This friendly, neighborhood cafe boasts farm-to-table, Southern comfort food.

If you aren’t sure where to find the Early Girl Eatery in Asheville, North Carolina, just listen for the slam of a screen door.  Walking up to the red brick building, I see the sign above the door—a little girl holding a bright red tomato. The smell of sizzling bacon beckons me in like an old friend.

The screen door slams behind me the way a screened door should. The friendly hostess leads me past the open kitchen. The kitchen staff are slicing thick slabs of green tomatoes and frying eggs, a clear indication of the cafe’s promise of farm-to-table, Southern comfort food.

The hostess seats me at a table in the dining area. Sunny yellow walls and teal blue trimmed windows overlook the street below. Butcher paper drapes each table. And a chalkboard displays the day’s specials—pork cracklin’ pancakes top the lineup. Yum!

The Early Girl Eatery serves a diverse clientele. Young couples with kids. Hipsters. Empty nesters.  College students. Ladies who brunch.

The couple across from me are served steaming plates piled high with the sausage and sweet potato scramble. I’m tempted to order the same thing. Instead I opt for the Early Girl Benny—grit cakes topped with tomato, spinach, poached eggs, tomato gravy and avocado. Oh, and a biscuit on the side.

The biscuits are big, buttery, and flakey. The kind you can sink your teeth into. These are stick to your ribs biscuits. I smeared mine with butter and raspberry preserves. The Benny was delicious; the poached eggs cooked to perfection.

I leave with my belly full and say so long to the friendly wait staff. The screen door slaps behind me…and I’m out on the street ready to start my day.