Christen and Cory Short’s story is a meet-cute rom-com with a rock n’ roll soundtrack. The owners of The Social first met very briefly in 2008 when she sang at a karaoke night he was running at the Beacon Pub in Swannanoa. Two years later, they reconnected and began dating, overcoming the heated rivalry between the Asheville natives’ high schools — he was Reynolds and she was Owens. When they married in 2012, they created a Brady Bunch household (minus Alice) with his three sons and her two daughters.

Though Cory – a mobile DJ and owner of a karaoke company – had long provided entertainment at the bar and grille on Tunnel Road, and Christen had worked two decades in corporate food service, neither had ownership experience before taking over The Social in October 2014.

“The building had always been a neighborhood place,” says Christen. “It had different owners and different names – the couple we bought it from had just re-named it The Social — but it was always known for its Cheers vibe. When Cory and I first took over, I wasn’t so sure about owning a bar, but I was okay with having a restaurant that serves alcohol.”

She says she spent the first several months just learning the business; Cory focused on the music and marketing side. “Cory was very intentional about booking entertainment across all genres of music,” Christen says. “Thanks to his mobile DJ and karaoke business, he was very well known in the area. Everybody knew Cory and liked to tell us so. At one point, we had shirts made for the staff that said ‘Cool story. You know the owner? I do too.’ But his high profile did help build the business.”

In early 2015, she turned her focus to the food and got a helping hand when chef Robyn Ziegler – then working fulltime in F&B at Biltmore before opening Ziggy’s Bakery & Deli in 2018 – came on parttime to help expand and develop a new menu.

At the same time, she was cognizant of the hits that long-time regulars relied on from Ryan Marshall, previous owner of The Social with his wife Clarissa. “Ryan gets the credit for the Fire Chicken Philly, the Chicken Quesadilla and the seasoning shake we use on the burgers. We think that and our proprietary bun creates one of the best burgers in town.”

Marshall also gets credit – or blame – for another customer favorite/kitchen nemesis – the Bacon Tot Skewers. “They’re very labor intensive,” Christen explains. “It’s tater tots and jalapeno peppers wrapped in bacon on a skewer, deep-fried and served with ranch. People love them.”

Deep frying is also key to the cult-like following for the state fair classic – Deep Fried Oreos. “Also not a chef favorite,” Christen says with a laugh. “They’re Oreos dipped in sweet pancake batter, deep-fried and served with a scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup.”

To counterpunch the preponderance of fried foods, Christen added vegetables, salads, daily hearty soups and house-made comfort foods, led by that All-American classic, meatloaf. “Robyn helped me develop the recipe for the meatloaf and meatloaf sauce that covers it. We serve it with mashed potatoes and green beans.”

The burnt ends of the cooked meat loaf are the foundation of the Meat Loaf Burnt End sandwich. “The two ends always cook faster, and rather than waste them, we dice them into bite-sized pieces, crisp them with butter on the flattop, toss them in the meatloaf sauce, melt American cheese on it and put it all in an Amoroso roll.”

It’s Music Man Cory Short who introduced the most unique culinary calling card to The Social – School Pizza. “He used to do karaoke at Sky Lanes on Patton and they had School Pizza. He loved it and told me we had to have School Pizza on the menu. I told him no one wants gross school pizza. He told me to trust him, so I did and we added it and he was 100% right. It wasn’t long before we had people calling to ask if it was true we had the genuine awful school pizza they remembered from school cafeteria.”

She says School Pizza helped get them through the worst of Covid, when The Social was closed but they were selling sheets of School Pizza to take and bake at home. Other than his big win with School Pizza, Cory sticks to the entertainment side – live music, karaoke, programming the 16 televisions including two 150” monster screens and special events. “Because what he does is right there in front of everyone, lots of people credit him for
everything,” Christen says. “But he is quick to let people know I am the muscle behind the scenes. He says he is the balls and vision, and I am the brains and caution tape; that he gets the butts in seats, and I take it from there. We stay in our own lanes.”

Those lanes lead to the same place. “It has always been our goal to be a place that welcomes and holds multiple types of people, who come together for a good time. The Social has a magic to it and is really pretty special.”

Getting Social at The Social
 Two pool tables, two dart boards, two monster 150” screens and multiple televisions
 Headquarters for Asheville Buffalo Bills Backers
 NFL Fantasy Football Live Draft Headquarters
 Karaoke Monday, Wednesday and Saturday nights
 Open mic nights hosted by Hamza Vandehey on Tuesday nights
 Jack Mascari & Friends Live Music Thursday nights
 Live music Friday nights starting at 9 p.m.
 The Social Fest “That was Cory’s brainchild we started our first Memorial weekend in 2015. Live music on two stages. One year he got a little carried away and booked 22 bands.
 Appalachian Santa “He’s a beautiful, natural Santa and we get a building full of kids to see him.”
 Christmas Charity Formal “It’s like an adult prom where everybody gets dressed up and gets together. We ask everyone to bring a toy or gift card and partner with a local children’s non-profit.”
 Labyrinth Masquerade Ball “Labyrinth is my favorite movie of my whole life, and the Masquerade Ball was my favorite event of my whole life. I was not prepared for the elaborate costumes and masks people dressed in. It was whimsical, magical and so beautiful.”

Written by Kay West