Saturday, February 13, 2016

Food Review - Grits & Groceries

http://gritsandgroceries.com/index.php/home
Restaurant: Grits & Groceries

Location: 2440 Due West Highway
Belton, SC 29627
Lat / Long (for GPS) = 34.398913 Latitude / 82.507008 Longitude
Phone (864) 296-3316

Hours
Tuesday- 10a-2p
Wednesday- 10a-2p
Thursday- 10a-2p & 5p-9p
Friday- 9a-2p
Saturday- 9a-2p


My Review:

I made my first trip here just yesterday (February 12). I'd seen an article on this place in a magazine and on the "Making it Grow" show seen on PBS and had been wanting to check it out for quite some time, however due to it's limited hours it hadn't been possible. My lovely Mother had ventured to the upstate this week to bring me a shiny new stove that someone back in Sumter had gifted me (thanks!!) and I promised her that we'd make a trip to do some gem hunting. Well this quaint little stop was on the way so it was a bonus!

Can I just tell you that it was well worth the stop??!! We didn't want to eat a lot since we'd be someplace with no real bathroom all day (cough cough), so we split an order of stuffed french toast. It was scrumptious, with perfectly browned toast and a mixture of fresh strawberries and cream cheese. But what REALLY made our eyes roll back to their whites in sheer ecstasy was the appetizer we ordered..... praline bacon. Yep, you read that right. PRALINE BACON! Thick slices of high quality bacon covered in a mixture of brown sugar and chopped pecan bits and cooked to perfection. Oh my heavens it was superb. We ended up having to get an order to take with us on our rock hunting expedition.

Quality of Product:
  • Superb. The food came out fast, at the correct temperature, tasted fabulous and even in the off-season the strawberries tasted fresh.

Prices:
  • A little higher than your average restaurant. An order of stuffed french toast (2 pieces of toast) was $9.50 and an order of the praline bacon (4 pieces) was $5.00.  While I'm usually pretty squeamish about paying almost ten bucks for french toast (especially when it doesn't come with eggs or bacon already), I didn't regret it after biting into it. The taste and freshness was so good that it felt like a fair trade. Menu prices can be seen on their website if you want to be prepared.
Service:
  • Very friendly and smiling faces. Even the waitresses that weren't waiting on us stopped by the table to ask if everything was ok. They took their time chatting with us about a few things and when I asked if the recipe for the french toast was in their cookbook they even brought one to our table to look over it before deciding to buy it. (By the way, it was. Even the praline bacon recipe was in it. I was rather shocked that they give up that trade secret.... and it's so simple to make too!)

This little restaurant is in the middle of nowhere, at a crossroads far away from anything really. It's rather small inside and has under a dozen tables. There's nothing fancy here; just country decor, super friendly staff and bang-up good food. The owners were both chefs in New Orleans and brought their expertise with them to the upstate and you can really tell that they've worked hard to maintain great quality in their food. They also sell items like sauces, jelly, cakes and cookbooks. (We purchased a cookbook and a lemon drop pound cake for the road.)

One tip: this place only takes cash and checks. So don't go in with just a credit or debit card!

Anyway, these are some awesome folks at the cutest little place where you wouldn't expect the caliber of food that they offer. So trust me, it's WELL worth the drive (about 30 miles outside of the city of Greenville), just remember to bring your paper monies! I'm looking forward to going back sometime and trying their famous shrimp n'grits and homemade buttermilk lemon icecream. Yum!





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