In September, we embarked on a spontaneous road trip to the south to visit friends (safely) and explore a few new cities. From Chicago, we road tripped to Asheville, Greenville and Wilmington to satisfy our travel craving. A full overview of the road trip can be read here.
Our good friends, Shawn and Laura, who we traveled to Charleston with in this post, live in Greenville, South Carolina. With Fall and a brutal Winter looming in Chicago, we immediately said yes when they asked us to come visit and meet their new daughter, Eliza.
We’d been to Greenville once before when Shawn and Laura got married, but had been wanting to return and explore more. You’ve probably seen Greenville on one of those, “Where you should move” lists and rightly so, the downtown offers great restaurants, coffeeshops, outside activities and more. The surrounding areas are great for activities like hiking and biking with the Swamp Rabbit Trail. The location is also prime, only an hour from Asheville and not far from the Smoky Mountains.
Our stay in 2020 was laid back and we worked remotely the entire time, so you’ll see a lot of great coffeeshops and outdoor work areas in the below recommendations. Given the pandemic, we only ate out a few times, but the restaurant scene in Greenville is really spectacular, so we can’t wait to go back.
Without further ado…
the greenville guide
drink (coffee)
methodical coffee
A spot so good we hit it twice, this coffeeshop is right in the middle of downtown and has a great upstairs loft space for remote working. Between the wallpaper, the packaging and the painted espresso machine, this place was absolutely stunning and the coffee was amazing. My only regret was not grabbing a bag of coffee beans on our way out.
the village grind
On our last morning in town, we ventured over to West Greenville to find this coffeeshop and were pleasantly surprised with the area it was in, as it reminded us of the arts district in Asheville. I wish the coffeeshop had been open to patrons inside because the vibes were immaculate, but we opted for a few coffees and a cookie to go.
cohesive coffee
Cohesive was another great spot for working remotely. It’s outside of downtown, which meant a much larger space with less people, so we felt comfortable working here (inside and outside) for most of the day. The coffee was excellent and they also had some small bites that I was tempted to try!
eat
fork and plough
This farm to table restaurant is outside of downtown, but changes their menu weekly to align with what’s in season. While the dishes were exquisite, the restaurant was low-key and attached to a market and butchery where you can take home local favorites after your meal. We loaded up on local beers and snacks for the rest of our trip. The menu changes frequently, but I absolutely loved the fried boudin balls and quail breast entree I had, along with a snickerdoodle mug dessert.
jianna
We gave ourselves one splurge evening and our friends secured a babysitter so we could have dinner on the terrace at Jianna, a modern Italian restaurant downtown. The menu changes, but our favorite standouts were the ricotta crostini, the char-grilled octopus and the salted caramel semifreddo which all seem to be menu staples!
southern pressed juicery
If you know me, I love anything that is fake (or quick) healthy, so a juice spot is always high on my list. Right before this trip, I became obsessed with açaí bowls, so when I found out this place does BOGO days, we had to check it out. Southern Pressed is located downtown, so after working remotely from Methodical, we grabbed two bowls and ate them in the open courtyard nearby. They had fun combinations and I could really go for two of these right now.
tandem crêperie and coffeehouse
Located just outside of Greenville, Tandem is a hip crêperie in Traveler’s Rest, just off the Swamp Rabbit Trail—a popular biking and activity trail. This place is worth the drive and just exudes the southern charm of the area.
drink
fireforge crafted beer
Given the beautiful weather in Greenville and the ongoing pandemic, we opted for outdoor spots around the city. Fireforge serves innovative brews like a thaiPA made with lemongrass and ginger, along with twists on classics like a blood orange wit.
juniper
This gin bar opened after our trip, but after Shawn and Laura shared all of the beautiful cocktails they tried, I just had to add it to this list. They specialize in inventive cocktails with fun accessories and honestly one look at their website, I’d be making a reservation in a snap. Add this one to your list.
do
gather greenville
The first time we went to Gather during our stay was on a perfect Saturday afternoon. Gather is a collection of shipping containers that feature local restaurants, beer and wine, along with live music on weekends. Fortunately they were only letting in a limited amount of patrons for covid protocols, meaning there were no issues finding a table or feeling safe and distanced from others. On our second trip to Gather, we worked remotely from one of their tables and took advantage of the almost empty space on our last morning in town. We loved the Greenville Beer Exchange, which has over 20 beers on tap—my favorite being the Aloha Beaches pineapple wheat from Low Tide. Other great spots we tried were the HenDough Chicken & Donuts and Cocobowlz, for an afternoon açaí bowl treat.
augusta twenty
Greenville’s downtown is super charming and extremely walkable, so you’ll see a lot of people walking around on a nice weekend. When walking from one place to another, I noticed Augusta Twenty, a small boutique that featured some of my favorite brands like ALC, Tibi and Mother Denim. I could’ve shopped for an hour, but ended up grabbing an Anine Bing tee before heading to the next spot. This boutique is off of the main street, but a must visit for women’s shopping.
the tl;dr
enjoy a local, farm to table dinner at fork and plough
spend the afternoon outside at gather greenville
grab a coffee or work remotely from methodical coffee or the village grind
pick up a few designer staples at augusta twenty
splurge on date night at jianna
grab a thaiPA or blood orange wit from fireforge crafted beer
take advantage of bogo açaí bowls from southern pressed juicery