HipBurger – Grand Opening!
Hello hello, again, Foodie Friends 🙂 Hope you’re having a great week! For this special edition of Foodie Adventures, we’re taking you behind-the-scenes of the Soft Opening of HipBurger, just in time for their official Grand Opening later today! 🍔🍟🎉
Mike at GVL Daily and I are pretty good Foodie Friends, introduced to each other about a year ago by fellow Greenvillian, Donald Barbour. We like to talk shop about photography, new places to visit, and things going on in the Upstate!
So when Mike reached out to me last week to invite me to the soft grand opening of HipBurger, I was wicked excited! I have always been a big burger fan, and couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into the place that I had seen doing so many events in the last couple months on Facebook and social media.
The success of the food truck is what drove owner (haha see what I did there? 😂) Dan Knowlton to finally open the brick-and-mortar location off of Butler Road, close to I385 (off of exit 34).
In speaking with him during the invite-only soft grand opening on Friday (Oct. 9th), Dan attributed a lot of the business’ success to two main factors, stating:
What made us successful was how we really treated the people who let us park near their businesses as partners. When we would go to a brewery or neighborhood, we co-branded with them always, as it was as beneficial to them as it was to us by marketing to and reaching a broader audience (by utilizing both businesses for marketing events & the truck’s location). We only had the food truck for a year, but once COVID-19 hit, business boomed when we started taking the truck into neighborhoods.
Daniel Knowlton, Owner & Proprietor of HipBurger
Their restaurant definitely has an 80’s vibe, with awesome burger-themed décor on the walls. My favorite mural in the whole restaurant, along with the menu-themed quotes, is the orange one pictured in the top right above – can you spot Baby Yoda? 🍔💚 Their bathroom signs absolutely cracked me up too.
Imagine if you could take the best of Steak & Shake, Chick-fil-A, and maybe Shake Shack, and shove them into a restaurant – this would be it!
Jamie and I decided to divide and conquer this menu! 🙌 I went with the Bacon HipBurger, which includes lettuce, tomato, cheese, bacon, grilled onions, and “HipSauce”, with the parmesan garlic fries (more on those below)! 🍔 It was delish! I loved their potato buns and the bacon was super crispy like I like it. 🥓
Since Jamie is more of a chicken sandwich fan, he chose the HipChicken Club – fried chicken with lettuce, tomato, cheese, pickles, bacon, and their “ChickSauce”. He said he loved the ratio of pickles to sauce, and the chicken was a pretty high quality bird.
I’m a huge fan of the Steak & Shake super skinny, crispy shoestring French fries, and have been since I first laid eyes on those parmesan garlic fries in college. Let me tell you, Foodie Friends, we tried them on Friday, and these Boardwalk fries from HipBurger BLOW Steak & Shake out of the water. You can tell this is not some off the shelf powdered parm they’re sprinkling on these things. I would go back just for the fries, if there weren’t so many other things on the menu calling me back as well. 🍟
Well what are you waiting for? Have my pictures got your mouth drooling? 🤤 Don’t just sit there, visit HipBurger today, October 13th between 11am-11pm (located at 791 E. Butler Rd. Mauldin, SC 29662). Come experience the taste that has been taking Greenville by storm, and tell them Sarah at Pimento & Prose sent you! 😋 Check out their social media too here (Instagram) and here (Facebook).
*Bonus* – CommonPops
Eli from CommonPops was one of the first three people to greet me as we walked in the door to HipBurger! As one of the three main founders, he helped start this business two years ago, with the goal to utilize local ingredients from Upstate, SC farmers for their awesome popsicles.
My non-dairy heart was happy, seeing half the pops without dairy – but still getting to enjoy kicking flavors like: Strawberry Lemonade (pictured above), Raspberry lime, and a Sweet Tea Lemonade. 🍡 Jamie got their infamous Chocolate Sea Salt (downed it too quick for me to get a pic 😂), along with their milk-based offerings of Cookies & Cream, and a seasonal Pumpkin Spice to round it out!
I loved how, unlike typical popsicles you may buy in a store, these were long lasting – meaning I ate half my popsicle, slowly ate my way through my burger and fries, and finished the rest of the icy treat in the car – and it still barely melted! Love a popsicle with some structural integrity, especially in the wicked hot South Carolina heat we have to deal with constantly.
They also have a brick and mortar location in Downtown Greenville off McBee Ave, but they’re available for other events, catering, or wherever your popsicle needs may be! Check them out on Instagram and Facebook and show them some love! 💜
So how’s your week going, Foodie Friends? Are you going to go check out HipBurger this week and show them some love? Do you already have a favorite menu item? Sound out in the comments below to let us know your suggestions of what dishes to make or places we should visit next. As always, feel free to like, comment, & share 🤗
