Entry No. 30 — the Asheville file — filed under: speakeasy
Top of the Monk
The top floor of 92 Patton Avenue runs on old-school cocktail discipline: fresh-squeezed juice, house-made bitters, tinctures and shrubs, deliberate ice, and no soda gun in the building, backing what the bar calls Asheville's premier whiskey collection. Every cocktail arrives with a small key that opens one of the post-office lockboxes lining the wall, each hiding a snack. A rooftop patio looks out over the Patton Avenue rooflines to the mountains, and the house rules are enforced with a straight face — no parties of seven or more after 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, no hootin' n' hollerin', and bachelorette sashes, feather boas, and noisemakers get checked at the door. Because of North Carolina liquor law it operates as a private club, so your group's first dollar is technically a membership fee.
→ Three more hidden bars & speakeasies in Asheville — never the same twice
The story
92 Patton Avenue is a three-level argument about what a drink should be, run by Thirsty Monk, the beer bar Barry Bialik founded and has kept in Asheville for more than 14 years by the company's own count. The lower floors hold the Delirium Belgian Bar and the Holy Water hard seltzer brewpub. The top floor is Top of the Monk, which does not pour beer and does not pretend to. Because North Carolina liquor law treats it as a private club, the first dollar your group spends is a membership fee - a formality collected at the door.
The house method is stated plainly and then actually followed: freshly squeezed juices, house-made bitters, tinctures, infusions, drams, syrups, and shrubs, deliberate ice and glassware, and no mixers from a soda gun. Behind that sits what the bar calls Asheville's premier whiskey collection, poured neat for anyone who would rather not have it stirred. Every cocktail arrives with a small key, and the key opens one of the post-office boxes mounted on the wall, each holding a snack - spicy peanuts, an olive mix, brownie bites - which is a more entertaining delivery system for bar nuts than anyone strictly needed. A rooftop patio looks over the Patton Avenue rooflines to the mountains.
The house rules are posted without apology: no parties of seven or more after 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday; sashes, feather boas, and noisemakers get looked after at the door and returned on the way out; and, verbatim, no hootin n' hollerin. The one thing the bar is genuinely bad at is telling you when it is open - its own site posts at least three different schedules, variously giving Sunday as 4-10, 3-9, or 2-8, and Monday as open or absent. Tuesday appears in none of them. Doors at 4 p.m. is the only constant.
What it's like
You come in off Patton Avenue and go up, past two floors of beer, to a room deliberately quieter than the street below. A dollar per group buys the membership, and then you are a private-club member for the evening. Sit at the bar if you want to watch the build - measured, unhurried, no soda gun in sight - or take the rooftop patio for mountain views and sunset over downtown. Your first cocktail comes with a key; find its numbered post-office box on the wall and collect the snack inside. The room runs at conversation volume, so the bachelorette regalia goes to the door and the shouting stays outside. Groups of seven or more should land well before 7 p.m. on a Friday or Saturday, or not at all.
The move: Arrive at the 4 p.m. open for two seats at the bar, order one classic and one seasonal cocktail, swap keys so you each get a turn at the lockbox wall, then move to the rooftop patio for sunset over downtown — all before the weekend seven-person, seven-o'clock cutoff changes the room's temperature.
📍 Before you go $1-per-group membership at the door (NC private-club law). Doors around 4 p.m. and closed Tuesdays at minimum, but their own site posts three conflicting hour sets (some show closed Mon–Wed, Sunday opens as early as 2 p.m.) — call (828) 254-5470 before crossing town. No parties of 7+ after 7 p.m. Fri–Sat; party regalia gets coat-checked.
- 📍 Asheville
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 92 Patton Ave, Asheville, NC 28801
Hours: Added 2026-08-25 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- One World Brewing (downtown taproom) — The same block at 10 Patton, two floors underground instead of at the top of the building - a straight vertical double feature, with a stairwell and string lights instead of an elevator.
- The Crow & Quill — A five-minute walk to 106 N Lexington, opens at 5 p.m., and answers the whiskey claim with 1,200 spirits and 800-plus whiskeys by candlelight.
- Antidote at Chemist Spirits — The South Slope version of the same idea - another rooftop, another obsessive pour, except the gin was distilled downstairs and the doors open at 8 a.m. for coffee.
More weird in Asheville
Good to know
What is the membership fee about?
North Carolina liquor law leaves the bar operating as a private club, so it collects $1.00 per group at the door as a membership. It is a one-time formality for the visit, not a cover charge per head, and nobody is checking a card at the top of the stairs.
When is it actually open?
Call (828) 254-5470 before you cross town. The bar's own site posts at least three conflicting schedules - Sunday shows up as 4-10, 3-9, and 2-8 depending which block you read, and Monday is listed open in one and missing from another. Doors at 4 p.m. is consistent across all of them, and Tuesday appears in none, so treat Tuesday as closed.
Is there food?
Only what comes out of the lockboxes - your cocktail's key opens a post office box holding something like spicy peanuts, an olive mix, or brownie bites. Eat first. The lower floors of the same building pour beer and hard seltzer if the evening needs extending downward.
We are a bachelorette party. Are we welcome?
Sober-ly, yes. No parties of seven or more after 7 p.m. on Friday or Saturday, and sashes, feather boas, and noisemakers get checked at the door and handed back on your way out. The stated reason is that everyone else is trying to have a conversation. Arrive earlier in the evening and a large group is fine.
Can we sit outside?
There is a rooftop patio with views over the Patton Avenue rooflines to the mountains, and it is also where smokers end up, so pick your seat accordingly. It is the reason to arrive near the 4 p.m. open in summer rather than after dark.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · thirsty-monk-brewery.square.site · smokymountains.com
last checked: 2026-08-25