Early Girl Eatery Downtown Asheville

The restaurant didn't live up to our memories from 15 years ago. We had to request that an item be taken off the bill because it was never brought to us, and we were never given an explanation. Despite making a reservation through Open Table, we were told upon arrival that they do not actually accept reservations. The location is lovely, but it doesn't meet the high standard it had when Rachel Ray first found it. With some effort, it could potentially regain its former charm. We encourage you to give it a try.

Would have liked more options. We were there for breakfast and I ended up putting together a few sides to get tempeh and tomato gravy, which is quite like tomato sauce, plus coleslaw. The staff was friendly but we waited quite a while for our orders even though it was not packed when we were there. There was another day where we noticed a lot of people waiting so probably best to either go early or off-times.

I don't understand how this place has such a high rating. There are several vegan options available, but none of them had any flavor. It seemed promising, but ultimately left me disappointed.

I ordered the tofu scramble and found it to be tasty. Unfortunately, they were out of all vegan bread options except for gluten-free white toast. They didn't have vegan butter, so I had to settle for jam instead. The dish also came with a choice of grits or fries, and I opted for grits to switch things up since I eat fries too often. The grits usually come with dairy-based cheese, but without it, they were pretty plain and not very satisfying. My daughter ordered the roasted mushroom/veggie sandwich, which was good but could have used some sauce to enhance the flavors. The fries were average. However, my non-vegan daughter enjoyed her meal. The restaurant had a charming atmosphere and the service was friendly.

We went here for breakfast and I quite liked my meal, the tofu scramble. Unfortunately the grits I got as part of the meal had cheese, as I mistakenly assumed a menu item marked vegan would fully meet that description, sides included. I asked the server after getting my food and they confirmed mine came with cheese, BUT you can order them without it. You could also get a side of potatoes instead. If you are eating vegan here I would be very clear and careful when ordering to avoid this. It looks from other reviews like other diners here have similar stories (like another reviewer, my toast also came with a wrapped pat of real butter, if you want to avoid that).