Know Your Neighbor: The Beacon
The Beacon is a fine dining restaurant inspired by traditional Italian cuisine. Located off 105 next to the old water wheel, it’s a gathering space intended to welcome all members of our community while providing a dining experience that is both refined and accessible. Local musicians perform live multiple nights per week during dinner service. The kitchen serves beautiful and inspired food made from scratch with unique, regional ingredients. The bar offers sustainably produced fine wines and craft seasonal cocktails prepared with meticulous attention to detail. The Beacon is the perfect place to celebrate life’s great occasions, big or small, in the company of friends, knowing you’ll leave with more than when you arrived.
The Space
When you enter the building your attention is immediately pulled beyond the hand-poured concrete bar and the high ceilings of the dining room, ultimately landing at the massive riverstone fireplace which radiates comfort throughout the space. Whether seated in the open dining room, the outdoor patio, the wrap-around bar, or lounging on the couches, connection becomes inevitable. Our team of staff treat all of our guests like family and attend to every detail. Weekly specials including Pizza and a Pint or Red Carpet Cocktails become favorites of our regular guests. Perhaps most importantly, the food and drink menus are designed to make dining at The Beacon desirable for any occasion; you can celebrate special occasions with a butcher’s cut, high end wine, and dessert, or split a pizza with a friend for a budget friendly reprieve after work.
Arts at The Beacon
Another element that makes The Beacon so special is the live music performances by local musicians in front of the fireplace during dinner service. The commitment to live music is part of a broader appreciation for art in all its forms, including signature paintings by local artist Jerry Cantwell, husband of restaurant owner, Tina Houston.
Each Tuesday we are lucky to host Belleville Rendezvous, a talented jazz trio who masterfully fills the space with laid-back ambience without overshadowing the conversation at the tables. Thursdays feature a rotating cast of local acoustic acts, each bringing a special flair worth coming back for every week. On the first Friday of each month, Todd Wright hosts a late night Jazz Jam that begins after dinner service. It’s a free to enter, lively event with the lights out, candles lit, and tunes soulful tunes flowing alongside special prohibition-era cocktails and small bites.
The Food
Food at The Beacon is always seasonal and from scratch, featuring something for everyone. All of our pastas are made by hand and never dried, so it’s cooked fresh each time you order it - a difference made obvious by the perfect texture every time. The same is true of the pizza dough, which is produced from a special “gluten-friendly” 00 flour imported from Italy. Although not Celiac safe, our pizza and pasta is gentler for those with gluten sensitivity.
The menu also features daily specials which serve as an opportunity for the kitchen to simultaneously showcase their skill and creativity, as well as fresh produce from our local farms.
The Bar Program
The bar program works in harmony with the philosophy of the kitchen to provide fantastic drinks that compliment the meal. The bar team consults with the kitchen to eliminate food waste by using scraps of fresh produce to create unique ingredients using traditional preservation techniques. Each cocktail is intended to be innovative but approachable, and always balanced. We put as much effort into our zero-proof options as our boozy offerings. In the spirit of sustainability, the wine list prioritizes natural and biodynamic farming practices while ensuring that fine wines are accessible to all of our guests. Our bar team is always available to make pairing recommendations as well.
Meet Tina Houston
The Beacon is an ongoing chapter in a story Tina Houston started in 1999, when she opened Reid's Catering Co., named after her daughter, Reid. What began as one restaurant has grown into a family of High Country establishments, each one carrying Tina's signature blend of quality food, warm service, and genuine local sourcing.
Tina's reputation goes well beyond good food! She's known throughout the High Country for a deep commitment to community, earning her the Kathy Crutchfield Citizen of the Year award from the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce in 2024. In recognizing her, the Chamber called her "a beacon for community spirit, entrepreneurship, and dedication", noting that she has created a seat at the table for everyone in the Boone area.
Her expansion of Reid's and opening The Beacon, along with turning the beloved Betty's Biscuits food truck into a full brick-and-mortar restaurant in downtown Boone, was highlighted as proof of her steady, hands-on growth. Tina shows no signs of slowing down! She opened Pearl's Kitchen + Tiny Market in Valle Crucis in May of 2025, giving the community another local dining option.
In November of 2025, Tina partnered with Lowe's on regional recovery efforts, distributing 3,000 family-style Thanksgiving meals prepared by Reid's Cafe & Catering Co. This was part of a broader initiative that fed more than 12,000 people across Asheville, Banner Elk, Boone, Marion, and Weaverville. It's a fitting example of what Tina's businesses have always stood for: using good food to bring people together, and to take care her neighbors along the way.
Tina Houston Restaurants
Featuring a caring community and delicious food and drinks, The Beacon embodies everything you’ve come to expect from a Tina Houston restaurant. A large dining room, wrap-around bar, live music, and casual fare give The Beacon a festive atmosphere. A place to come as you are and leave feeling better than you did when you arrived. We hope to see you there soon. We welcome you to check out our sister restaurants:
Reid’s Cafe and Raw Bar
Reid’s Cafe and Raw Bar is an artisanal restaurant in Banner Elk offering a refined dining experience centered on fresh oysters, a thoughtfully curated raw bar, and locally sourced seasonal dishes prepared with care.
Betty's Biscuits
Betty’s Biscuits is a little breakfast and lunch spot in downtown Boone that serves scratch-made biscuits and plates prepared from local ingredients alongside expertly crafted espresso drinks.
Pearl's Kitchen and Tiny Market
Pearl’s Kitchen and Market is a quaint food counter in Valle Crucis dishing up fresh sandwiches to fuel outdoor adventures and tastefully curated provisions perfect for picnics in the park.
Reid's Cafe and Catering Co.
Reid’s Catering is a full service catering and bartending culinary team that exists as a hallmark in the community within the mountains of North Carolina, fashioning unforgettable guest experiences with chef-curated menus, dedicated servers, and beautiful dining moments.
Visit & Contact The Beacon
125 Graduate Lane, NC-105 S, Boone, NC 28607
Call: 828.865.0087