Chapin restaurant owner plans to open three more area restaurants

Higher Ground Char House at 211 Chapin Rd. in Chapin extended to a full menu earlier this month after a soft opening there June 30 in the location formerly home to Ellie's Steakhouse.

The restaurant is the second one for owner Chris Hamilton who opened Rosie's Cafe in Saluda last year. (Hamilton announced on Rosie's Facebook page on Aug. 22 that Rosie's would be closing. However, after an outpouring of customer support decided to remain open at least another month). Hamilton hopes the two restaurants are the start of more to come.

"My goal is to open five restaurants--one a year over five years," said Hamilton who has worked in the restaurant business since the age of 13 and most recently spent 16 years providing human resources consulting for multiple chain restaurants and then as a recruiter for Applebee's chains across the Southeast.

Hamilton established Higher Ground as a place to offer top quality "craft" burgers at a reasonable price point.

"I have a passion for burgers," Hamilton said. "I visited multiple burger joints in the Carolinas over the course of eight years. Higher Ground burgers are modeled after the burgers made in high-end burger places but with the price knocked down 40 percent."

In addition to their traditional CharBurger, Higher Ground features 14 craft burgers such as the Totes Ma Goats burger with roasted tomato, garlic herb goat cheese and bacon aioli and the Cow-A-Bunga with provolone cheese, alfalfa sprouts and avocado aioli. All burgers are made with fresh For sides, the offering includes a variety of fried goods--mushrooms, dill pickle chips, onion rings and green tomatoes--as well as baked beans, seasonal vegetables and slaw.

For those who might issue what Hamilton refers to as "the veto vote" on Higher Ground because of an aversion to burgers, the restaurant also offers some thus far highly requested shrimp and flounder as well as fresh salads (with a choice of 14 dressings), wings, fried flounder and quesadillas, or "Flips" filled with cheeses and a choice of chopped beef or chicken.

A selection of about a dozen rotating local craft beers are also available.

High Ground is open from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. For more information, https://www.facebook.com/highergroundcharhouse/

This story was originally published August 29, 2016 at 8:03 AM with the headline "Chapin restaurant owner plans to open three more area restaurants."