridge. The elevator is at the hotel's entrance, so you go up without passing the front desk.
Full venue page →Step inside
The bar opened in 2016. Order the Montford Mule. It’s vodka, a spiced honey liqueur, Devil’s Foot ginger beer and lime.
What to order
- Montford Mule $15 Cultivated Vodka · Krupnikas Spiced Honey Liqueur · Devil's Foot¡ Fuego · Ginger Beer · Lime
- Paper Lantern $16 Ben's Natural Nogari Sake · Pear Gin · Lemon · Litchi · Jasmine · Thai Basil Oil
- Velvet Select $14 El Jimador Blanco · Select Aperitif · Ginger Liqueur · Lemon · Raspberry · Ginger Foam
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Wildwood Still
- The roof
- Seventh floor of the Moxy, with folding glass walls
61 Biltmore
- Until midnight Fri & Sat · Closed Sun
- Menu checked Oct 22
Wildwood Still is on the seventh floor of the Moxy hotel and faces west, with a clear view of the Blue Ridge. Glass doors fold open on three sides, and part of the ceiling is glass.
Full venue page →Step inside
The room can be an indoor bar or an outdoor one on the same night. It seats 152, with three gas fire pits (one indoors) and a two-sided fireplace. A 120-gallon copper still stands at the entrance.
The kitchen cooks on a robata grill that runs at about 1,000 degrees. Try Pardon My French, a gin drink topped with sparkling sake. Three cocktails come off nitro taps. Sit near the glass.
What to order
- Sweater Weather In Manhattan $19 benchmark rye whiskey mulled carpano antica vermouth · trinity bitters · angostura
- Barrel Rested Piggyback Smoked Old Fashioned $22 whistlepig piggyback barrel picked bourbon · barrel aged maple syrup · st. elizabeth allspice dram · black walnut bitters
- Colder Than A Witch's Spritz $17 sage infused strega liqueur · sparkling sake · soda
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The Flat Iron Hotel
- The roof
- Ninth floor of the Flat Iron hotel
20 Battery Park
- Until 10pm Fri · Closed Mon–Tue
- Menu checked Oct 22
The roof bar is on the ninth floor of the Flat Iron, a wedge-shaped building finished in 1926. The Blue Ridge is to the west. By day it's a café, The Rooftop Caffé. At night it's the rooftop bar.
Full venue page →Step inside
The roof is about 1,850 square feet and seats about 120.
Red Ribbon Society is in the basement of the same building. You can do both in one night.
What to order
- Priority Mail $15 Vodka · Evercrisp Apple · Lemon · Prosecco · Angostura
- Gold Rush $15 Bourbon · Honey · Lemon
- Corpse Reviver $15 London Dry Gin · Lillet Blanc · Combier · Lemon · Absinthe
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The Roof At The Radical
- The roof
- Top of The Radical hotel, over the French Broad
95 Roberts
- Until 11pm Fri & Sat
- Menu checked Oct 22
This is the one rooftop in the River Arts District. It sits on top of The Radical hotel, with the French Broad River below and the mountains behind it.
Full venue page →Step inside
You look out at the river, the arts district warehouses on both banks, and the mountains past them. The roof holds 125 people. It’s open to the weather and takes a short break in winter.
The Old Fashioned and the Negroni are both barrel-aged. The house signature is Roof Is On Fire, with tequila, mango, passionfruit and lime. Come while there’s still light on the water.
What to order
- Barrel Aged Old Fashioned $16 bourbon · cherry · vanilla · orange · demerara
- Barrel Aged Negroni $15 gin · aperitivo · sweet vermouth
- Roof Is On Fire $15 tequila · mango · passionfruit · lime · firewater
Over downtown
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The Observatory Rooftop Bar & Lounge
- The roof
- Sixth floor of The Restoration Hotel, through the lobby
68 Patton
- Until 11pm Fri & Sat
- Menu checked Oct 22
The Observatory is on the sixth floor of The Restoration Hotel, and you get there through the hotel lobby. It looks across at Pritchard Park. The mountains are off to the west.
Full venue page →Step inside
Most of the view is the park and the streets around it. Take the lobby elevator up to six.
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Capella on 9
- The roof
- Ninth floor of the AC Hotel, over Pack Square
10 Broadway
- Until 11pm Fri & Sat
- Menu checked Oct 22
Capella on 9 is nine floors up, on top of the AC Hotel downtown. Stand at the rail and you look straight down into Pack Square Park. It's more a city view than a mountain one.
Full venue page →Step inside
There are two terraces, with heaters and fire pits, and an indoor fireplace behind glass. It works in colder weather too.
Order a gin and tonic. The list leads with two, the Capella G&T and the AC G&T. The Asheville Citizen-Times named its gin and tonics the drink to order here.
What to order
- Capella G&T $14 Hendrick’s gin · fever tree Mediterranean tonic · star anise · lemon · cucumber
- Some Kind Of Mule $15 Capella on 9 Ginger Beer · Wheatley Vodka · Ezra Brooks · Exotico Tequila
- Allspice & Agave $22 Código Reposado Tequila · Allspice Dram · Krupnikas Honey Liqueur · Lime Juice · Demerara Syrup · Lime Wheel · Tajín Rim
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Top of the Monk
- The roof
- Third floor, by an elevator door on Patton, then stairs
92 Patton
- Menu checked Oct 22
Go in through the elevator door on Patton Avenue and walk up the stairs. The bar is on the third floor of a building about 120 years old, in what used to be an apartment.
Full venue page →Step inside
It holds about 30 people. The patio faces south and west, toward the South Slope and its breweries. Thirsty Monk’s Belgian taproom and Delirium Bar are below.
Go early.
What to order
- The Smooth Operator $14 Jameson Infused with Espresso · Tuaca · Local Coffee Cream liqueur · Concentrated Cold Brew · Guarana & Ginko Syrup · Whipped Milk Soaked in Vanilla Bean Crowned with Salted Caramel
- The Sexy Old Fashioned $17 Woodford Double Oaked · Splash of Over Proof Rye · Benedictine · House Cured Maple Syrup · Angostura Bitters · Barreled Aged Cherry Bitters
- Brandied Pumpkin Sour $14 Barsol Pisco · Pumpkin Reduction · Pie Spiced Syrup · Fresh Lemon · Hand Whipped & Crowned with Madagascar Vanilla & Angostura Bitters · Pie Spiced Rim · Aqua Faba
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Pillar Rooftop Bar
- The roof
- Sixth floor, out through a garage door
309 College
- Until midnight Fri & Sat
Pillar is six floors up, on top of the Hilton Garden Inn. You step out onto the terrace through a real garage door, which rolls up in good weather. From the terrace you see the downtown skyline with the Blue Ridge behind it.
Full venue page →Step inside
There’s a living wall around a neon sign, and a fire pit for cooler nights.
Justin Picone runs the drinks. Some cocktails are finished with luster dust, and the Tipsy Pig is barrel-aged in-house for at least two weeks. Order the Tipsy Pig if you like a smoky bourbon drink.
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Antidote at Chemist Spirits
- The roof
- A garden terrace with its own bar
151 Coxe Ave Ste 20
- Until midnight Fri & Sat
- Menu checked Oct 22
Antidote's roof terrace is a small garden with its own bar, on top of a cocktail bar next to the Chemist distillery. It holds about 20 to 30 people, and the herbs in the pots go into the drinks.
Full venue page →Step inside
Half of it is covered and half is open, with the South Slope below. The gin is distilled next door.
Ask the bartender to pick the herb for your drink.
What to order
- Vulnerable Cosmo $14 Chemist Vodka · cranberry · chamomile · hibiscus · lime · cardamom · Meletti Amaro
- Navy Tom Collins $15 Chemist Navy Gin · lemon · cane sugar · club soda · orange · cardamom · ginger
- White Negroni $16 Chemist American Gin · sweet vermouth · Campari bitter · citrus · rose · fresh botanicals
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Visuals Rooftop Bar
- The roof
- On top of Eulogy, 10 Buxton Avenue
40 Collier
- Menu checked Oct 22
Visuals is on the roof of Eulogy, the music hall at 10 Buxton Avenue, on Burial Beer's South Slope campus. It's a wine, cider and aperitif bar.
Full venue page →Step inside
Tim Gormley, a Burial co-founder, makes the ciders and started the aperitif list. The grape wine is made in Geyserville, California.
Order the cider or an aperitif.
What to order
- Late Night Drive Thru $14 Blanco Tequila · Bell Pepper · Ancho Reyes Verde · Lime · Cumin
- Calders $14 Reposado Tequila · Apple Spice Tea · Nocino · Rosemary · Lemon
- The Big Apple $16 Bourbon · Apple Brandy · Montenegrin · Sweet Vermouth
Dinner on the roof
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The Social Lounge and Tapas
- The roof
- Second floor over Broadway, covered and heated
29 Broadway
- Until 10pm Fri & Sat · Closed Wed
- Menu checked Oct 22
The Social Lounge's roof is two floors above Broadway, so you look down at the street. There are no mountain views. The roof is covered and heated in winter, with roll-up doors and fans in summer.
Full venue page →Step inside
It seats 44. The food comes from Strada Italiano, the restaurant next door, so you can have dinner up here.
The Local’s Negroni uses Chemist gin, Eda Rhyne’s Bitter Tooth and Dolin vermouth. You can reserve a roof table for dinner and watch Broadway.
What to order
- Buttercup $14 vanilla vodka · pineapple · lemon · cinnamon
- Aperol Spritz On Tap $14 aperol · prosecco · soda · bitters · luxardo cherry
- Black Manhattan $14 rye whiskey · averna amaro · bitters · luxardo cherry · vermouth · orange bitters
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Soprana Rooftop Cucina
- The roof
- Seventh floor of the Embassy Suites, on Haywood Street
192 Haywood
- Menu checked Oct 22
Soprana is a rooftop restaurant on the seventh floor of the Embassy Suites on Haywood Street. The terrace wraps about 240 degrees, and there are coin-operated binoculars on the rail.
Full venue page →Step inside
The kitchen makes brick-oven pizza. The bar makes its own limoncello, plus watermelon and lime versions.
The Fire-Roasted Margarita uses charred poblano syrup and jalapeño agave. Purple Hue is a gin sour that gets its color from butterfly pea flower. Bring a coin for the binoculars.
What to order
- Olive of My Eye $12 Gin · Olive Oil Washed Vodka · Blueberry-Washed Vermouth · Lemon · Simple
- Blue Ridge Blush $14 Tequila · Italicus · Macerated Raspberry Puree · Matcha · Lime · Simple
- La Dolce Vita $13 Bacardi · Cocchi · Amaro Di Angostura · Coconut Lime Cream · Lime
After the rooftops
More Asheville guides
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How this page works
Which one has the best view?
It depends on whether you want mountains or city. For the mountains, try The Montford, Wildwood Still or the Flat Iron’s roof. All three face west. For the city, try The Observatory, across from Pritchard Park, or Capella on 9, which looks down into Pack Square.
What happens when the weather turns?
Several are built for it. Capella on 9 has heaters, fire pits and an indoor fireplace behind glass. Wildwood Still can close its glass walls, and one of its three gas fire pits is indoors. The Social Lounge’s roof is covered and heated in winter. The Roof at the Radical is open-air and takes a short break in winter.
Is a rooftop bar in Asheville just a hotel bar?
Mostly, because most of the tall buildings downtown are hotels. A few aren’t. Visuals is on top of a music hall at a brewery. Antidote’s terrace is next to a distillery. Top of the Monk is in an old apartment, and The Social Lounge sits above Broadway.