SC has one of best small cities for food and drink in US, Food & Wine magazine says. Here’s why

Score one more for Greenville.

Food & Wine has named the Upstate city the 6th best small city in the United States for food and drink.

Compiled by Wendy Pramik, a travel writer and photographer based in Columbus, Ohio. the list was chosen through “research, local insights, and recommendations from fellow travel writers and editors at the magazine and beyond.”

“Each place reflects a distinct identity — shaped by history, sparked by creativity, and packed with way more flavor than their size lets on,” she wrote.

“Greenville’s fertile Upstate location — rich soil, long seasons, and more than 1,000 producers — makes it a natural home for those who truly cook from the ground up,” she wrote. “Many restaurants even operate their own plots.”

She mentioned perennial favorites Bobby’s BBQ, Topsoil and Fork and Plough and downtown Greenville’s mix of fare from 34 countries spanning five continents.

“With year-round growing and serious kitchen ambition, Greenville has firmly established itself as a rising destination for curious eaters,” she wrote.

Greenville has almost 200 restaurants and 80% of them are locally owned, said Beth Brotherton, spokesperson for the city of Greenville.

Greenville’s food scene harkens back to 1997 when Carl Sobocinski founded Soby’s New South Cuisine in a former Cancellation Shoes store and turned it into a cozy brick-walled space with a richly hued wooden bar and a class front that can be opened during warm weather.

In the years since, Sobocinski opened new concepts around downtown and was joined by other entrepreneurs. He also has turned over ownership of some of his properties to people who have managed them.

Bobby’s BBQ, which is in Fountain Inn, was named by Food Network as the “best and most iconic small-town restaurants” in South Carolina.

Topsoil Kitchen & Market in Travelers Rest, about 10 miles north of Greenville, is located in the former Williams Hardware and has a 16-acre farm owned by restaurant owner Wendy Lynam.

Fork and Plough in the Historic Overbrook neighborhood adjacent to downtown “feels like a beloved neighborhood spot,” Eater said.

Greenville has been named by various national magazines as a best city in which to live, best place to retire, best place to vacation, best public park (Falls Park on the Reedy), among others.

Pramik named Asheville, North Carolina has the No. 1 best small town eating locale.

“Cooks here marry heritage with invention, turning peak-of-season produce into artful plates,” she said, mentioning Neng Jr.’s, the city’s first Filipinx restaurant from 2024 F&W Best New Chef Silver Iocovozzi, and Good Hot Fish, where Southern fish camp classics get a bold, modern update.

Other cities on the list are Bozeman, Montana; Burlington, Vermont; Covington, Kentucky; Fredericksburg, Texas; Healdsburg, California; McMinnville, Oregon; Oxford, Mississippi; Santa Fe, New Mexico and Traverse City, Michigan.