Tupelo Honey Cafe and Smiley Honey - A Sweet Partnership
When Southern hospitality meets authentic sweetness, magic happens on the dining table. The partnership between Tupelo Honey restaurant and Smiley Honey represents exactly this kind of magic, a collaboration built on shared values of quality, authenticity, and love for traditional Southern flavors. This relationship has flourished for over a decade, bringing the finest honey experience to diners across the country while supporting sustainable beekeeping practices.
The story begins in the charming streets of Asheville, North Carolina, where the first Tupelo Cafe opened its doors, welcoming guests with scratch-made biscuits drizzled with golden Smiley honey. Today, this sweet partnership has expanded across multiple states, including the new Tupelo Honey Texas locations, sharing the distinctive taste of artisanal honey with food enthusiasts everywhere. What makes this collaboration stand out isn't just the quality of the food and honey, but the shared commitment to responsible sourcing and authentic Southern traditions.
All You Need To Know About Tupelo Honey Cafe
From its humble beginnings in Asheville, North Carolina, tupelo honey restaurant has grown into a beloved chain celebrating Southern cuisine with creative flair. What started as a single location has now expanded to 13 restaurants across the Southeastern United States, with exciting new openings in Denver, Colorado and Frisco, tupelo honey Texas, marking their first locations west of the Mississippi River.
Key milestones in the restaurant's growth:
Founded in downtown Asheville as a single location
Expanded to 13 locations across the Southeast
Opened the first Texas location in Frisco
Continued western expansion with the Denver, Colorado location
The Tupelo Cafe concept revolves around reinventing traditional Southern dishes with modern, creative touches while maintaining authentic roots. Diners can enjoy Southern classics like crispy fried green tomatoes and creamy mac n’ cheese, but they'll also discover innovative creations like honey-fried chicken biscuits topped with sunny-side-up eggs, red pepper relish, and dijonnaise salad.
Smiley Honey: The SweetHeart of the Partnership
The Ideal Honey Supplier
For over a decade, Smiley Honey has served as the primary honey supplier for all Tupelo restaurants across the country. This partnership hasn't happened by chance because it represents a deliberate choice based on shared values and an unwavering commitment to quality.
Smiley Honey has earned its reputation as the best honey company through decades of dedicated beekeeping and honey production. Their approach to honey is simple yet rigorous: produce pure, raw, unfiltered honey that preserves all the natural enzymes, antioxidants, and unique flavor profiles of each honey variety.
Quality That Speaks for Itself
What makes Smiley Honey the best tupelo honey to buy for both restaurants and individual consumers? The answer lies in their production methods:
Raw, unfiltered honey that retains all natural beneficial enzymes
No high-temperature pasteurization can damage flavor and nutrients
Careful harvesting techniques that preserve honey's distinctive characteristics
Strict quality control from hive to table
Sustainable beekeeping practices that support healthy bee populations
The honey served at every tupelo honey restaurant table exemplifies these quality standards. When diners drizzle this golden nectar on their fresh-baked biscuits, they experience the pure taste of nature, complex, subtly sweet, and distinctly different from mass-produced alternatives.
A Partnership Based on Shared Values
Commitment to Responsible Sourcing
What makes the relationship between Tupelo Cafe and Smiley Honey particularly special is their shared dedication to responsible sourcing. This isn't just a supplier-restaurant relationship; it's a partnership built on aligned values and mutual respect.
Caitlin McMahon, Director of Purchasing for Tupelo Honey restaurant, explains their approach: “We're very thoughtful about where and why we purchase things. We're searching for the right products and the right vendors to bring on into our family... It's about knowing where your food comes from, and if we don't have products we can stand by, we're just like everyone else. We take the time and the effort to go all the way back to the very beginning of the supply chain and say 'That is a product that we are proud to offer.”
This philosophy perfectly matches how Smiley Honey operates as a honey supplier. Their transparent production methods and commitment to quality make them an ideal partner for a restaurant chain that values authenticity and responsibility.
Creating Memorable Dining Experiences
Together, tupelo restaurants and Smiley Honey create memorable dining moments for guests. The ritual of breaking open a warm biscuit and drizzling it with golden honey has become signature to the tupelo cafe experience, a simple pleasure that keeps diners coming back.
Customer feedback consistently highlights this honey-biscuit combination as a standout element of their dining experience, whether at the original Asheville location or the newest Tupelo Honey Texas restaurants. It's a testament to how quality ingredients, thoughtfully presented, can elevate a meal from satisfying to unforgettable.
Takeaway
The partnership between Tupelo Honey restaurant and Smiley Honey demonstrates how businesses with shared values can create something greater than the sum of their parts. We are thrilled to be associated with a fantastic company that values great ingredients and serves up honest, heart-warming food. Next time you visit a Tupelo Cafe location, pay special attention to that bottle of golden honey on your table.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where are Tupelo Honey restaurants located?
Tupelo honey restaurant locations span across the Southeast with 13 establishments and are now expanding westward with new locations in Denver, Colorado and Frisco, Texas. Their original restaurant opened in Asheville, North Carolina, which continues to be a flagship location attracting food enthusiasts from around the country.
What makes Smiley honey different from store-bought honey?
Smiley honey stands out because it's raw, unfiltered, and never high-temperature pasteurized, preserving all natural enzymes and flavor profiles. Unlike mass-produced honey, Smiley's products maintain distinct characteristics of their floral sources, creating complex flavor notes that make it the best honey to buy for discerning consumers and restaurants alike.
Does Tupelo Honey Cafe use real tupelo honey?
Yes, Tupelo restaurants serve authentic Tupelo honey sourced from Smiley Honey, their long-term honey supplier. Real tupelo honey comes primarily from white tupelo gum trees in the southeastern United States and has a distinctive light amber color with greenish hints and a smooth, buttery flavor profile.
Can I purchase the same honey served at Tupelo Honey Cafe?
Absolutely! The honey served at every Tupelo Cafe location is available for purchase directly from Smiley Honey. Consumers can buy the same premium honey online and enjoy the restaurant-quality experience at home. Many customers discover Smiley Honey through their dining experience and become regular customers afterward.