At the Salty Goat Grill in Western North Carolina, residents come in for coffee and community

At the Salty Goat Grill in Leicester on Wednesday morning, few things were as in demand as a steaming hot cup of coffee.

“I hadn’t had coffee in five days, so I was having a caffeine fix,” said Diane Smith, a 76-year-old lifelong resident of the township. Only a few hash browns were left on her otherwise empty plate — a warm meal that was a far cry from the tomato sandwiches and bananas she’s been eating at home, which is still without power.

Leicester, an unincorporated community of over 21,000 people according to the 2020 Census , is located approximately 15 miles northwest of Asheville. Compared to much of Western North Carolina, the semi-rural area escaped the worst of the flooding from Hurricane Helene.

Still, power, water and internet are patchy.

No one interviewed for this story had all three, with the exception of the Salty Goat Grill itself. Located in the heart of the township’s main street, New Leicester Highway, the Grill only lost power for two days, co-owner Erin Vazquez told CharlotteFive. And even then, the generators kept the fridges running.

Vazquez and her husband, Rick, who worked at the grill under the previous owners, have owned the former Smokey Mountain Diner for the last two years. Normally, the menu is quintessential diner-style, offering everything from biscuits and gravy in the morning to steak for dinner.

But nothing is normal now. Though operating on a limited menu, the Grill is busier than usual, with people coming from devastated places like Swannanoa and Black Mountain just to get a hot meal and a dose of normalcy.

Other options in the area, which unlike Asheville is not chock full of restaurants on every corner, include Shorties BBQ, serving food for free or donations and Grateful Roots Market & Deli. The latter store usually serves Amish meats and cheeses from Ohio but have exhausted their inventory. (On its Facebook page, Grateful Roots said that the restaurant plans to help residents in Marshall, a hard-hit town approximately 12 miles north of the deli.)

Food supply challenges in Western North Carolina

The biggest issue for the Salty Goat has been food, but Vazquez said they have been lucky. Rick Vazquez drove to Johnson City, Tennessee to purchase as many groceries as he could fit in his van, and a customer named Calvin drove north to Tennessee to bring them supplies. Their usual food procurer, Mike Doyle, not only helped them with supplies but also volunteered in the kitchen and washed dishes.

“We have three items in the morning and three items at lunch, and then we’re trying to do a little bit of dinner for the locals. And then we just do it till we run out,”Vazquez said. That morning, the menu offered biscuits and gravy, pancakes with eggs and bacon, and an egg and cheese biscuit with sausage or bacon.

Despite its relative good fortune, Leicester is not back to normal.

Smith finally managed to get gas after three days of trying, waking up before 6 a.m. to get in line. Diners came in hoping to charge phones on the diner’s few available outlets. And while Keith Curry, who retired here with his wife from upstate New York eight years ago, has power and water, he doesn’t have internet — and doesn’t expect to have it for at least a week.

Curry is a regular at the Salty Goat, coming in at least twice a week. He lives in the same community as Dani Walker, one of the waitresses. As he finished his coffee, wearing a dark blue cap with the words “Life Is Good” printed on it, he had a to-go bag with a biscuit for his wife, who was at home with a knee injury.

“We love this area. Love the community,” he said. “This is a godsend right here, this little restaurant.”

For Vazquez, though, it’s the first responders who are the real heroes, including her brother who is a firefighter. “They’re putting their lives at risk for so many people,” she said.

Even though the diners are emotional after days without power, water and ways to connect with loved ones, their thoughts are with those who have lost so much more. Including the couple that owned the Salty Goat previously, who went on to open a restaurant in Hot Springs.

Vazquez has heard no news of them yet, though she assumes that their new restaurant, at the very least, is gone.

Anything else people should know? “That we’re open,” Walker said, coffee pot in hand, searching for an empty mug.