Slow food, it's catching on

JULY 28, 2010 7:42 a.m. (0)

Increasingly, Greenville restaurants are going green.

A few grow some of the food served. Others use biodegradable to-go boxes. They compost food clippings and recycle paper and bottles.  Continue reading...

 

Orders up

Denny's focuses on what's new and improving

NOVEMBER 14, 2010 2:37 p.m. (0)

After some tough years, Denny’s, the iconic Spartanburg restaurant chain,  is experiencing upward trends.

Guest traffic is up, new restaurants are opening in travel centers and on college campuses, a café-style Denny’s is being tested, new leadership is falling into place, profits are edging up and the stock price is rebounding.

A lingering dispute with Nelson Marchioli, who was dumped in June as chief executive officer and from the board, was settled, although at a price.  Continue reading...

 

It's what's on the menu

Greer company capitalizes on what makes a menu appetizing

NOVEMBER 19, 2010 12:21 p.m. (0)

Pete Glennon makes a living recognizing a good niche, figuring ways to do it more efficiently than anyone else, staying technologically current and anticipating the next thing.

Walter Ezell makes a living making food look good on menus and making menus make money for restaurants.  It’s the kind of niche business run with a passion that Glennon admired.

Last month, Glennon acquired Ezell’s company, Menu Works, and moved Ezell and his team into CBS Distribution’s facility in a plain vanilla leased building on Sunbelt Business Park Drive in Greer. The combined operation employs 27 people.  Continue reading...

 

Oh so sweet

She’s bringing her baking biz to Main Street

JANUARY 21, 2011 11:34 a.m. (0)

When Kristin Kuhlke Cobb was looking for a place to open her fourth bakery in South Carolina, a business consultant suggested she visit Greenville.

Cobb saw lots of people walking. Cars and bikes traveling the streets. Businesses open along and beyond Main Street.  Continue reading...

 

Greer gets its grub on

This city's restaurant owners are doing just fine

FEBRUARY 23, 2011 8:07 a.m. (0)

The City of Greer has experienced a downturn in building permits and other business license revenue, mirroring a national trend over the past three years, but the success of the city’s downtown restaurants has helped offset significant shortfalls in revenue.

”Restaurants in the City of Greer not only held their own during the recession, but they experienced a double-digit increase in customers,” said Reno Deaton, executive director of Greer Development Corporation.  “These businesses may not have been recession proof, but they certainly have proven to be recession resistant.”

Four restaurants have opened in downtown Greer in the past year, another, Mason Jar, is slated to open in the next couple of weeks, said Angela Rutland of Greer Development Corporation.  She said several of the established restaurants are looking to expand as well, but will not comment on which ones.  Continue reading...

 

Chow town

When it comes to dining out, more folks are going downtown

JULY 7, 2011 1:00 p.m. (0)

Cribb’s Kitchen wrapped its last dinner service on Saturday.

The restaurant will open in a new location at 226 W. Main St. July 14.

For three years William Cribb ran a catering company from 121 N. Spring St. After expanding to offer lunch and dinner service a year ago he quickly outgrew the 34-four seat space.  Continue reading...

 

Orders up

Sixty-five restaurants opened in Greenville during the past 18 months and more are planned

AUGUST 11, 2011 11:04 a.m. (0)

It seems like there’s not a week that goes by without an announcement about plans for a new restaurant in Greenville.

During the past 18 months, new business licenses were issued for 65 restaurants that were opening for the first time, changing ownership or changing locations within the city limits.

That doesn’t include new restaurants still under construction or restaurants yet to be approved by the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals.  Continue reading...

 

Spartanburg snuffs out smokers

SEPTEMBER 11, 2011 8:47 a.m. (0)

The day was warm and sunny, perfect September weather to enjoy a cigarette outdoors.

But this time it wasn’t by choice. Those who normally would have been smoking in restaurants and bars, were taking a quick smoke on the way back to work, sitting in groups in the square, or slowly wandering the downtown area trying to stay within the constraints of the city’s new ban on smoking.

Beginning last Thursday, patrons can no longer smoke in public buildings.  Continue reading...

 

Sustainable treats on the Swamp Rabbit Trail

Swamp Rabbit Café is popular stop for hikers and cyclists

APRIL 5, 2012 2:40 p.m. (0)

Of the dozens of businesses that have sprouted along the Greenville Hospital System Swamp Rabbit Trail, perhaps none has been more transformative than the Swamp Rabbit Café and Grocery.

Plunked down in the heart of Cedar Lane Road between the Parker District Fire Station and a long line of seedy storefronts that used to dominate business in this part of town, the café is an island of sustainable culture and culinary delight that caters to the thousands of bikers, walkers, strollers and runners who find the trail simply irresistible on a weekly basis.  Continue reading...

 

Nothing is sacred at The Owl

Aaron Manter wants to bring fine dining to the masses

MAY 31, 2012 11:03 a.m. (8)

Chef Aaron Manter has a cabinet full of magical powders. On Tuesdays his Greenville restaurant, The Owl, is closed to customers, but he and his staff experiment with thermo-irreversible gelling agent, emulsifiers, thickeners, meat glue that bonds proteins together, and flavor transformers.

“Everything is an ingredient. Nothing is sacred,” he says.  Continue reading...