Cucina 24

This is a great restaurant, with atypically authentic Italian cuisine. In my opinion, the best approach is to order Family Style vs a la carte. This ensures plenty of food and a complete experience.

I don't feel like portion against dollar, Cucina is the best value in Asheville, but that's not what the experience is meant to be. It's a unique dining experience and absolutely worth the price of admission. The negative reviews I've read on Yelp seem to be from people who don't have familiarity with or a taste for food of this caliber.

Major disappointment. I really try to avoid negative reviews when I travel -- maybe they were having a bad night? But this many negatives earns a warning to others to avoid this place.
First a positive: called when our connecting flight was delayed to try and be considerate. There's a $25 charge per person. No problem. My bad luck. But then flight changes -- we can make it!!! I call back and they say table given away. Darn this place is popular!
Then ok we can accommodate you. Very nice.
Once we arrive the hostess is not there. Then she shows up without saying anything and types on her computer for ten minutes. Once finally seated I realize how many empty seats are available. You can accommodate us??? You sure can.
Unenthusiastic waitress starts by saying the pasta dish is unavailable. At 7:30??? Then she leaves.
They are making pizza right in front of us in the coal oven. Kids want pizza. NOPE. Not allowed to order from adjoining sister restaurant. What if I go get it and they eat pizza while we eat and drink off menu. NOPE
ok my daughter likes Caesar salad but you don't have one. Waitress recommends their version. My wife and I and daughter couldn't eat more than one bite. INEDIBLE. Clearly untouched and the waitress asks if we want a box??? A restaurant that charges for late cancellation should offer to take it off the bill. No such courtesy.
My wife ordered pasta with shrimp. Not w she's picky and didn't like it. Do I try it. Again inedible. Now maybe because I'm from Florida and can appreciate good seafood, but your dish should not have the fishy taste of week old shrimp. Untouched. Waitress asks if we want a box.
WOW
DO NOT COME HERE.
Way too many great local spots in Asheville to eat.

This charming Italian restaurant does not disappoint! We sat at the bar & our server Dave took excellent care of us . Dave was attentive & knowledgeable.
We Both enjoyed pasta specialties , the entrees were outstanding.
Very cozy & inviting , we could have stayed all night .

Sat at the bar. Ask for the bartenders recommendation for pasta. It was amazing. He recommended the tagliatelle. Fresh homemade pasta, delicious beef & porcini ragu. The wine pairing was perfect.

Our 2nd night in AVL. Sat at the Chef's counter, they were very busy, mostly making pizza's in the fiery oven in front of us, for their sister restaurant next door. We ate lite, sharing the fabulous savoy cabbage with black garlic & walnut salad (one of my favorite dishes of the week), a generous bowl of castelvetrano olives & one delicious pasta dish, little stuffed purses "Agnolotti" with chicken confit, broccoli & basil..all delicious, highly recommended (make a reservation)
This was not a restaurant that as many folks knew about when they asked us where we had been so far, but I can say that it was one of my favorites.

We visited for the first time this week - it's tucked away on Wall St. in downtown Asheville. For a Tuesday night, the restaurant was bustling with people, which is always nice to see. Great ambiance!

I can't speak highly enough about the food at Cucina 24! We ordered the focaccia and olives to start - the focaccia was so delicious we ended up ordering two rounds of it! I ordered the pappardelle ragu and my partner ordered the shrimp pasta for our entrees - both pasta dishes were incredible! Definitely some of the best Italian food I've had.

Docking one star for the service - our server wasn't super attentive - with an entirely Italian menu, some interpretation and guidance is always helpful and appreciated.

This is a hard reservation to get at times and for good reason. The food is outstanding. My companion had a question about wine and the sommelier could not have been more courteous. He helped us choose a perfect wine. We had the duck liver toast which was rich and a perfect start. I saw the focaccia on other people's tables and ordered it- I have to say $8.00 for a few pieces of focaccia and olive oil feels a bit gougey. The pasta I chose was a duck leg tortellini (actual name of noodles was something else) and it was easily the most delicious food I have eaten in recent memory. Crispy sage is incredible and the pasta was so fresh. We were too full for dessert but they all sounded great.

On this Asheville visit, I looked for restaurants who've won or been nominated for the James Beard Awards.

For Monday evening, I selected Cucina24 as its chef was a Beard Southeast semi finalist in 2016.

Having had great experiences at the Chef's Table at other restaurants, I opted for seating there.

Now I know why it's called a Kitchen Counter. You don't get to talk with the Chef. Rather you watch the guy who makes the pizza for Cucina's sister restaurant. Maybe it should be called the Pizza Counter. Fortunately, there was no extra charge to sit there.

We started with the Focaccia, which was delish, but not warmed. Dipping it in olive oil was devine.

The Mozzarella Di Bufala and Yellowtail Crudo were awesome.

Cat, our server, told us the pasta dishes can be served as half portions. That is not listed on the menu.

We ordered halves of the Pappardelle and the Ricotta Gnocchi. The Gnocchi was a tad salty, but packed some heat! The Pappardelle was spot-on!

I ordered the Branzino as our only entree based on multiple recommendations. It's cooked by the pizza guy in his oven. Great texture and flavor. But watch for some small bones. The green beans that accompany it were just so-so.

One thing that seemed lacking was energy in this place. That usually comes from lots of diners having a great time.

A great place for our dinner! Our server, Evan, was top notch. He was very knowledgeable and patient with us too. All of the pasta dishes were phenomenal and house made. I tasted each one of my friend's dishes. I split the gnocchi and it was the perfect amount after our appetizers too. This left room to try several deserts and the Budino was our favorite. We couldn't get behind the walnut cake as it had a strong cheese icing. It was unexpected in flavor and we felt a marscapone would have fit it better. We also tried the fig dessert and again, lacking in the wow factor for us.

Fantastic evening! We opted for just ordering al la cart because we were offered a tasting menu that sounded amazing we just didn't want all that good to go to waste. The pasta was so fresh and our favorite thing of the night was the eggplant caponata. All in all a perfect Italian evening !