ASHEVILLE – For food and beverage leaders recovering from Tropical Storm Helene, the work doesn’t stop at the end of the day.
In the six months since the historic storm of biblical proportions arrived on Sept. 27 in Western North Carolina, it’s been an uphill battle to rebuild, restore, and retain a sense of normalcy at Helene-impacted businesses. The revitalization is expected to take months or even years in some cases.
Several local entrepreneurs provided updates on their progress and accomplishments and shared ongoing challenges as they fight to keep a foothold in their communities. They also discussed what they need to survive and thrive.
DayTrip 2.0 realized
First-time entrepreneur Brandon Davis’s dream bar became the center of a nightmare when the French Broad River rose to 24.67 feet in Asheville, sending floodwaters crashing through its original location on Amboy Road near Carrier Park. The bar was underwater about 32 days after it launched last August.
Davis and his business partners were determined to return, pivoting the bar concept as a holiday pop-up at The Malvern — where they became co-owners — in December while securing a new, permanent address to introduce “DayTrip 2.0.”
DayTrip bar was open for just more than 30 days before Tropical Storm Helene caused flooding up to the roofs of its two-story buildings.
In late April/early May, DayTrip will reopen at 174 Broadway St. in the Five Points neighborhood, just outside downtown Asheville.
Davis said it’s been a learning experience opening the same bar twice in less than a year.
“The second time around, I am less naïve,” Davis said. “DayTrip is growing into an even bigger and brighter flower than it was, and I am so excited. It’s coming together wonderfully.”
DayTrip’s new home is in the former Moog Music complex, which neighbors other Helene-impacted and displaced businesses and artists, such as Atomic Furnishing and Design and Resurrection Studios Collective, and the new Stoker’s Studio bike shop.
“Everybody on this block kind of has a shared trauma of losing a business and having to scramble to find a new place,” Davis said. “We’re all in this little block together, and it’s like a family.”
DayTrip, which is nearly triple the size at about 4,000 square feet, won’t have the open backyard of the Amboy Road location, but will offer a patio and a reliable indoor event space for public and private events and community meet-ups.
DayTrip is opening in a new location on Broadway Avenue after its original site was totaled during Tropical Storm Helene.
Davis said the new DayTrip mirrors the previous 1970s vibe, but the team has gone bolder with design choices to achieve “a fever dream aspect” that authentically channels the era.
Formerly occupied by Archetype Brewing, the layout favored the DayTrip transformation and will include bar seating and intimate, uniquely furnished den-like seating areas.
Eight employees were laid off after Helene. Davis said some are expected to return, and the bar seeks experienced cocktail bartenders.
DayTrip owners expressed their intent to dissolve their partnership with The Malvern. For more, follow @daytrip.avl on Instagram.
High Five Coffee’s riverside revival
The French Broad River battered High Five Coffee’s riverside shop in Woodfin, absorbing an estimated four feet of floodwater.
High Five owner Jay Weatherly said the 600-square-foot wooden building, part of the historic complex formerly operated as a textile factory, The Mill, has a solid foundation and was built to withstand flooding. He said the coffee shop is structurally sound, and permits were approved by the Town of Woodfin planning department in March to move forward with renovations.
High Five, at 2000 Riverside Dr., is slated to reopen in late spring/early summer.
Storm damage assessed at High Five Coffee at 2000 Riverside Drive in Woodfin after Tropical Storm Helene.
The downtown coffee shop at 13 Rankin Ave. reopened in December, and the flagship location at 190 Broadway St. reopened in October.
In October, Rice told Citizen Times that the coffee shop employed 20 workers at the three locations before Helene. The six Riverside employees were laid off.
Weatherly said he’s not concerned about future flooding as Helene was a “once-in-a-lifetime storm.” He said that the building was unscathed in previous significant flooding, like in 2004.
“My loss was great, as far as business and equipment, but I feel good about moving forward,” he said. “This was a 1,000-year flood, as most people are calling it, and even if we do get flooding and things change in the future, this building is placed high enough.”
He said he didn’t have flood insurance, and he and other Helene-impacted business owners in the Asheville area have unsuccessfully fought to receive insurance claim payouts for property, equipment and other damages.
“Even at my other two businesses, there were two months of business interruptions because there was no water to the city,” Weatherly said, referring to the water crisis that left Asheville without potable water for several weeks after the North Fork Reservoir was damaged during Helene.
He said High Five suffered significant hits financially and growth-wise.
Weatherly invested a hefty amount to source potable water for the Broadway coffee shop for several weeks until the boil water notice was lifted on Nov. 18. Services and offerings were limited to carryout coffee, and customer traffic drastically decreased. He said the business has experienced about a 60% decline in sales during Helene. The fourth quarter revenue loss resulted in an estimated 15% annual sales decline.
High Five Coffee on Riverside Drive in Woodfin post Tropical Storm Helene.
Weatherly said he’s optimistic about sales and customer volumes increasing in the spring, and the coffee shops’ hours are expanding.
He said loans and grants, such as from Mountain BizWorks and Lowe’s, contributed to the business’s survival. He’s concerned about larger businesses moving in on local businesses during recovery, but said the local community has shown great support during the healing stages.
“How we support the local economy, and continue to make sure that it is vibrant, is one of the most unique parts of this town, and it can easily be lost,” Weatherly said.
For more, visit highfivecoffee.com and follow @highfivecoffee on Instagram.
Moe’s Original BBQ coming back soon
Dave Rice, franchise owner of Moe’s Original BBQ at 1794 Asheville Highway, said the Hendersonville restaurant is undergoing extensive renovations and slated to reopen in mid- to late April.
For 12 years, the restaurant operated on Main Street downtown. It relocated and opened at the new address less than a month before Helene, which caused significant flooding of nearby waterways, including Brittain Creek by Patton Park. He said an estimated six feet of water was in the restaurant, destroying food, equipment, furnishings and other inventory.
Moe’s Original BBQ closed in the wake of Tropical Storm Helene in September 2024.
“The whole restaurant had to be taken down to the studs; all the drywall had to be ripped out. … Basically, starting everything from scratch,” Rice said.
Rice said the three to four weeks he opened at the new address resulted in some of the best sales in the business’s history. He said the response and support from customers motivated him to rebuild.
Moe’s Original BBQ’s food truck has operated in the restaurant’s parking lot since December.
“We wanted to keep our name out there and make sure everybody knew we were coming back and to stay relevant,” Rice said. “It’s been good. We’ve kept our regulars happy and fed, and we’re able to do a good bit of catering, as well. It’s gotten us through.”
Tropical Storm Helene caused havoc inside of Moe’s Original BBQ in Hendersonville.
Rice said before Helene, the restaurant employed 12 staff members, and about five were returned to operate the food truck and catering services.
Job openings will be posted closer to reopening.
“A big thanks to everybody that’s supported us,” Rice said. “We plan on being back this spring, better than ever, and picking up where we left off.”
For more, visit https://www.moesoriginalbbq.com/lo/hendersonville and https://www.facebook.com/MoesOriginalBBQHendersonvilleNC/.
Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Tips, comments, questions? Email tkennell@citizentimes.com or follow @PrincessOfPage on Instagram/Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Restaurants, bars, coffee shops seek revival six months after Helene
