This SC restaurant is among the best in the US this year, USA Today says. Here’s where and why
A Tex-Mex restaurant in Greenville owned by a Brownsville, Texas, chef is included in USA Today’s list of 2025 Restaurants of the Year.
Comal 864 started as a pop-up spot in various breweries and then navigated to a spot in City View, just outside downtown Greenville, in 2021. Chef Dayna Lee-Marquez has since opened another location in Midtown, east of downtown.
USA Today reporters selected 44 of their favorite restaurants around the country. Comal 864 is the only one chosen from South Carolina.
“It’s a celebration of local flavors and stories, curated by reporters from across the country who know that a meal of Italian cuisine in Mamaroneck can be just as rewarding as one in Manhattan,” the newspaper said.
Comal 864 is a mash up of the Spanish word for griddle and the area code for the Upstate.
It was selected by Greenville News reporter A.J. Jackson, who said the cuisine is traditional Tex-Mex with a twist.
“Chef Dayna Lee-Marquez has the expertise and charisma to infuse Japanese and Southern flavors into the ever-evolving menu while keeping it rooted in South Texas,” he wrote.
“To be chosen as part of the USA Today Restaurant of the Year 2025, it’s a huge honor,” Lee-Márquez told The News. “I represent women, Latinas, and people on the fringe; there are people with far more experience than I have, so to be recognized, it’s a reminder that anything is possible if you work hard enough to achieve a goal.”
She and her husband moved to Greenville when he took a job as a mechanical engineer. She had learned to make tortillas and tamales from her grandmother and once in Greenville continued the tutorials with her young son.
A desk job caused her to rethink her goals, and Cormal 864 was the result. It took a few years, but now she is a 2023 James Beard Award semifinalist for Southeast’s Best Chef with a focus on giving back to the community.
She hosts yearly Thanksgiving meals and cooked for the community in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Helene, which knocked out power to 90% of Greenville County.
She is not one to turn away someone who’s hungry.
“If you know us at Comal 864, you know how we feel about marginalized communities and the love we put into preparing and serving our food,” Lee-Márquez told The News. “It all goes hand-in-hand ... our food is delicious because it’s made with love and no matter if we’re selling or giving it away for free, it’s made with those two ideas in mind.”
This story was originally published February 20, 2025 at 6:00 AM.