Good Neighbor Podcast: TN-WNC-SWVA

EP#333: A small kitchen proves scratch-made comfort food can thrive in the most unlikely place

• Skip Mauney & Jamie Wade • Episode 333

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If you think great food can’t come from a gas station, prepare to be delighted. We sit down with chef-owner Jamie Wade of Sand Hill Kitchen in West Asheville to unpack how a tiny BP kitchen turned into a beloved neighborhood staple—one buttermilk-fried chicken sandwich at a time. Jamie shares the origin story, from spotting a fully built kitchen inside a station to taking the leap into ownership and building a menu that’s all scratch, all made to order, and all heart.

We dive into the craft behind Sand hill’s award-winning fried chicken sandwich—house pickles, Duke’s mayo, herbs, and cheddar—and why simple, disciplined execution beats gimmicks every day. Jamie walks us through the rest of the lineup too: a Reuben with layers done right, burgers with clean sear and seasoning, chicken salad with honest flavor, and breakfast anchored by deep-fried grit cakes and house-made sausage. Along the way, we talk about the myths of “gas-station food,” the importance of trusting your palate, and how small kitchens can deliver big hospitality with consistency and care.

The conversation also turns to resilience and community. After Helene’s impact on Western North Carolina, Sand Hill Kitchen adapted—hauling and boiling water, sourcing safely, and keeping service going for DOT crews, linemen, and neighbors who needed a reliable meal. Jamie’s commitment to addressing food insecurity in Asheville—and her steady presence during a difficult year—highlights what it means to be a true good neighbor. If you’re cruising off I-40 near the corner of Sardis and Sand Hill roads, this is the stop that proves craft can live anywhere.

Follow Sand Hill Kitchen on Instagram at Sand Hill Kitchen AVL and on Facebook at Sand Hill Kitchen for daily specials and updates. If this story made you hungry—or gave you a new way to think about local food—subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a quick review so more neighbors can find us.

SPEAKER_00:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Skip Money.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, everyone, and welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. So we are very excited today to have a special guest in the studio with us who's first time here. So we're thrilled to have them and excited to learn all about their business. And I'm sure you will be too because today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Miss Jamie Wade, who is the owner-operator of Sand Hills Kitchen. Jamie, welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_01:

Hi, thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, like I said, we're super excited to uh to have you and uh to learn all about you and your business. So if you don't mind, why don't you kick us off by telling us about Sand Hills Kitchen?

SPEAKER_01:

Sure. Uh Sand Hill Kitchen is located inside a BP gas station in uh West Asheville. It's on the edge of West Asheville and Candler, right outside of Asheville. And we have been in business for uh we're going on nine years now. We started in 2017 and uh we do breakfast and lunch.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, very nice, very nice. Making me hungry. It's about that time. So uh tell us about your journey, Jamie. How did you start it in 2017? Congratulations, by the way. How did uh how did you get uh to where you are in the restaurant business?

SPEAKER_01:

Uh well I started uh working in the restaurants uh long, long, long time ago. And I moved to Asheville around uh 2012 or so, and I lived out here in in Canler, and uh I was looking around, uh I was working, you know, jobs here and there, but I was uh just living in this neighborhood, I saw a need for a good place for the local people to eat. And uh this gas station had a business in it, it had a full kitchen in it, and uh I just sort of started you know thinking about it and I inquired about it. And I met a gentleman who uh was brokering restaurants and and uh he put together a deal for me and I bought it in uh late 2016.

SPEAKER_02:

Very good, very good. So uh let's see so that's what you said nine years going on nine years or eight, eight years. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, is that right? Yeah, yeah. We're at about eight and a half years now.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, there we go. Well, congratulations, nothing to sneeze at. No, so uh what are some myths or misconceptions in the restaurant business that you can think of?

SPEAKER_01:

Um, well, in uh you know, speaking of Sandhill Kitchen itself, being in a gas station, I think it's uh a bit of an anonymous anomaly that we uh make we make everything from scratch there. So I think people often come and think that it's just gonna be, you know, food under heat lamps and things like that. But we make everything to order, everything's made from scratch, so we're a real functioning kitchen. Uh and so people I think don't expect that sometimes when they come to see us, but we're doing it in a very small space, you know. So I think that's that's a big misconception. People expect something different.

SPEAKER_02:

I would agree. Uh, one of my favorite restaurants actually is in a gas station not too far from my house, and they make everything from scratch as well. So I'm uh I'm really I love them, their food's great, so I'm trying to support them as much as I can. Because you're right. A lot of people think, oh, it's a gas station, it's gonna be, you know, uh potato wedges and fried chicken, you know, that's under the left all day. But that's not the case.

SPEAKER_01:

Now we do fry a lot of chicken, but we fry it all to order.

SPEAKER_02:

So there you go. There you go. That's the difference. So uh when you're not cooking and working, what do you like to do for fun, Jamie?

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, you know, this and that. I have a daughter who's in college and boone, so I try to hang out with her when I can. And uh basically, uh, you know, I I'm kind of a homebody. I like to relax at home and read and work in my garden and stuff like that. And I also do a lot of work with uh uh addressing uh food insecurity here in Asheville, so that takes up a lot of my spare time.

SPEAKER_02:

Um good mountaineers, yeah. Your daughter, your daughter, my daughter graduated from Ap State. Is that where she is?

SPEAKER_01:

She's oh yeah, yeah, yeah. She's in her third year. So it's nice because it's so close to Asheville, you know.

SPEAKER_02:

And it's it's beautiful and it's a lot of fun. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

She's having she's having it for her, yeah. A lot more fun for her than it is for me, probably.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, yeah, I I get that totally. My daughter graduated last last spring.

SPEAKER_01:

So it's great. Congratulations.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, thank you. Thank you, congratulations to you too. So um if you could think of um well uh a um hardship or life challenge that you've overcome uh and came out the other side stronger, does anything come to mind?

SPEAKER_01:

Uh sure, sure. I think the first thing that comes to mind is uh the experience of of Helene here in Asheville. That was a really difficult uh experience for everyone in our area. And we just passed the one-year mark this weekend, and uh that was challenging on a lot of levels. Um in the restaurant, you know, we didn't have running water for quite some time. So there was a point where the health department uh would let you open if you could prove a clean water source, and so that was a lot of hauling water and finding water and you know, boiling water and getting back to uh, you know, you know, maintaining levels of sanitation in that environment that you know, in that situation was was challenging, and uh getting deliveries in was challenging. All of it was. Uh luckily, all of my staff was okay. We had one person lose their home, but everybody else was okay. And um, so that that was a lot to go through. And uh we were lucky in that because of our clientele. We had a lot of people in town working for the DOT, working with the uh, you know, the linemen, all kinds of people. So they uh they I think they uh appreciated the fact that we could be open for them and serve them, and we were glad to do it. So we got through it.

SPEAKER_02:

So got through it here here you are today, a year later, which is crazy. I was just telling my wife, uh, we got hit pretty hard here too, but we were very fortunate uh at my house. But we uh uh you know it's kind of surreal that it's it's been a year, and she said, Well, I can't believe it's been a year. And I was I felt the other way, I felt like it had been a lot longer, like just the the devastation, and I don't know, it just seemed like it was a long time ago.

SPEAKER_01:

It does a lot of it seems like you know, it was ages and ages ago, but then I mean it's been a very long year, but then when you you know drive through areas on the outskirts of Ashville's Wananoa or Black Mountain, you know, other places around, it's just still, you know, just so much work to be done and so many repairs, and uh a lot of people waiting for you know financial assistance or waiting for what they need so that they can take care of their properties. And so it's uh it's definitely not over.

SPEAKER_02:

Not over, but very heartwarming to see Western North Carolina, Asheville region, uh East Tennessee also uh just you know how neighbors helping neighbors coming out to support each other, like what you're doing, uh, you know, is just amazing to me. Yeah, so uh 100 absolutely. So, Jamie, if you could if you could think of one thing you would like our listeners and viewers to remember about you and Sand Hills Kitchen, what would that be?

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, just that we're there, we're not far off of I-40, and uh we are open five days a week, and uh we love to have people come in who have heard about us through different means, you know, reviews or um podcasts like this, and come in and say, Hey, I heard you on the good neighbors podcast, and so I was interested in trying your award-winning fried chicken or your Ruben or your burger. You know, we love we love it when that happens, just as much as we love to serve our locals, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Awesome. Well, I'll I'll be for sure telling you I heard you on the Good Neighbor podcast, and I want to talk, I want to talk about your award-winning fried chicken. What's your specialty? Is there something that really stands out that uh that you you're proud of as far as food?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, sure. I mean, all of our food is is pretty good, but I mean really good. But we have uh we have been recognized the most for our fried chicken sandwich, and it was featured in our state magazine a couple years ago, and that was a real boost to our business. And so it's buttermilk fried chicken. We make our homemade pickles and put on there, herbs, uh Duke's mayonnaise, and uh cheddar cheese. And we sell a ton of them. And we also sell we make a great Reuben, and uh, we have burgers, we have a chicken salad, all those things, and then we also do breakfast, and we're kind of known for our deep-fried grit cakes, which are real cheesy and and uh really special. So we make our own breakfast sausage for that dish and the bowl of goodness.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh wow, wow. Okay, you're making me hungry now. So I knew that was gonna happen. So, for those of us who are interested and uh want to come check you guys out, how can we learn more?

SPEAKER_01:

Uh, you can check us out. Uh, we post our specials every day, we cross post them. It's Sandhill Kitchen AVL on Instagram. It's important to put that AVL at the end because our original Instagram uh was hacked and it's still out there, but it's not our page. So Sandhill Kitchen AVL, and then on Facebook at Sandhill Kitchen. And so we put all of our information out on a daily basis there.

SPEAKER_02:

All right, looking for those specials and thinking about that chicken sandwich.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, it's good stuff.

SPEAKER_02:

Good stuff, good stuff. Well, Jamie, I can't tell you how much we appreciate you uh taking time out of your busy schedule. Um, sure it's getting close to lunchtime, so you are you guys open today?

SPEAKER_01:

No, we're not. We just prep on Mondays, so we got people in there working right now.

SPEAKER_02:

Gotcha. Okay, good. Good. Well, appreciate you taking time out of your prep schedule to uh tell us all about Sand Hills Kitchen and the delicious uh food that you guys are uh cooking out there. So we want to encourage our our listeners and and uh viewers to get out to Sand Hills Kitchen in West Asheville, right? And yep, check it out.

SPEAKER_01:

The corner starters and sandhill roads, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Very good. Sorry, all right, okay. Well, thanks again. Appreciate you being here, and uh, we'd love to have you back sometime.

SPEAKER_01:

Very much thanks for having me. Appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02:

Absolutely, like I said, we'll we'll try to have you back sometime.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, thank you.

SPEAKER_00:

All right, you have a great day. Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNP Try Dash Cities dot com. That's GNP Try Dash Cities dot com or call four two three seven one nine five eight seven three.