Azalea Bistro - Restaurant in Saluda - 40 E Main St, USA

Hands down the best restaurant in the area!! We’ve eaten here several times and each time we say it’s the best meal we’ve ever had!! Garret and his team are top notch!! Hailey and Alex, front of the house are wonderful, and provide excellent service. The food is unique, and the flavors are amazing! The menu changes weekly, Chef Garrett takes so much pride in every ingredient and sources from local farms! HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!! 10 ⭐️’s

Absolutely fantastic French restaurant. Charming, homemade, excellent ingredients that you can't find everywhere. Order the caviar and crab cake. Caviar Crepes also a must. Unique desserts. Seasonal menus. Make Reservations ask for Alex.

We had lunch there during the arts festival for the first time. I had read reviews and news articles about it and they were all positive. We were not disappointed. Very tasteful decor and the food was SO good. We are already planning a trip back from our home in Waynesville. The chef came out to ask how we liked our food and I suggested he open a restaurant near us. Highly recommend!

A French restaurant owned by a 4x James beard nominated chef in a small mountain town of 700 piqued my interest enough to walk from the truck stop into town and treat myself to a nice dinner. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a French restaurant before tonight. I opted for the 4 course meal. After failing to order a Diet Coke, my server graciously offered to make me a mocktail and started making suggestions. I asked him to surprise me and he made me a really nice old fashioned without the alcohol. It was great. First, I was fully prepared to eat my meal and head to the bar and grill next door if I left with more of an appetite. If you leave here hungry, see a doctor immediately. You may be feeding an unknown child, parasite or worm. I came in hungry and left stuffed as a tick. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised, but similar to popular bbq, things will sell out. With help from the service team, we made it work, and I’m glad I ultimately went with what they suggested. I think the coolest thing about the experience was to learn that the main courses change weekly, likely with a different twist on the main protein choices. The presentation speaks for itself, and I’ve included pictures of everything put in front of me. The food was extremely rich in both flavor and satiety. The dessert was one of the best I’ve had. It’s an easy place to recommend trying at least once. I have a feeling for most of you, if you aren’t returning it’s simply because this little tucked away restaurant isn’t in your normal path of travel. My waitress, full of southern charm, didn’t let me leave empty handed and sent me home with a full container of the leftover sweet tea. It was a very nice finishing touch and made for an enjoyable walk back to the truck sipping on sweet tea and listening to the bugs in the trees. Until a few days ago, I hadn’t heard of Saluda, North Carolina, but it has a certain charm to it that certainly makes it special.

We came here in October for our anniversary and then again for my husbands birthday. The food is perfection! The Chef certainly knows what he's doing and it shows in every course. The staff is freindly and helpful with recommendations. This is my happy place. You definitely get what you pay for and more. We'll be back in July for my birthday. Absolutely worth the 3 hour drive to dine here!

I cannot describe how satisfied my wife and I were with our dining experience at Azalea. We both chose the 4 course option and were able to try a little bit of everything. The charcuterie board was expertly assembled with flavors that complimented and set itself apart from other boards we've ordered. The escargot was completely different than any other and was absolutely amazing. No scooping them out of the standard dish, slathered in butter. They were mixed with a medley of garlic, onions, and mushrooms, on a bed of what we discovered were black panko bread crumbs. It was so good my wife split it with me when in the past she wouldn't go near escargot. The she crab soup was to die for and far out shone any other crab or lobster bisque in recent memory. Entrees next, both of which were quite good. The favorite was the duck breast, cooked to perfection and combined with light mashed potatoes, asparagus, mini onions, and an amazing demi glaze. And finally the dessert. The chocolate torte... I have no words, just do it. Our only regret is not trying the 10 course chef selected menu, but it gives us a reason to visit the area again next time we're in the state 😋

We stopped in for the first time today while in Saluda for the Arts Festival and had a very lovely experience. When we first walked up, it appeared there'd be a hostess at the stand outside but after waiting a few moments, no one appeared. A waiter came out to wait on outside tables & hubby asked him if a hostess would be seating us and he said normally, yes but there were only two of them so he ushered us inside. We were seated by Alex within a few minutes once he cleared the table & reset it which was good. Azalea Bistro is a very classic French restaurant and it was decorated with clean lines in a light pallet with linen draped tables. I especially loved the stained glass around the entrance door. Hayley was our waitress & she did an outstanding job taking care of us and explaining the menu. Saturday & Sundays you can do the endless brunch which allows you to have as many small portioned brunch plated as you want. Hayley explained most people will try three which is what we did. We started with the poached eggs over a biscuit with spicy ham served with truffled fries. Omg!!!! Perfect portion and absolutely delicious. For our second choice, we had the 4 cheese omlet with grits. The omlet was perfect but those grits were out of this world! The were a more unprocessed grit but how they were prepared was almost like a souffle the were so light. I could eat them all day long. Lastly, we chose for myself a berry stuffed puffed pastry with perfectly ripe sliced pear and hubb6 chose the fluffy french toast with bacon. Words don't do either justice as they were a just the perfect amount of sweet after two savory courses. We had the pleasure of briefly speaking to chef & owner whom was out there helping Alex & Hayley keep things moving by expediting food. He was very friendly and quick to answer our questions. For this level of food we will gladly pay a bit more as it was very worth it. We definitely will be back!

Absolutely blown away! Best meal I have eaten In a long time! Our server Hailey was incredible and made everything absolutely perfect! Every bite was scrumptious! Can’t recommend this enough and I can’t wait to return soon! 💜