greenville, sc
Not to be confused with the Greenville in every other state of the union, this bustling town in the foothills of South Carolina has a few standout eateries, a dozen or so acceptable ones and a few hundred vomittoriums. For reasons I shan’t go into here, I’ve gotten a good lay of the land and frequent all three.
Don’t make the mistakes I have made. There are castles on Pelham Road that are selling twelve dollar chicken fingers and hip, North Main shops that are bowling up “homemade” soups made god-knows-where. Unfortunately, the Sysco truck is around back of most of the area restaurants that are trying to portray themselves as, like, GOOD. So, if you live here and enjoy eating well, you’d better just get yourself into the kitchen! Or else, I’ll see you at the Pita House.
Pita House
495 S Pleasantburg Drive
864-271-9895
I have been known to eat between five and ten meals a week at the Pita House. The quality, value, and consistency is untouchable. You get delicious, fresh, homemade food for the same amount of money you would spend at a fast food restaurant. Everything is made from scratch: the bread, hummus, tabouli, dolmas, and even the cheese. There are plenty of vegetarian options, but the meat dishes are hard to pass up. I have had Middle Eastern food of this caliber in New York and Chicago, but they were at white tablecloth places where you would spend three times as much. Even Pomegranate on Main is a great case in point. They serve delicious food in a nice room and what they charge is on par with other nice downtown restaurants but because Pita House’s kitchen cranks out food at least as good at a fraction of their cost, why bother?
It has also been a pleasure to see their operation prosper. When they opened, they had about eight tables and about the same square footage of retail grocery. They have since doubled their space twice and it’s still hard to get a seat! Quality has not wavered as they ramped up production. The demand has become so high for their food that now getting a parking space is sometimes challenging. I tell Ziad that his next addition needs to be valet parking.
Barley’s Taproom
25 W Washington Street
864-232-3706
More than adequate pizzas and salads, great room and location, and world class beer. It’s cheap, fun and the go-to place for an everyday night on the town. If there is a decent beer event going on (casks, tasting dinners, rare brews from Avery, Terrapin, Rogue, Lagunitas, Stone..), it’s gonna be here. And so am I!
Devereaux’s
25 East Court Street
864-241-3030
Quite frankly, I was not originally pulling for this place. The name, decor, and the hotshot young chef just seem to ooze “lame.” I wanted to write them off as a hang out for the price-insensitive crowd that’s proud of their price-insensitiveness. The problem is, behind the contempo water wall and the self imposed hype, they serve some of the best food I’ve ever had. The first time I ate there I was amazed, but wondered if I had caught them on an exceptional night. But after a few more visits, it became clear that Devereaux’s is of a caliber previously unseen in Greenville. Their creativity, balance of flavors and attention to detail showcase this young chef’s talent. Even the wait staff is inspired and you can feel their enthusiasm, from the sommelier to the water boy. They aren’t pretentious, they’re just serious about their mission.
The restaurant has since been acquired by the Table 301 group which kind of scares me. I’m not a fan of the Soby’s franchise. I hope that, as business people, they are smart enough not mess with a good thing. I guess we will have to wait and see.
Liberty 33
33 Liberty Lane
864-370-4888
Small and off the beaten track, Liberty 33 is the casual dining room that serves the food of local celebrity chef, John Malik. The stage is much plainer than Restaurant O or Rick Erwins, but the service and food are as good, if not better. It’s nice to eat in an environment where you feel like you’re participating in a dining experience that is not subsidizing a flashy-flashy electric bill or an investor’s condo in the Hamptons. Plus, Malik’s heavy use of local ingredients makes his ever-changing creations even more satisfying.
Two Chefs
104 South Main Street
864-370-9336
At one time, Two Chefs was actually located on Main Street. Now they are in a Bermuda-Triangle-like vortex somewhere between the Carolina First building, the Poincett Hotel and Restaurant O in a windowless room. My take on the situation is that the owner gets an ego trip by seeing the downtown elite crammed into her lunch dungeon. Sure she could afford a prime spot on Main, but why bother, when you’ve got the stuff people want and pay half the rent? There really is no substitute Downtown or elsewhere in the Upstate for soups, salads, and sandwiches that are so consistently rewarding. The recipes are deceptively simple and have changed very little over their twelve years of service. So when the craving for good deli food sucks you into this bizarro location, you will see me scarfing down a tuna melt on rye by the third stalagmite on the left.
Pho Noodleville
21 Orchard Park Drive
864-288-8809
Solid Vietnamese soup near Heywood. Get a banana freeze while you’re there.
Word of Mouth
10 Aberdeen Drive
864-242-3730
Oh gosh, this place makes me ache everytime I go into it. It’s an exercise in inefficiency. The counter pointlessly juts across the room, the line of oblivious Augusta Road ladies block all traffic, and the three employees zig-zag between food prep, cashiering and delivery responsibilities in a seemingly random order. If I need a tea refill, do I have to wait in that line again? Do I walk behind the counter and help myself? Or should I just bring one of those half-gallon teas from Mcalister’s and circumvent this inevitable dilemma?
As you can guess, I would not deal with this hassle if the food wasn’t great. They lack the culinary and business professionalism of a Two Chefs, but make up for it with a genuine drive to delight every customer with custom-made salads and sandwiches. The soups use their homemade pasta and their pimento-cheese is the best in town. I don’t share their regard for flavored coffees and teas, but otherwise the foods exemplify the excitement of a geeky home cook that invites you into his kitchen. Call ahead (like an hour) for pick up and avoid peek times unless you have time to spare and/or blue hair.
Smokin’ Stokes
1622 Augusta Road
864-242-9716
This is extreme BBQ. If you have it for lunch, you will reek of smoke for the rest of the day. It gets in your clothes, your hair and oozes out of your pores. I’ve had a friend of mine actually get sent home from work because of this BBQ aroma. Many may view this permeating smoke a nuisance but for competition BBQ, these smoke rings are a source of pride. It takes fourteen hours of slow burning hickory to achieve this saturation.
When you walk into their unimpressive strip mall storefront, the first thing you will notice (besides the smoke) is the trophy-lined walls. This isn’t simple, run-of-the-mill BBQ for a casual pulled pork sandwich. This is a fine-tuned, competition grade, freshly pulled butt. Even their homemade sauces are exceptional, from the outrageous Cheerwine based to the more traditional mustard and vinegar based topers. Try their pulled pork stuffed baked potato. It’s like a Carolina taco.