Here are the 10 best Greenville restaurants to eat at outdoors this summer, Tripadvisor says
Tripadvisor has named Greenville’s best outdoor restaurants with Sassafras Southern Bistro coming in first.
The long-time North Main Street restaurant specializes in Southern cuisine, including salmon and lump blue crab served over grits and fried green tomatoes and pimento cheese.
Tripadvisor, a website with readers reviews and other travel information, listed 103 restaurants with outdoor seating in Greenville, which are searchable by price and location.
All but one of the top 10 restaurants are in or near downtown Greenville.
No. 2 is Smoky Dreams Barbecue and Catering, located in the Maxwell Pointe shopping area at the Highway 14 and Woodruff Road intersection.
Pomegranate on Main, listed third, has been open in the West End since 2007, and specializes in traditional Persian recipes.
Fourth was Sully’s Steamers, a bagel sandwich eatery founded by Robert “Sully” Sullivan who describes himself as “a regular Joe” who wanted better quality food at affordable prices. The company now has 17 locations across the southeast, including two in the greater Columbia area.
Soby’s, which is credited with ushering in downtown Greenville’s restaurant revolution, ranked fifth. It specializes in Southern cuisine, including shrimp and grits and crab cakes.
No. 6 was Willy Taco - Feed & Seed, located as expected in a building on Laurens Road just outside downtown that once housed a feed and seed business. It opened in 2013 and features Mexican fusion recipes. The company now has four locations in the Upstate.
Trio - A Brick Oven Cafe, which has been in downtown Greenville more than 25 years, features signature brick oven pizzas, including Hawaiian and Buffalo chicken as well as calzones, pasta and an assortment of salads.
No. 8 was Passerelle French Bistro, which overlooks Falls Park on the Reedy. It has been named by CNN Travel as one of the most romantic in the world.
Started as one of the Table 301 restaurants that includes Soby’s, it is now owned by Michael and Jenifer (the chef) Minelli. Both worked for Soby’s before taking ownership of Passerelle.
No. 9 was Jianna, an Italian restaurant and oyster bar on Main Street.
It has an open kitchen, run by chef and owner Michael Kramer.
Another Table 301 restaurant, The Lazy Goat, rounds out the 10th spot. The restaurant overlooks the downtown skyline and the Reedy River upstream from Reedy River falls.
The cuisine is Mediterranean with influences from Spain, Morocco, Italy, France, Greece, North Africa, and the Middle East.