News

DISH ON DINING: Honey Creemee, Zelda’s speakeasy, family grill, Cajun cooking

By AMY B. MCCRAW and DYLAN SHEEHAN, Published: June 27, 2026

A honey of an ice cream shop that serves summer camp kids and counselors, tourists and local folks, a speakeasy in a historic inn, a Cajun spot downstairs downtown and a South Main Street bar and grill made family friendly are among new offerings for treat seekers and diners this summer.

Here’s our latest installment of Dish on Dining, a look at what’s new in Hendersonville and Flat Rock.

 

Honey Creemee on Little Rainbow Row

Visitors to Flat Rock’s Little Rainbow Row this summer are discovering a new ice cream shop serving unique, honey-infused treats made with local ingredients.

“This being Bee City USA, there is so much honey,” said Will Hayes, who recently opened the Hey Chickadee shop on Greenville Highway with his wife Meagan. “I said, ‘Why don’t we do a Honey Creemee?’”

Hey Chickadee operated out of a food trailer for a little more than three years before moving into the building that last housed the Hubbaloo restaurant a few weeks ago for a summer’s long test run.

It offers soft-serve ice cream, shakes and malts and signature treats including banana spilt, sundae and affogato along with coffee, ice tea, seasonal lemonade, milk and craft sodas among other things. Toppings include sprinkles, sauces, salted peanuts, caramel cups, Maraschino cherries, Oreos and butterscotch coconut crunch.

Hayes and his wife moved to the mountains from Charleston, S.C., a few years ago. He said they got the idea for the honey ice cream after visiting Vermont and falling in love with the area’s Maple Creemee ice cream.

The two came home and worked to create a similar recipe that included local honey and local milk. They trademarked their creation once they hit on a blend that worked well with a commercial ice cream machine.

“We wanted to do something grassroots and local,” Hayes said. “We wanted to do something closer to home.”

Milk for the ice cream comes from the Big Bottom Milk Co. in Rutherford County while the honey is made primarily by bees at the Rafter M. Farm in Edneyville. Local honey is also available for purchase in the shop.

Hey Chickadee’s coffee comes from the Sharewell Coffee Co. just down the road while its tea is grown in Table Rock, S.C. Its craft sodas are made at a family-owned company in Georgia.

The Honey Creemee includes no preservatives and is made in small batches.

Prices for cups of the business’s signature Hey Creemee ice cream are $5 for a 4-oz cup and $6.25 for a 6-oz cup. Cones are $5 for a cake cone and $5.75 for a waffle cone. A kid’s cake cone is $2. Toppings are extra.

Shakes and malts go for $7 to $7.75 for a small size to $9.50 to $9.75 for a large.

Prices for signature treats go from $7 to $10.75 while drinks are from $2.50 for milk to $5.75 for a seasonal lemonade.

Hey Chickadee also offers catering and private dining experiences for gatherings throughout Hendersonville, Flat Rock, Lake Summit and surrounding communities.

* * * * *

Hey Chickadee, at 2730 Greenville Highway, is open through the summer on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For more information, visit https://www.hey-chickadee.com/

 

Zelda’s captures the Jazz-age vibe

 

A new café-lounge at the Osceola Lake Inn in Hendersonville shares a name with both a cat that makes its home in the historic property and a famous Jazz Age socialite.

Open on weekends, Zelda’s Café & Speakeasy at the inn off Willow Road is a coffee shop by day and speakeasy at night.

The inn also provides space for a variety of other activities including yoga, arts, crafts and weddings.

“We want it to be a community space,” Shawna McColley, who owns the inn with her wife, Fiona, said recently. “We’re all about sustainability, wellness and arts.”

Open as a café from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Zelda’s offers artisan coffee, pastries and “light seasonal fare made from local ingredients,” the inn’s website says.

On Friday and Saturday evenings from 6 to 9, the space transforms into a 1920s-style speakeasy similar to one that might have been frequented by Zelda Fitzgerald and her husband, F. Scott, during their Jazz Age romance.

Zelda’s “captures the spirit of the 1920s with dim lighting, vintage decor and is the only dueling piano bar in Henderson County,” the managers say.

Along with the dueling pianos, McColley said Zelda’s also plans to have jazz bands perform on some nights.

F. Scott lived in the Skyland Hotel in Hendersonville for a time in the 1930s. He and Zelda also spent time in Asheville before her death in a fire at the Highland Hospital in 1948.

Zelda the cat roamed in and out of the inn’s rooms during a recent tour with McColley.

McColley said Zelda “came with the house” and joked that she might have been around in 1909 when the inn was built.

The Osceola Lake Inn was known as the Lake View Hotel when it was built before eventually taking the name of the lake.

In 1940, the Rubin family of Florida purchased the property and transformed it into a full-service resort with three daily meals, nightly entertainment, tennis courts, a pool and a loyal guests who returned summer after summer.

The property has changed ownership and names for the past few years before becoming known once again as the Osceola Lake Inn. For more information visit https://osceola-lake-inn.com/

 

Fun and games at a family grill

Summer at the recently rebranded Gametime Family Grill will bring live music, karaoke, poker nights and cornhole tournaments to the bar in the hopes of attracting families and sports fans.

“We wanted to make it more inviting to the community,” owner Chris Rivera said of the bar on Greenville Highway that operated for years as the South Rock Sports Grill. “A lot of people have never been here before.”

After the bar changed its name to Gametime in December, Rivera added milkshakes, set up 14 televisions with full sports packages and installed a game room with arcade games for kids in the hopes of attracting sports fans and families.

Rivera said he also included more and better seafood options on the menu, which also now offers gluten-free options. Prices range from $7.99 for a grilled cheese sandwich to $20 for a ribeye steak or a half-rack of ribs. Burgers and other sandwiches are offered for between $12 and $17. The menu also includes wings and kids’ options.

Thursday nights feature cornhole tournaments, while Saturday nights are for karaoke and Monday is poker night. Poker games, free to enter, include a $25 gift card for first place, Rivera said.

Live music from local and out-of-town bands will take the stage at Gametime on Friday nights throughout the summer.

Rivera hopes to use the parking lot to host a classic car show, a motorcycle show and a kids event. He’s also interested in inviting local artists in for a sip-and-paint day at Gametime.

Rivera said he hopes the family-friendly changes and special events will attract new people along with longtime customers of the bar.

He said he decided to rebrand the bar after his father, Tony, retired.

His father bought the bar in 2017 or 2018. Rivera took over in October.

“I just wanted to have more family-friendly events with sports packages,” he said.

* * * * *

Gametime Family Grill is at 830 Greenville Highway. For more information visit gametimefamilygrill.com/.

Adair’s brings Cajun fare back to Main Street

Keep your eyes peeled when walking down Main Street this summer. A new restaurant has entered the underground venue, packed with Cajun flair.

Adair’s Cajun Cooking opened in the downstairs space at 321 N. Main Street in April 23, and owners George and Michelle Adair have wasted no time making the space theirs.

The Louisiana charm can be felt as soon as you reach the door, where one of the owners is likely to be greeting customers. Folks who have been in town a while will recall that Cypress Cellar, which occupied the below street-level space for many years, also specialized in Louisiana fare.

Adair’s menu boasts Cajun classics like chicken-and-sausage gumbo ($16-$19), red beans and rice with sausage ($15-$18), crawfish etouffee ($17-$21), chicken-and-sausage jambalaya ($16-$19) and boudin links ($7).

“We’re a family-friendly place, and want to share Cajun hospitality and authentic meals at a reasonable price,” George said.

* * * * *

Adair’s is open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday and Monday and 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It’s closed Tuesday and Wednesday. For questions or phone orders, call 828-290-9115.