Mountain Madre

Mountain Madre is a Mexican kitchen and agave bar at 13 W Walnut Street in downtown Asheville, owned by Danny and Paige Scully, who describe the intention behind it simply as bringing families and friends together. The kitchen backs that up with a genuinely family-shaped menu — empanadas at $14, chorizo-stuffed avocado at $18, a guacamole flight at $16, downtown street tacos at $15, smoked brisket tacos at $17, enchiladas at $21 and carne asada at $34, alongside a real children's menu rather than a token one. It serves from 11am Tuesday through Saturday and from noon on Sundays. Like most of downtown, it was closed by Hurricane Helene in late September 2024 and came back on reduced hours before returning to a full schedule.

The non-alcoholic drinks are worth being precise about, because the menu contains a trap for the unwary. The zero-proof drinks live in their own clearly headed section called "0% ABV Cocktails", and all three are built on Seedlip rather than on juice: the Prickly Pear ($13) with Seedlip Notas de Agave, fresh lime and agave; the Spicy Fuego ($15) with Seedlip Garden 108, a habanero pineapple syrup and lime; and the Spiced Violet ($16) with Seedlip Spice 94, blackberry syrup and lime. Those are the drinks to order. Two other drinks — a Blackberry Smoke and a Spice of Life — have circulated online, including previously on this page, as though they were the non-alcoholic options. They are not. Both appear only in the Margaritas section of the bar's own menu and both are full-strength: the Blackberry Smoke is built on Mezcal Union at $16, and the Spice of Life on Astral Blanco tequila at $15. If you are avoiding alcohol, ask for one of the three by name from the 0% ABV list rather than describing a flavour.