If you spend enough time in the River Arts District, you start to smell it before you see it. It isn't that cloying, artificial garlic scent that wafts out of most chain pizza joints. No. This is different. It’s the smell of woodsmoke and fermented grain. This is All Souls Pizza Asheville, a spot that has somehow managed to stay cool without ever actually trying to be.
It's tucked away at 175 Clingman Avenue. You’ve probably driven past it looking for parking near the Wedge or headed toward the French Broad River. Honestly, if you didn’t know it was there, you might mistake the building for just another industrial relic of Asheville’s past. But inside, it’s a temple to the "old ways" of making food.
The Obsession with the Grain
Most pizza places buy bags of flour. They call a distributor, a truck drops off twenty sacks of refined white powder, and that’s that. All Souls doesn't play that game. They have a mill. An actual stone mill right there in the building.
Brendan Reusing and David Bauer, the minds behind this operation, decided early on that the soul of the pizza—pun intended—was the wheat itself. They source heirloom grains. They talk about "Red Fife" and "Turkey Red" wheat with the kind of intensity most people reserve for their firstborn children. Because they mill the flour in-house, the germ and the bran stay intact.
This matters. It’s why the crust isn't just a vessel for cheese; it’s a fermented, charred, complex piece of bread that stands on its own. It’s nutty. It’s toothsome. It feels like real food.
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Not Just Your Standard Pepperoni
You won't find a "Meat Lover's Delight" here. Sorry. What you will find are toppings that change because the seasons change. It's a cliché in the culinary world to say "farm-to-table," but at All Souls Pizza Asheville, it's just the baseline.
- The Clam Pie: This is the one people whisper about. It’s got chopped clams, heavy cream, garlic, and chili flakes. It is salty, briny, and deeply satisfying.
- Polenta Crust: For the gluten-sensitive or just the curious, their polenta crust isn't a sad substitute. It’s a revelation. It’s crispy on the edges and soft in the middle, providing a totally different landscape for the toppings.
- The Salads: Calling them salads feels like an insult. They are seasonal compositions of whatever is popping up in Western North Carolina soil at that exact moment.
The menu is small. That’s a good thing. It means they aren't trying to be everything to everyone. They are just trying to be the best version of themselves. Sometimes that means a pizza with stinging nettles. Sometimes it means local sausage and fermented peppers. It’s unpredictable in the best way possible.
The Vibe is Pure Asheville
There is a patio. It’s gravel. It has picnic tables. In the summer, the sun hits it just right, and you can sit there with a glass of natural wine or a local lager and watch the neighborhood drift by. It feels lived-in.
It’s the kind of place where you see families with toddlers sharing a Margherita pie alongside couples on a third date trying to look sophisticated while getting flour on their shirts. It’s loud but not deafening. It’s busy but rarely frantic.
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One thing you need to know: they don't take reservations. If you show up at 6:30 PM on a Friday, you’re going to wait. Put your name in, walk down to the river, or just hang out. It's worth the 45-minute lag.
The Science of the Wood Fire
They use a wood-fired oven. This isn't just for aesthetics. The high heat—we're talking 700 to 800 degrees—does something specific to that house-milled dough. It creates "leopard spotting," those little charred bubbles on the crust. It cooks the pizza in about two minutes.
This rapid cook time preserves the moisture in the dough while crisping the outside. If you use a standard deck oven, you often end up with a cracker or a soggy loaf. The wood fire at All Souls adds a layer of carbon and smoke that balances the sweetness of the tomato sauce.
Why People Get It Wrong
People often go to All Souls expecting "New York Style" or "Neapolitan." It isn't really either. It’s "Asheville Style," if we have to give it a label. The crust is sturdier than a Neapolitan pie—it doesn't have that "soupy" center—but it's more artisanal than a New York slice.
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If you go in expecting a greasy $2 slice that you can fold in half, you might be disappointed. This is food you sit down for. You use a knife and fork if you want. You savor the bitterness of the greens and the funk of the local cheeses.
Practical Advice for Your Visit
Don't just order a pizza and leave. The small plates are often where the real magic happens.
- Check the specials board. Seriously. That’s where the weird, hyper-seasonal stuff lives. If there’s a dish with kohlrabi or local mushrooms, get it.
- Try the bread plate. It sounds silly to pay for bread at a pizza place, but remember: they mill the flour. Their house-made bread with butter is a masterclass in fermentation.
- Parking is a nightmare. The lot is tiny. Be prepared to park a block or two away and walk. It’s the River Arts District; walking is part of the experience.
- Drink the wine. Their wine list is curated with a focus on sustainable and biodynamic producers. These wines have an acidity that cuts right through the richness of the cheese.
The Sustainability Factor
All Souls isn't just about taste. They are part of a larger ecosystem in Asheville that supports local millers and farmers. When you eat here, your money isn't disappearing into a corporate void. It’s going to the guy who grew the grain and the woman who made the goat cheese. This regional food system is fragile, and places like All Souls are the anchors that keep it steady.
Final Actionable Insights
If you’re planning a trip to Asheville or you’re a local who has been sleeping on this spot, here is how to handle it:
- Go Early or Late: To avoid the peak dinner rush, aim for an early 5:00 PM dinner or a later 8:30 PM bite.
- The Takeout Strategy: Their pizza travels surprisingly well because the crust is so hearty. If the wait is too long, grab a box and head to one of the nearby breweries that allows outside food.
- Embrace the "Odd" Toppings: Skip the plain cheese one time. Try the pizza with the weirdest sounding ingredient on the menu. You’ll usually find it’s the most balanced dish on the table.
All Souls Pizza Asheville remains a cornerstone of the city’s food scene not because it’s trendy, but because it is fundamentally grounded in quality ingredients and honest techniques. It is a reminder that even something as simple as a pizza can be elevated to an art form when you start with the grain.