Blue Ridge Country Sept/Oct 2024 - 28

MOUNT MITCHELL CAFE FACEBOOK | SEAN-BUSHER
$2.7 Million in Renovations at Blue Ridge Parkway MP 355.4
High Elevation Eatery Re-Opens
A
Mount Mitchell Café and Eatery has new operators.
Pretty food at a pretty spot is possible
once again with the opening of Mountain
Mitchell Cafe and Eatery.
Y
35
YEARS AGO
" Ray speaks of the
rapscallion with affection,
but admits Jack is 'so lazy he
can barely keep the flies off
hisself.' Ray stands 6'7 " in
his 'bar feet' but had trouble
standing up for himself in
school until he took Jack as a
model. "
-The late Su Clauson
Wicker, writing in the
Sept/Oct '89 issue about
the late National
Heritage Fellow
Ray Hicks, famous
teller of Jack Tales
and other stories.
fter a five-year hiatus, the
restaurant at Mount Mitchell is
serving hungry travelers again. The
Park Service completed $2.7 million
in renovations that were slowed
during the pandemic, and it awarded
a four-year contract to Melissa and
Leigh Howell to operate the Mount
Mitchell Café & Eatery, which opened
on May 1.
The couple loves their North Carolina
heritage and the chance to play
a role in the history of this state park.
Michelle is from Marion and Leigh
is from Burnsville, where the couple
have been running the popular Pigs
& Grits Restaurant since 2014.
The Howells drive up the mountain
from their home in Asheville every
day and have been very strategic
about creating a fast, casual menu
that is different from what they serve
at Pigs & Grits.
" We offer barbecue here, but it's
not Pigs & Grits barbecue, " says Michelle.
" This menu was designed to
be very approachable because you're
an hour away from everything. We
had to ask, 'What is something that
everyone can enjoy whether they're
hiking or just out with their family?' "
The answer is gourmet sandwiches,
delightful salads, soups, some en28
BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM
trees like mountain trout and a bevy
of desserts including fruit cobblers,
pound cake and cheesecake.
The Howells make sure staff training
includes the history of the area.
" More importantly, " says Michelle,
" is training on Mount Mitchell, to be
sure they understand where they
are, because guests are going to ask,
'Is it really the highest peak east of
the Mississippi?' "
And when they ask, staff can point
to the 6684 Burger on the menu.
Those numbers, of course, answer
the question. Another popular menu
item is a turkey-pimento cheese panini
named for Elisha Mitchell, who
identified the peak as the highest in
the East.
Mount Mitchell Café & Eatery
doesn't offer outdoor service because
wind gusts are unpredictable.
They do have Adirondack chairs
overlooking the mountains for folks
who want to get a to-go order and
then sit outside.
" When it's real crisp and not hazy,
you can see the skyscrapers in
Charlotte from up here, " says Leigh.
" That's about 120 miles away. "
Open seasonally May 1 - October
31; 10:30-6 for September and October.
-MARLA HARDEE MILLING
3
5
E
A
R
S
A
G
O
I
N
B
L
U
E
R
I
D
G
E
C
O
U
N
T
R
Y
http://www.BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM
Blue Ridge Country Sept/Oct 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country Sept/Oct 2024
