Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05

Bayou Smokehouse and Grill and General Store—Southern Louisiana and Southern Texas Cooking Meets The Mountains

Story by Sam Calhoun

“Like most places in Louisiana, we are a restaurant that serves drinks—not a bar that serves food,” said Winston Ammann, co-owner of Bayou Smokehouse and Grill and General Store, 130 Main Street in Banner Elk.

“In southern Texas and southern Louisiana, everything is done around food and drink. Everyone who has a business has a kitchen in the business,” said Winston’s husband and co-owner Dave, who was born in southern Texas and raised in southern Louisiana. “You just grow up around food; everything’s centered around food.”

So it seemed only fitting that when Dave left Louisiana and his job in the oil industry in 1986 that he started a life in the food and beverage industry.

“When the oil industry went bad in the 1980s, Winston convinced me to come up here,” said Dave.

Well, he didn’t come up here in 1986; he actually moved to Charlotte and opened Bayou Kitchen—a restaurant and catering service that for 18 years made a name for itself in the Queen City as the place to eat real Cajun food. Bayou Kitchen was very successful, catering for NASCAR events, the Carolina Panthers Stadium and the media grand opening for the Concord Mills Mall.

During that period, Dave and Winston spent their winters in the High Country and planned to retire in the region after their two boys—Ryan, 24, and Lee, 18—graduated from high school. But after Ryan began attending ASU, Lee—who with his brother was very active on the Sugar Mountain Ski Team—felt comfortable moving to the High Country a little early.

A little more than four years ago, the Ammann clan packed their belongings and made a permanent move to the High Country, settling in the Village of Sugar Mountain. Within a few months, the Bayou Smokehouse and Grill opened its doors. Since then, Ryan graduated from ASU and is now an employee of BB&T Bank and Lee is currently attending Mars Hill College.

And the parents? Well, they are doing what they love and what they are good at—serving high-quality southern Louisiana and southern Texas food while making new friends every day.

Bayou Smokehouse and Grill is a New Orleans style restaurant, said Dave, serving primarily Cajun food reminiscent of the varieties found in southern Texas and southern Louisiana. The Louisiana-style recipes come from Dave’s mother and the famous barbecue recipes come from Dave’s father. The other tastes come from recipes picked up from friends along the way.

“It’s as authentic as it can be,” said Dave. “But it’s southern Louisiana cooking as opposed to New Orleans-style cooking—most people don’t know the difference.”

With 60 seats and roughly 20 employees, Bayou Smokehouse and Grill is a casual restaurant in the heart of Banner Elk. At any time of the day, locals are socializing at the bar, vacationers are enjoying the food on the large decks and local workers scurry in and out on their lunch breaks. Lunch prices are between $6 and $8 and dinners run between $10 and $12. Specials are popular with locals, such as the All-You-Can-Eat Ribs on Thursdays and Make-Your-Own Bloody Mary Bar on Sundays.

The menu features Dave’s famous Texas-style beef barbecue, crawfish etoufée and Dave’s even-more-famous gumbo. Dave has taught many chefs over the years to prepare his specialties but he has never relinquished control over the gumbo preparation. If you order the gumbo at Bayou, you can bet Dave made it—no exceptions.

Servers take all the orders at Bayou by hand without the aid of computers. This method, according to Winston, makes it easier for the restaurant to accommodate special orders, customers with specific allergies and vegetarians.

“Nothing is more important that keeping our customers happy,” said Winston.

Dave and his chefs make their own burgers, cut their own meat and make all of their own sauces.

And don’t think that every dish at Bayou is outrageously hot because of the restaurant’s Cajun lineage. Only a small portion of the menu will clear your sinuses for three days, said Winston.

Dave and Winston pride themselves on being able to adapt to all four seasons of the High Country, as well as being able to take care of the local population.

“When we started this place, we wanted to be a place where the locals come, because if the locals would come then the tourists would come,” said Winston. “And they have. One reason is that people can count on us being open seven days a week.”

Another reason is the addition of the Bayou General Store. More than a year ago, shortly after Banner Elk’s Bottles—a beer and liquor store—closed its doors at the same location—directly behind Bayou—Dave and Winston took over the space as a storage for their immense beer and wine supply. Soon, after many customers expressed their regret that Bottles was gone, the Ammanns saw an opportunity and opened the General Store.

Today, the General Store offers a wide variety of merchandise including one of the most robust beer and wine selections in the region. More than 100 beers from around the world fill the coolers and each is individually priced so customers can design their own 6-packs.

“Folks love that,” said Winston. “It’s a customer-designed store.”

Loads of limited production wines from around the world sit across from the beer and they carry “good price points,” added Winston. The store is also filled with many local products, artwork and furniture, as well as knickknacks for the holidays, sundry items and fine food products.

“We’re a fun place to be,” said Winston. We have a great staff—our core group of employees, some have been here for four years.”

“We enjoy what we’re doing. We enjoy everyone who comes in,” said Dave, who added that Winston quickly learns the name of everyone who comes in.

The Ammanns have no plans to leave Banner Elk any time soon.

“We love it here,” said Dave. “This is a great place and a great place to raise kids.”

The Bayou Smokehouse and Grill and General Store is located at 130 Main Street in downtown Banner Elk. The kitchen opens at 11:30 a.m. seven days per week and remains open late on Fridays and Saturdays, sometimes on weekdays as well during ski season. For more information, call the Smokehouse and Grill at 828-898-8952 or the General Store at 828-898-8953 or click to www.bayousmokehouse.com.