For the second stop on our South Carolina trip, we hopped just a few streets over from the Northgate Soda Shop to get some barbecue at Henry’s Smokehouse. Their location on Wade Hampton Boulevard, US-29, is the original. They have, in the 25 years since it opened, spun off two additional locations. One of these, in nearby Simpsonville, was noted in Playboy in the summer of 2002 as the country’s best barbecue restaurant. I use “in” rather than “by,” as the notice came via an advertisement for Mini Cooper laid out in the style of the magazine’s “Party Jokes” page, and so it might not be editorially accurate to state that Playboy itself made the claim. You can get that magazine yourself and check me on that. It’s whatever issue that summer that had Dalene Kurtis on the front cover. She might be fairly accused of distracting a fellow from remembering which month. Continue reading “Henry’s Smokehouse, Greenville SC”
Tag: south carolina
Northgate Soda Shop, Greenville SC
In February of last year, Marie and I took a fantastic day trip to Charlotte and back. We took I-20 and I-77 there and I-85 back, stopping at eight places. We had such a good time that we wanted to repeat the experience a year later. I made some modifications and alterations, and we didn’t go quite as far as Charlotte, deciding instead to connect Spartanburg and Columbia via US 176. And we did the trip in reverse, starting in Greenville. So about 520 miles instead of 590. Continue reading “Northgate Soda Shop, Greenville SC”
The Beacon, Spartanburg SC
The high point of our trip through the Carolinas came with the seventh stop. We’d enjoyed some pretty good eating experiences along the way, but the most fun and most different pleasure of the tour came at a very famous restaurant in Spartanburg called The Beacon. I had heard this place referred to as similar to Atlanta’s legendary Varsity, but that doesn’t really begin to explain how wild and awesome it is. This is absolutely a place that everybody in the southeast should try at least once. Continue reading “The Beacon, Spartanburg SC”
Del Taco, Spartanburg SC (CLOSED)
Del Taco left the Atlanta market eight years ago and – no kidding – I have been missing it ever since. I have explained that I allow myself one locally-available fast food weakness, Krystal. If Del Taco were to move back into Atlanta, I’d enjoy one last styrofoam container of chili cheese fries eaten with a red plastic fork and sadly wave goodbye to Krystal, because I love Del Taco and that would be that. So when I learned that there was one in Spartanburg, my carefully-crafted seven-meal trip swelled to eight. There was just no way I was going to drive past a Del Taco without stopping. Man, was it ever good. Often times, almost all the time, the memory cheats on you, but Del Taco is, somehow, as good as I remember it. Continue reading “Del Taco, Spartanburg SC (CLOSED)”
Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken, Rock Hill SC
So the first three meals on our day trip through the Carolinas had been, one after another, each better than the one before. Something had to give, and it did. When I looked over the map, it looked like the only population center of note between Columbia and Charlotte on I-77 was the town of Rock Hill. I looked over South Carolina’s listing on Roadfood.com to see whether they suggested anyplace worth stopping in that town, and found a chicken place called Lee’s. I penciled that in and moved on, not realizing until later that the place was not quite what I thought I would find at Roadfood.com. Continue reading “Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken, Rock Hill SC”
Pawley’s Front Porch, Columbia SC
This is Marie, doing my bit towards handling the backlog due to the 8-restaurant day that Grant and I took together. Grant and I don’t get to spent a whole lot of just-us-together time so this was something we had been looking forward to for a while. The kids got to spend the day getting rid of their clothing allowance with their grandmother, so a good day was had by all. Continue reading “Pawley’s Front Porch, Columbia SC”
Marie, Let's Eat! 