Downtown Asheville · Wood-fired since 2017
Wood-fired cooking, gathered from the Blue Ridge.
One oak-fired hearth. No gas line, no shortcuts. Seasonal plates from mountain farms, natural wine, and a 24-seat counter wrapped around the fire — dinner, Sunday brunch, and the occasional whole pig.
- Est.
- 2017
- Sourcing
- 90% North Carolina
- Hearth counter
- 24 seats
- Natural wines
- 220 bottles deep
( 01 ) — The Hearth
One fire.
No gas line.
No shortcuts.
When we built Iron Steak in 2017, the plumber capped the gas line and we told him to leave it that way. Everything we serve passes through a single oak-fired hearth — bread at dawn, vegetables at midday, whole animals by night. Chef Mara Ellison writes the menu each morning after calls with Sunburst Trout, Dry Ridge Farm and Ivy Creek, so the board reads like a weather report for the Blue Ridge.
The room holds 64, seats 24 of them around the fire, and smells like oak smoke and brown butter. That is either your kind of evening or it isn't — we hope it is.
- Open flame only — every dish touches oak embers, cast iron, or the plancha. There is no pilot light in the building.
- Whole-animal & whole-harvest — we butcher in-house and preserve the glut, so menus shift with the mountain seasons.
- Low-intervention cellar — 220 natural wines chosen to stand up to smoke, most under $70.
- Chef's counter — 24 stools at the hearth rail; watch the fire do the cooking for your table.
Mara Ellison
Chef & Co-owner — Asheville native
( 03 ) — From the Pass
Plates worth
the wait.
Shot at the pass, mid-service — no stylists, no tweezers, just what the kitchen sends.
-
The most persuasive case for cooking over live fire anywhere in the Carolinas.
Eater Carolinas
-
A room that smells of oak smoke and brown butter. Order whatever touched the hearth.
Mountain Xpress
-
Asheville's toughest table to book — and worth every night of the waitlist.
Asheville Citizen-Times
( 04 ) — Private Dining
The Ember
Room.
Down the back stairs, through the wine wall, sits the original 1926 boiler room — now a private hearth of brick and candlelight for the nights that deserve one. Whole-table menus are built with Chef Ellison around your evening.
- Seats 12 around a single walnut table
- Its own hearth-side hearth — courses finished in front of you
- Family-style menus from $95 per guest
- Dedicated sommelier and custom pairings from the cellar
( 05 ) — Hours & Location
Find the fire.
Iron Steak
47 Lexington Ave
Asheville, NC 28801
Get directions · two blocks from Pack Square ↗
(828) 555-0173 Tue–Sun from 3 PM · walk-ins at the counter when the fire allows
Parking is validated after 5 PM at the Rankin Ave garage. On Sundays the metered spaces on Lexington are free — bring the ticket stub anyway, we like reading them.
Service hours
- Monday
- Closed — the hearth rests
- Tue – Thu
- 5:00 – 9:30 PM
- Fri – Sat
- 5:00 – 10:30 PM
- Sunday
- Brunch 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Dinner 5:00 – 9:00 PM
The kitchen sends its last plate 30 minutes before close. The bar pours until the candles give out.
( 06 ) — Reservations
Pull up a
stool.
Book below and we'll confirm by text within the hour. Parties of seven or more — and every request for the Hearth Table tasting — go through the private dining desk at events@ironsteakavl.com.
Table requested.
Confirmation — we'll text you within the hour to lock it in.