Restaurant Week SC – 2021 Review

Hello hello, Foodie Friends! 🙂 Hope you’ve had a fantastic weekend! For this edition of Foodie Adventures, we’re showcasing five of some of the local Upstate SC restaurants we visited for Restaurant Week this year. Read on for our reviews, from burgers to tacos and more! 😋

---

I have to say that Restaurant Week is one of my absolute favorite weeks of the year, hands down! I’ve always said how great of an opportunity it is for restaurants to really show off the best of their menus and get creative with a couple courses or flights of food.

One of my favorite things this year was how many restaurants not only had their typical lunch and dinner specials, but also added a bunch of takeout-specific deals too. There was a severe lack of brunch, which I was selfishly a little upset about as I dearly love brunch, however, that didn’t stop us checking out some awesome places anyway!

---

We started our first Restaurant week(end) off right with a Taco Box from Farmhouse Tacos on Laurens Rd in Greenville, SC.

We were holding a new board game night, since we got an expansion pack for one of our favorite games, Settlers of Catan, and we wanted to see how the game would play with the new 5-6 player version.

This box, for $29 (fed 8-10 people), came with 10 fresh, warm tortillas, Queso, Chopped lettuce, Pico de gallo, Barn Burner Sauce, Sour Cream, Chipotle aioli, and our choice of two of the below meats:

• Ancho Chicken- Ancho rubbed, braised (we got this one!)
• Grass Fed Ground Beef- Locally sourced, sizzled in red chili seasoning
• Texas Brisket- Farmhouse dry rub, twelve hour smoked, hickory (and this one too!)
• Southern Style Smoked Pork- ten hour smoked, hickory, Farmhouse dry rub

We loved all the fixins! It was such a fun idea to have the equivalent of a make-your-own taco bar on a Friday night.

Everyone loved this and I would definitely order this box for friends again, as it’s such a crowd pleaser and everyone can make their tacos just how they want them! We did end up running out of tortillas at one point, as we didn’t want to let all the fresh stuff go to waste, but luckily, we had extras in the fridge. They also had an awesome nacho box that we would love to have tried, as it would save us a trip to the grocery store to get most of the ingredients we typically make our own nachos with.

This was an awesome start to Restaurant Week and we’re so happy Farmhouse Tacos is close by! 🌮

---

For date night on Tuesday, we decided to hit up GrillMarks downtown for their 3 for $30 per couple deal!

The below includes my Hawaiian Punch Burger (with Applewood smoked bacon, pepper jack cheese, grilled pineapple, jalapeño pesto, lettuce, and tomato), Jamie’s Greenville Honey Hot Chicken sandwich (with fried chicken tenders, American cheese, Greenville’s secret hot honey glaze, pickles, and a brioche bun), and our “three way” sides (Truffle Parm fries w/dijonaise dipping sauce, Sweet potato fries w/orange cinnamon dipping sauce, and Fried pickles w/homemade ranch).

The sweet potato fries with the orange cinnamon dip were my absolute favorite. It almost tasted like dipping your fries into an orange marmalade, which was delish and definitely different from anything I’d had them paired with before.

We loved all the sides (the fried pickles were Jamie’s fave) and had plenty for leftovers! We also took Jamie’s salted caramel milkshake to-go to round out our three courses here.

---

I loved my time at Roost as I got to spend it with one of my good friends, Gloria!

I don’t always have the time to hang out with my girlfriends, but it had been way too long since we had seen each other, and we had Christmas presents to exchange.

We got their 3 for $30 Restaurant week deal, starting with the appetizers! Gloria got the seafood croquettes, stuffed with Scallops, shrimp, potatoes, bacon, and smoked cheddar, and served with a lusty monk aioli. I got the unique Beet tartar (misread this as beef originally), comprised of beets, capers, lemon, and a (dairy-free) onion cashew sour cream! both of these were absolutely delish, and loved the flavor of the beet tartar, super earthy and paired really well with the non-dairy sour cream.

Next was the main course. I choose the Grilled Chicken Piccata (bone-in grilled chicken tossed in linguini, lemon, capers, blistered tomatoes, and spinach). Gloria went with the Shrimp and Grits, with stone ground grits, shrimp, tasso ham, peppers, onions, and a cajun pan gravy.

There were plenty of both of these for leftovers and we happily took them both home!

Last but not least, dessert! I got this great brownie, which had coconut in it, a surprise to me as I wasn’t expecting it to be there. This tasted more like a super gooey cross between a brownie and a magic cookie bar. Gloria liked her cheesecake too, but we ended up taking it home and her and I demolished the brownie together in the meantime.

We loved the heated outdoor dining too, staring over the infinity fountain, with the twinkling lights wrapping around the trees in the background. I’ve been to Roost for brunch a couple times, but the evening views can’t be missed.

---

I always wanted to go to Husk (pre-COVID)! This was always a place I had heard fantastic things about, so when Jamie’s parents came to visit during Restaurant Week, we knew where to take them.

Not a whole lot on the inside had changed, according to Jamie, who had visited before. Same great bar with an awesome whiskey and boubon selction for craft coctails, various levels and areas to spread out and enjoy some great food, etc.

We started off with beer and appetizers (not part of the Restaurant Week menu deal). Their fried pickles were unique, with skinny, flat spears instead of chips. The cornbread coating gave a nice crunch to these, as much as it tended to flake off.

Their deal here was 2 courses for $18, which included a meat with two sides (and a sauce), and our choice of dessert! Jamie and I split the pulled pork plate (top picture) with green beans, mac & cheese, and spicy red BBQ sauce. The green beans were unique in that they were stewed with roasted tomatoes, which almost gave them a soup-like quality. Kept me coming back for more on those, as much as they weren’t what I was expecting!

Jamie’s dad got the pulled pork with coleslaw, fries, and sweet red BBQ sauce (bottom left). The coleslaw had a (what I tasted as) Mediterranean flair, as the main two flavors I got from it right off the bat were lemon and dill. Loved that and would’ve enjoyed that on a pulled pork sammie in the future!

Jamie’s mom also got the pulled pork, but with green beans and cheesy smoked cheddar grits. She loved the grits but was on the fence with me about the uniqueness of the green beans – didn’t stop us from cleaning our plates though!

The best part of the meal though (and I rarely eat desserts in restaurants, so this is saying something), was their Banana Pudding. This was hands down the BEST Banana pudding I think I’ve had – ever!! Made with fresh bananas, Nilla Wafers, and topped with a Toasted Brown Sugar Merengue – I would have eaten a whole bowl of this if you stuck it in front of me. 😋💜

Jamie’s dad got the fudge brownie ala mode, as he’s a big chocolate fan (aren’t we all!). His came with house-churned vanilla ice cream too!

Biggest wins from our first trip to the new Husk BBQ – the pulled pork, the coleslaw, and definitely that banana pudding! Will definitely be back to try more items.

---

Last, but most certainly not least, is Burgers & Bakery, our only entry from Spartanburg this year.

I had been hearing talk about how good this restaurant was on foodie Facebook groups I’m involved in, so when I saw they had a really creative lunch deal, I knew this had to make it onto our list!

This was an absolute blast to be able to try a little bite of everything from their menu! Check out the rotating slideshow above for shots of each burger, which consisted of:

• Mini Hawaiian: Patty, Grilled Pineapple, Lettuce, and a house-made Thai Chili Sauce
• Mini Zachary Jack: Patty, Bacon, Fries on the burger, Sriracha Aioli, Pepper Jack Cheese
• Mini Kevin Spicy: Sriracha infused patty, Sriracha Aioli, Spicy Bun, Lettuce, Tomato, Pickles, Onions
• Mini Southerner: Patty, Scratch-made Wood Fired Chili, Cheddar Cheese, Diced Onion, Chipotle Aioli, Yellow Mustard
• Mini Jam Right: Patty, Pimento Cheese, Sriracha Aioli, House-made Bacon Jam

One of the coolest things we learned while talking to the staff of Burgers and Bakery is that all of their buns for their burgers are made fresh and in house (it definitely shows, everything was delicious). They also opened up their restaurant right when COVID-19 closed down indoor dining in March, so they’ve survived (and thrived) for 10 months since! There was a line out the door for takeout by the time we sat down, and everything smelled and looked amazing.

We were so happy to have finished Restaurant Week off here, and definitely look forward to more great burgers and meals here in the future! This place definitely has hidden gem status, highly recommend!!

---

So how was your weekend, Foodie Friends? What were your favorite spots that we didn’t include this year? Sound out in the comments below to let us know your suggestions of places we should visit next or what dishes to make for our recipe rosters. As always, feel free to like, comment, & share 🤗