S & W Cafeteria, Art Deco restaurant in Downtown Asheville, United States.
S & W Cafeteria is a three-story building on College Street in downtown Asheville, North Carolina, with grey stone walls and colorful Art Deco ornaments on its facade. The interior is now set up as a food hall, with several vendor stalls and seating both inside and in an outdoor area.
Douglas Ellington designed the building in 1929 as a cafeteria for downtown workers and shoppers. When the cafeteria moved to a shopping mall in 1974, the original location sat empty for years before being converted into the food hall it is today.
The building now works as a food hall where local vendors serve everything from craft beer to Thai street food, drawing a mix of regulars and visitors. Sitting inside, you get a sense of how Asheville people like to eat together in a shared, open space.
The building sits in the heart of downtown Asheville and is easy to reach on foot from most nearby points of interest. Since each vendor sets its own hours, it is worth checking ahead to make sure your preferred stall will be open when you arrive.
Douglas Ellington designed several buildings in Asheville, but this one retains some of the most complete Art Deco facade work of all his projects in the city. The polychrome terracotta details are especially noticeable in natural light and are worth a close look before stepping inside.
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