Asheville’s Latin restaurants and trucks are slowly reopening after Hurricane Helene
Ask any Asheville resident where to get a good taco or burrito, and you’ll soon be flooded with passionate recommendations — many for places that have recently reopened since Hurricane Helene hit Western North Carolina in late September.
“You MUST go to El Mercadito,” Catherine Wright wrote on the Asheville Foodies Facebook group. At the stationary food truck at 1101 Brevard Road, Wright explained, everything is made from scratch, from the tortillas to the salsas.
“It’s like homemade voodoo magic,” she said. She particularly singled out the cabeza (pork cheek), pastor (pork shoulder), pollo (chicken) and carne asada (beef) tacos.
Tacos in Woodfin, Mills River, downtown Asheville and Biltmore Village
Other favorite trucks and restaurants mentioned were Mamacita’s Taqueria downtown (“their carnitas tacos are amazing!”), Taqueria Fast in Woodfin (“Best fish tacos!”) and La Rancherita Taqueria Mexicana (“the best quesabirria I’ve found!”) in Mills River. But some restaurants, like El Chapala Mexican Restaurant in Biltmore Village, still face a long road ahead.
Owned by the Palomera family for nearly 20 years, the restaurant has served a blend of Tex Mex and authentic Mexican dishes, from enchiladas verdes to mojarra, a fried fish served whole.
“It’s really just a taste of what you get at your grandma’s house in Mexico,” said Denise Palomera, the daughter of the couple in charge, Saul Palomera and Juanita Ramirez.
Over the years, the family had seen neighboring roads closer to the banks of the Swannanoa River flood. But Palomera said they never imagined that the restaurant would get about 4 feet of water.
“All of the appliances we had were on the floor. Like, fridges were floating,” she recalled. Also destroyed were the restaurant’s booths and tables, which her father had handmade using ceramic tiles from Mexico.
“To see that kind of damage is super discouraging, and my dad, at first, was just kind of ready to give up,” Palomera told CharlotteFive. But soon, he was helping others dig their businesses out of the mud with his small tractor.
Since then, the family, their business neighbors and their staff — most of which are from the same family — have worked tirelessly to reopen.
They’ve also had help from loyal customers. One, Hallie Shinn, not only contacted CharlotteFive to bring attention to El Chapala but also helped the restaurant acquire a set of free tables from a restaurant that had remodeled. Her child, Durant Long has loved El Chapala ever since they moved to the area for college in August 2021, and inspired her to reach out about the restaurant.
“It is, quite literally, a home away from home,” Long said, noting they spent many hours at El Chapala soaking up the “unparalleled” ambiance — not just eating but watching television or studying. Their favorite dish is the chicken mole, though they also highlighted the unlimited chips and in-house salsa bar.
Some former customers, like local hotel staff and construction workers who often came for meals, may be gone for good by the time the restaurant reopens in a few months.
“It is really difficult not having those same dishes, not having the same people,” Palomera said. It’s a reminder, she added, that the customer base and community Biltmore Village shared before Helene has been permanently altered.
The Palomera family has been a crucial part of Asheville’s Latino community and its Mexican food scene for 15 years, even back when there were far fewer taquerias and Hispanic groceries in the area.
Ramirez also has her own store on Tunnel Road in East Asheville, Tienda Doña Juanita, which Palomera said reopened a week after Helene came through. Until El Chapala can reopen, the income from the store — as well as any donations to their GoFundMe — will be crucial for the family and their restaurant staff.
“The more restaurants we have open, the more it welcomes Latino people to come and enjoy Asheville,” Palomera said, adding that it also shows locals and visitors that the city and the region host a diverse variety of international cuisines.
“It’s a big part of the Hispanic community in Asheville,” Long said.
