New Mars Hill eatery offers New York-style pizza, burgers, chicken and more
MARS HILL - There aren't many spots to grab a pizza on a Friday night in Mars Hill, but with Jimmy's Munch Box opening this fall, a number of Madison County residents have made trips to the new eatery a weekly tradition.
Mars Hill resident Teresa Gosnell said she first visited Jimmy's Munch Box the week after it opened in October 2023.
"They have great pizza," Gosnell said. "Their pizza has a real thin crust, which you usually don't get around this area. It is the best. The best. It's like a New York-style pizza. I stop in here once a week and get a pizza so I don't have to cook on Fridays."
The restaurant manager is Lee Turner, who has crafted the pizza recipe throughout years of cooking.
"Lee, she has been in the pizza and food business for a pretty good while," owner Eddie Harwood said. "Her, and the other people that work there, they've all came from different places. Lee runs it, and a lot of the recipes, she's helped with. I've been on the road for 30 years working, so I know what's good and I know what's bad. That's why I wanted a certain kind of pizza, and we got it."
But pizza isn't the only menu option offered at the restaurant, which is located at 759 Carl Eller Road, behind the Subway. Out front of the restaurant is a smoker, which the team uses to smoke chicken wings, according to Harwood.
Jimmy's Munch Box also serves burgers, chicken, hot dogs, tots — including a tot-topped dish called 'totchos' — and more.
The restaurant name pays homage to the owner's father, Jimmy Harwood, according to owner Eddie Harwood of Barnardsville.
"No matter what, he always had a lunch box with him," Harwood said. "He was always carrying a bag full of biscuits or something that my mom had made, or always had a sandwich. He always had something. So, it was just 'Jimmy's Lunch Box,' but then somebody, I don't remember who it was, said, 'No, let's change it to Munch Box.' So that's how the name came about."
In keeping with the theme of his father's bagged lunch, Jimmy's offers daily bagged lunch-styled specials.
On Dec. 27, two of the offerings were the Brown Bag Burger, which features a hamburger with lettuce, tomato and onion, as well as a side of fries and a canned soda. The Brown Bag Chicken Tenders offer the same side and drink, and both are $7 before tax.
Affordability was one of the main considerations, according to Harwood.
"I've been in construction a long time, and I know a lot of people, they have to get something and get something in a hurry. For example, chicken wings has more than doubled in price since the day we opened," Harwood said. "So, when we were getting ready to open, I started thinking of my dad, and he always had those brown paper bags. I got to thinking, 'You know what, we're going to do something different.'"
Something different is exactly what Jimmy's Munch Box offers.
The restaurant has peanuts at each table for customers to snack on, a nod to eateries such as Texas Roadhouse.
"We're a little different. I'm different," Harwood said. "You know, you used to go to Texas Roadhouse and throw peanuts on the floor, and I just liked those peanuts. I thought while people were waiting on their food, they need something to do with their hands, because people will be looking at their phones or they'll be saying, 'Hey, why's my food not ready?'
"So, put something in their hand and let them just throw it to the floor, it doesn't matter. That's where it came from."
In December, the restaurant team acquired licenses to serve wine and beer, and added a bar.
According to the owner, despite the loose atmosphere, and though affordability was a main consideration, the quality of the product was equally important.
"Everything we have is handmade, except for the french fries, tater tots and the hot dogs," said Harwood, adding that the restaurant uses Nathan's hot dogs.
"People are getting it at the gas pumps, and whenever you go into buy a pound of butter at Ingles, it's $7. Whenever you go in to get anything, it's so damn expensive. I wanted to do it for $5, but there was just no way. I was hoping maybe if I give them a good deal here, maybe them and their wife or girlfriend will come later that evening and order a pizza because of the good deal at lunchtime."
When The News-Record & Sentinel visited Jimmy's Munch Box Dec. 22, the employees' rapport with the customers was on full display, as the staff both behind the counter and in the kitchen addressed each customer by their first names.
Harwood, who also owns The Barn at Paint Fork in Barnardsville, said the restaurant's friendly, small-town community environment was intentional.
"If you know me, even the people that work for me on the construction site, I've had some of the same guys with me for 25 years," Harwood said. "It's not about me. It's about the team that you build. So, Lee found the right people. So, whenever she found the right people to help her, they've bonded together, and they've been around each other for a while.
"It's like I told them, you leave your personal lives at the door, because when people come in here, that smile might make a difference on someone's face. I've had cancer three times. So, you don't know whenever you see somebody smile and you see somebody laughing and cutting up, it could help your day. That's the atmosphere I want."
Jimmy's Munch Box is open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. To contact the restaurant, call 828-680-1163 or visit www.jimmysmunchbox.com.
Johnny Casey has covered Madison County for The Citizen Times and The News-Record & Sentinel for nearly three years. He earned a first-place award in beat reporting in the 2023 North Carolina Press Association awards. He can be reached at 828-210-6071 or jcasey@citizentimes.com.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: New Mars Hill spot offers New York-style pizza, burgers, chicken, more
