‘America’s Best Restaurants’ will feature 12 SC eateries soon. Here’s which ones & how to watch
“America’s Best Restaurants Roadshow” has been making a swing through South Carolina the past two weeks, including taping at East Bay Deli - the Hub in Columbia Thursday and Arabesque on Devine Wednesday.
America’s Best Restaurants is a media company that highlights locally-owned restaurants around the country and shows the episodes on its Facebook and Instagram pages and on YouTube.
Host Theo Williams raved over the Dixie Darling at East Bay during a promo for the episode. The episode premiere date will be announced on the restaurant’s Facebook page as well as that of America’s Best Restaurants.
Williams called himself a “certified sandwich guy” and said the Dixie Darling met his standards — triple decker roast beef, turkey and Swiss with coleslaw, pepper relish, lettuce and tomato on toasted rye. He said good bread and quality meat are essential for making a good sandwich and the Dixie Darling had both.
The show also featured the East Bay burger and the fried chicken wrap.
Located at 1426 Main Street, East Bay has 11 New York-style delis across South Carolina, including six in the greater Charleston area and five in the Midlands.
At Arabesque, he tried the baba ganoush, grape leaves, chicken shawarma and made a sizable dent in the lamb shank. He raved about the lamb shank. Raved.
Arabesque, at 2930 Devine Street, has been around since Silvana Hanna Yaghi, and her son, Peter Yaghi, opened it in 2012. She was a native of Lebanon and died in 2021.
“Her legacy lives on through her family as we strive to strengthen the cultural exchange between our two great nations, through classic and contemporary Lebanese meals,” her family said on the restaurant website.
Williams was at Brubaker’s Café & Bakery in Sumter Wednesday, where he raved about the Carolina Beef sandwich, which the owner created in honor of his father — chow chow, mustard, mayo, roast beef on homemade bread.
Williams liked the bread so much he took a loaf home as well as some turkey. He also tried the chicken salad sandwich on a rather large croissant and ham and fig sandwich.
“Brubaker’s served our first cup of coffee in July of 2020 at the American Legion Farmer’s Market,” the company said on its website. ”With masks in hand, we went out and started selling coffee and pastries under South Carolina cottage food laws.”
A permanent location followed at 13 N. Main Street.
Owner Jacob Mullikin worked in the commercial coffee industry and has a background in chemistry which he applies to the roasting process, the company said on its website.
Williams was at Silver Bay Seafood in Simpsonville Tuesday, Wingnutz in Fountain Inn and Roma Restaurant of Laurens Monday.
In late January, another host Danyel Detomo was at three Greenville restaurants — Tropical Grille, Coupe’s Corner and Rustic Farms Pizza Co. — Fickle Palate and Pizza Buffet, both in Anderson, and Erica Wood Fire Bistro and Raw Bar in Pendleton.