When Barley’s first opened on Biltmore Avenue in 1994, Asheville was a very different place. There was no local brewery scene, tourism was the trade of the Biltmore Estate and Blue Ridge Parkway, the Fine Arts Theatre had been closed for several years, and Curate was decades in the future.

Doug Beatty turned an 8,000-square-foot former appliance store into a two-story taproom and restaurant, with live local music, pool and darts. It quickly became, says current marketing director Katie Hild, the place to be in Asheville. “The huge tap list they had from the start was unheard of in those days. Doug was able to get his hands on these really cool and interesting beers and people came just to try them. There was the famous pizza, and jazz, bluegrass jams and open mic nights on the main floor. There was no place like it.”

It also gained fame as the birthplace of Highland Brewing, when founder Oscar Wong started his operation and experimentation in the Barley’s basement; the brewery’s Gaelic Ale and Oatmeal Porter came to fruition there.

Beatty famously founded the Asheville Brewgrass Festival in 1997, an outdoor celebration of beer and bluegrass. About ten years later, Beatty sold his share of Barley’s to his original business partner Jimi Rentz. Currently, Barley’s is co-owned by Patrick Huss, who worked there since day one, and Danny McClinton, Katie’s husband (and partner in Salvage Station).

Katie believes Barley’s longevity and consistency are key to its ongoing success. “With all the change Asheville has seen in the past 20 years, Barley’s is a place to count on. There is just a very small handful of staples, of locally owned institutions still around. Market Place, Jack of the Wood and Barley’s.”

In September 2024, the aftermath of Helene brought local business and tourism to a halt and set off an seemingly endless evolution of change. “We had no choice but to close,” Katie recalls. “We had no power, no water and even when those came back, there was just no foot traffic downtown. There was so much uncertainty.”

Their uncertainty was shared with Barley’s longtime patrons, who expressed their separation anxiety on social media. Speculation that the closure was permanent reached fever pitch when Barley’s doors remained locked as other downtown businesses re-opened. Katie says they just decided that it did not make financial sense to re-open a place as big as Barley’s when tourism had declined and many of their loyal locals were still struggling to put their lives back in order.

“We took the opportunity to do a deep clean and take care of things that had needed taken care of for a long time,” Katie says. She and McClinton were also dealing with the total destruction of Salvage Station, and what the next steps for that music mecca would be. (It is relocating to a 13-acre site on Lyman between Hi-Wire and Marquee, with hopes for some pop-up shows in the fall.)

And so, when Barley’s announced on social media they were re-opening in April 2025, a great online hallelujah chorus arose. Among the comments: ‘This is life affirming!’ ‘Woo hoo! I’ve been stalking your page!’ and “I missed you sooooooo much!’

What returning – or first time – guests found was a beautifully updated second floor with new furnishings in a cozy lounge area and gleaming wood floors. Two of the four regulation sized Brunswick slate pool tables had been removed to make more room for people, dart boards were still on the wall, and a shuffleboard was added. Eighteen taps were ready to pull and coolers stocked with cider, spiked seltzer, canned and bottled beer – local, big brand and Sierra Nevada’s NA Trail Pass. (The first floor has 30 additional taps that can be ordered from the second floor.)

The most monumental change was the craft cocktail menu. For the first time since opening, Barley’s had a liquor license and the bartenders were on it, creating concoctions like Painkiller, Cobra Commander and re-imagining classics like a Vesper Martini and Old Fashioned.

It took another couple of months for the kitchen on the first floor to get cooking again, but just in time for football season, the fan favorite pizzas and wings were back in the game. Katie says the sourdough pizza crust is the key to its cult status; the two favorites of the eight options are the Carnivore’s Dream and the Large Marge. She points out that their chef, Michael Fazzone, is classically trained at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY; his brother James is the general manager.

The downstairs room will re-open in the spring, but Katie points out that Barley’s will remain 21 and up. “We want people to know that and not be disappointed if they bring their kids for dinner. We have great food, but we are not trying to be restaurant forward. We are an adult space.”

Barley’s will also be bringing back a consistent schedule of live music on the first floor. “We are leaning into what we do best – great food and drink and great live local music that for a long time was the heart and soul of Barley’s. We’re devoted to bringing that back. We think it will be our shining star.”

More about Barley’s.

— Written by Kay West

— AIRfare is sponsored by McGuire, Wood & Bissette

Photos courtesy of  Barley’s