After a decade working at The Local Joint, Amanda Dunk took it over
In one busy week in May 2022, Amanda Dunk signed the lease on a restaurant, a music
venue/bar and got a puppy. She says she lost a lot of sleep over all three of them, but four
years later, The Local Joint, the Joint Next Door and Poe (named after the Kung Fu Panda, not
the writer/poet) are all thriving. And Dunk – just a couple months away from her final payment
on the loan she received from the former owner — isn’t quite as sleep deprived.
Longtime Fairview residents knew the building at 1185B Charlotte Highway as a Huddle House,
a member of the chain of roadside diner style restaurants launched in Decatur GA in 1964. The
Local Joint took over the spot in 2013, though it retained many of the HH aesthetics – the diner
counter in front of an open kitchen and grill, the red leather swivel bar stools, the tile on the floor,
the mid-century wooden booths and Formica tabletops. The new name made it clear it intended
to be a part of the community.
Dunk arrived at The Local Joint about the same time, carrying a college degree from Emory
University she had already decided she wasn’t too interested in parlaying into a conventional
job. “I worked in restaurants all through college and decided that was a lot more fun than any of
the things I went to school for,” she says with a laugh. “I came to Asheville with my then-partner
in 2011 and got a job at the Local Joint in 2013.”
She started as a server, became a manager, then The Manager and then switched to the
kitchen. She also had two kids and went back to graduate school, all the while working at Local
Joint. “After I had the second baby and was back in school, I knew – again – it wasn’t what I
wanted to do. I wanted to be in hospitality but also knew I needed to take the next step.”
Hearing a rumor that the owner might be interested in selling, she approached him. “I had no
way to buy it when I first asked him,” she recalls. “I had no plan. But sometimes that gives you
the flexibility to figure it out.” Ten years after she took her first order as a server at The Local
Joint – and with a solid plan in place for owner financing – Dunk took it over.
She closed for a week to take out all the equipment and furnishings for a deep clean, painted,
switched out some lighting fixtures and added a lot of plants. She sourced a couple of booths to
replicate the originals, cleaned and greened the patio. But she was respectful of the place the
ten-year-old restaurant held in the community. “About 90% of our business is local,” she says.
“The place has been around a long time and in some ways, you’re not really in control of it.”
She edited and freshened the menu, which can be dismaying for longtime regulars who like
what they like and are averse to change. “One guy is still mad that I took two of his favorite
things off the breakfast menu.” (For the record, that was huevos rancheros and shrimp and grits;
the S&G are on the dinner menu.)

Breakfast is served everyday from opening until 3 p.m. The lunch menu kicks in at 11 a.m. but

Dunk says if someone wants a burger at 9 a.m., they’ll make it for them. If someone wants

French toast –house-made braided challah bread topped with tart cherry pecan mascarpone —
at 2:55 p.m. they’ll make it for them.
The dinner menu is available starting at 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday; in addition to the
entire lunch menu, there are five entrees plated with sides – BBQ salmon, NY strip steak,
chicken Marsala, bone-in thick cut pork chop and shrimp & grits.
When Dunk took over The Local Joint, the Joint Next Door – technically on the other side of the
gas station that centers the two sides of the building – waspart of the deal. Dunk describes it as

“A little more dark, a little more bar-ish, a little more adult and definitely music focused.” Local
and regional artists play seven nights a week, and dinner can be ordered from the Local Joint’s
menu.
Dunk says she always has her eye out for a possible location in Asheville, but for now, she’s
looking forward to the installation of a brand-new milkshake machine. “In all the time I’ve been
here, we’ve never had a milkshake machine. What kind of diner doesn’t have milkshakes? We’ll
have the classic chocolate, vanilla and strawberry, and eventually a daily special and a
seasonal. We’re pretty excited about it.”

The Local Joint’s Greatest Hits
 The Fried Egg Sandwich – tomato, avocado, cheddar, Monterey jack, basil mayo and a
fried egg – is the most popular breakfast item.
 The Big Bear — Cajun fried chicken, applewood smoked bacon, and cheddar cheese on
a scratch-made biscuit, topped with sausage gravy – is the second most popular
breakfast order, but Dunk warns you’ll need a nap after eating it.
 The lunch lineup is led by the classic Reuben, the American burger and the steak
quesadilla.
 Brussel fries – The Local Joint’s signature item. Brussel sprouts cut in half, flash fried to
a crispy exterior, soft inside and served with a lemon tarragon aioli. “They’re pretty
addictive.”
 Shrimp & Grits is the VIP of the dinner menu. “It’s the quality of ingredients and the
flavor balance. We use wild caught gulf shrimp, stone ground grits from South Carolina
made with a lot of butter and cream, Aidells andouille sausage, all in a Cajun cream
sauce topped with fried green tomatoes and a little goat cheese.”
 Sake Bloody Mary’s – We have beer and wine, but we can’t have hard liquor where
we’re located. I had a Sake Bloody Mary at R. Thomas in Atlanta and loved it. We can
legally do sake here. It took a minute for them to catch on but people have come around.
 Meat Loaf Monday – It’s the classic recipe but with more fresh herbs and we take it up
a notch with a red wine demiglace, mashed potatoes, onion strings and sauteed green
beans. People get mad if we run out.
 Fish Fry Friday – It’s always insane. We only do the fish fry one day a week but it’s
always the highest selling item of the year. We re-opened after Helene on a Friday night
and only served the fish fry. We went through 100 orders in one hour.

Local Joint