I pass Jettie Rae’s anytime I’m driving downtown, and at dinnertime, I always slow-roll by the patio, trying not to stare too obviously to spot what people ordered. This is especially true if Jettie Rae’s is hosting one of its garden parties, low--country boils spread across long tables, crab legs, shrimp, corn, sausage. It’s like a neighborhood party you weren’t invited to, until you realize you can just park and join them.
After opening in the summer of 2020, Jettie Rae’s has become Asheville’s answer to an upscale Charleston-style seafood joint. Chef and owner Eric Scheffer, of Vinnie’s Neighborhood Italian, built the place on an old-fashioned premise: honest food done well. That translates to a menu where oysters are treated with respect—raw, grilled, or baked Bienville-style with butter and breadcrumbs—and where composed fresh-catch dishes sit comfortably alongside po’ boys stacked to the point where you’ll be pulling fried shrimp out before you can manage a bit. The raw bar is the heartbeat here, changing with the tides, but the kitchen carries the same energy through seasonal fish specials.
Inside, the dining room is as polished as you’d expect from a Charleston-esque spot, but it’s the patio that does it for me. There’s something about seafood eaten outdoors that feels like a minor act of rebellion in the mountains. The only sound missing is the ocean.
Asheville has no shortage of inventive restaurants, but Jettie Rae’s pulls off something harder. It delivers the classic comforts of a coastal seafood house without ever feeling like a knockoff. If you manage to snag one of those patio tables, don’t be surprised if passing drivers envy you, too.