Lost City: Asheville, NC, Edition: S&W Cafeteria

As I mentioned briefly in a previous Asheville post, Asheville's economic unluckiness was in many ways its fortune. The Depression hit the city pretty hard. So the wonderful buildings erected by the city's wealthy founders were not torn down in favor of newer, uglier ones, but remained intact.

The S&W Cafeteria is so outlandishly ornamental it looks like a branch of the Bank of Byzantium. It was built in 1929 from designs by Douglas D. Ellington. And, indeed, the grand structure actually served as a cafeteria. S&W was a Charlotte-based chain of restaurants, founded in 1920, featuring low-cost, southern food. There were branches from Georgia to D.C. "S&W" were Frank Sherrill and Fred Weber. And, yes, other locations were as opulent as this one. Even though it was a humble eating experience, like many chains of that era (Longchamps, Child's, etc.), the management wanted you to feel the experience was dignified and special. When shopping started gravitating toward the suburbs and its malls, S&W started closing down its downtown locations, like this one.

The building reopened for business as S&W Steak & Wine in 2008.

Lost City: Asheville Edition: Little Pigs Bar-B-Q

When I'm down south, I look for barbeque. Recently, I was in Asheville, North Carolina. I was told that Asheville was not a big barbeque town. Nonetheless, I looked for barbeque. I had heard of an old roadside place called Little Pigs—a name that is hard to resist. So I asked after it. I was warned off it, told it wasn't very good.

But I've got a hard head, so I went anyway. Little Pigs was founded in Asheville by Joseph Carr Swicegood Sr. in April 1963. In January 1986, he hired Bob Conner, a former district manager for Burger King, as the general manager. Conner still runs it. According to the website, he embraces "the philosophy that Little Pigs must maintain a clean and comfortable environment with great food and superior customer service. Little Pigs offers personal service and we recognize our regulars on a first name basis."

Lot of stuff on the site about cleanliness and customer service and value for your dollar. Which is great. But I go to barbeque places for the barbeque. And, while I love the Little Pigs sign and the building and general ambiance of the place, the barbeque was disappointing. Perhaps the most lackluster bbq I've had in the south, with next to no flavor. It tasted of "I don't care." The beans were a little better, and the hush puppies were good. But those are side attractions. I hope Little Pigs remains in business. The potential there is huge. But I also hope they start putting some effort into their product.

Lost City: Asheville Edition: Mountaineer Inn

Asheville, North Carolina, is a beautiful town. Though a boho center of liberality today, it came into being through the efforts of millionaires like George Washington Vanderbilt III, Edwin Wiley Grove and George Willis Pack, who fell in love with the remote area enough to fill it with some of the most beautiful art deco architectural monuments in the country, as well as a few mansions for themselves. (Vanderbilt's Biltmore Estate is the largest private home in the United States.)

The Mountaineer Inn is not one of those monuments. But it is a marvel in its own right, mainly due to its wonderful use of old-school neon. The shotgun-toting neon hillbilly seen above stands about 30 feet tall, and keeps watch over Tunnel Road, a strip of hotels and restaurants on the other side of a mountain to the east of Asheville.

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