Asheville's Newest Indian Restaurant Is Worth the Drive Over the Ridge

By Jon Tharp, Broker  ·  July 21, 2026

A new Indian restaurant called Andaaz has opened in Asheville, and the Asheville Citizen Times got inside for a first look. For anyone in Western North Carolina who has spent a few years working through the same short list of takeout menus, a new Indian kitchen in Buncombe County counts as actual news.

Asheville is about 70 miles from Franklin, a run north on US-441 to US-74 and then east on I-40 that takes a little over an hour on a clear day. From Waynesville it is closer to 35 minutes, and from Hendersonville you are 25 minutes up I-26. That puts Andaaz well inside the dinner radius for most of us, which is exactly why Asheville openings matter to people who do not live there.

What kind of restaurant is Andaaz?

Andaaz is the newest entry in a category Asheville has never had much of. Indian food in this city has historically meant a lunch buffet or a takeout counter, with a couple of longtime favorites doing the heavy lifting for the entire region.

The name itself translates roughly to style or manner, which tells you something about the intent. If you are planning a trip over, confirm hours and the current menu before you go. New restaurants adjust both in the first few months, and nothing sours a drive from Cullowhee like a dark dining room.

Why does Asheville keep landing restaurants like this?

Two things are working at once. Asheville pulls roughly a dozen million visitors a year across Buncombe County, which supports far more restaurants than a city of ninety-some thousand residents otherwise could. And the city has spent two decades building a food reputation that attracts chefs and operators who want to be part of it.

The more interesting part is what has happened since Helene. The storm tore through the River Arts District and Biltmore Village in September 2024 and took a hard toll on the restaurant community. Almost two years on, the openings have not slowed down. People are still betting on this city.

Is it worth the drive from Franklin, Sylva, or Waynesville?

If you make a night of it, yes. The move most of us have figured out is to pair dinner with something else, a show downtown, a stop at the Grove Arcade, a hike at Bent Creek in the afternoon, or the unglamorous truth of a Costco run on the way home.

Park once and walk. Downtown Asheville is compact enough that you can get dinner, coffee, and a bookstore stop in without moving the car, which is not something you can say about most cities its size.

Does a restaurant scene affect where people buy homes?

More than people expect. When buyers call me about Franklin, Sylva, Highlands, or Waynesville, the questions about hiking and views come first, but the question underneath is almost always the same. What do I give up by moving here?

The honest answer for Western NC is less than you would think, and Asheville is a big part of why. Buyers want mountain quiet, a porch, and land, but they also want to be inside an hour of a real dinner, a hospital, and an airport. That combination is the whole pitch for this region, and every new restaurant in Asheville helps towns forty and fifty miles out.

You see it in who is buying. Retirees from Florida and the Northeast, remote workers who left Charlotte and Atlanta, second-home buyers around Cashiers and Highlands. They are not moving here to be isolated. They are moving here because the mountains are twenty minutes from the front door and the city is an hour away when they want it.

What else is opening around Western NC?

Worth watching beyond Asheville too. Waynesville's Main Street has kept adding independent kitchens, Sylva's downtown has turned into a real food and brewery stop, and Brevard keeps adding places for a town its size. The pattern across all of it is the same, small operators betting that people will drive for something good.

Andaaz fits that pattern. Somebody looked at this market and decided there was room for it, which is usually a decent signal about where a place is headed.

If a post like this one has you wondering what it actually costs to live within an hour of all this, Jon Tharp is always glad to talk it through.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Andaaz in Asheville and how far is it from Franklin, NC?

Andaaz is in Asheville, in Buncombe County. From Franklin the drive is about 70 miles, north on US-441 to US-74 and then east on I-40, which usually runs a little over an hour depending on traffic through Sylva and Waynesville. From Waynesville you are closer to 35 minutes on I-40 East. From Hendersonville it is roughly 25 minutes up I-26. Because Andaaz is new, it is smart to confirm the exact address, hours, and whether reservations are being taken before you commit to the drive.

Does Asheville have good Indian food?

Asheville has a small but real Indian dining scene, and it has grown alongside the city's broader reputation for food. For years the options leaned toward buffet-style lunch spots and takeout counters, with a handful of longtime favorites carrying most of the demand. Newer arrivals like Andaaz reflect a city with enough population growth, tourism traffic, and adventurous diners to support more specific regional cooking rather than a generic pan-Indian menu. If you are coming from a smaller mountain town where the international options are thin, Asheville is where you go.

Is Asheville's restaurant scene back after Hurricane Helene?

Largely yes, though the recovery has been uneven. Helene hit in September 2024 and did severe damage along the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, which took out or badly disrupted businesses in the River Arts District and Biltmore Village. Many restaurants reopened within months, some relocated, and a few never came back. What has been notable since is the number of new openings, which suggests operators still see Asheville as a market worth betting on. Visitors should still check individual restaurants directly, since some are operating in new locations.

Do people in Franklin and Sylva really drive to Asheville for dinner?

Regularly. The mountain towns west of Asheville have strong local restaurants, but the variety is limited by population. When people want Indian, Thai, Ethiopian, ramen, or a serious wine list, Asheville is the default. An hour of driving does not read the same way here as it does in a city, and most locals build the trip around something else, a concert at the Orange Peel, a Grove Arcade afternoon, an airport run, or a Costco stop. Dinner in Asheville is a normal weekend plan, not a special occasion.