Asheville's Adult Scene Is Smaller Than You'd Guess

For a town with Asheville's reputation for being weird, open, and late-night friendly, the formal adult entertainment scene is genuinely small. Buncombe County zoning has kept strip clubs pushed out of downtown and the South Slope entirely, so what exists is a handful of gentleman's clubs on the commercial stretches near the edges of the city — industrial-area venues that cater mostly to regulars and out-of-town contractors.

North Carolina law restricts full nudity in establishments that serve alcohol, which means the spots that exist are either BYOB with full nudity or traditional topless-only clubs with a full bar. Know which format you're walking into before you go.

There's more burlesque than there are strip clubs. The Orange Peel and smaller rooms host touring burlesque revues that pack houses — that's the town's actual appetite for the form.