Renato's Ristorante Italiano
Morgan Square
The wait is finally over. According to Renato, the owner from Tuscany, renovations to this location took SIXTEEN months. He closed the location on Kennedy Street in order to have a downtown presence. Dinner entrees include pizza, chicken, veal, and, of course, pasta. Dinner prices range from about $13 to $36.
Front entrance
appetizer
|
Caesar salad
|
dining room
|
chicken and shrimp marsela
|
cannoli to go
|
Willy Taco
930 E. Main Street
930 E. Main Street
Willy Taco quickly established itself as one of the premier Eastside eateries. Open every day except Monday and now open at 10 a.m. for Sunday brunch. Prices range from about $3 to $10.
Website
Website
Sunrise Tostada
|
Brunch Menu
|
Paco's Breakfast Piñata
|
CrockPot Cafe
235 Kennedy Street (Located across the street from the SCC Downtown Campus.)
"CrockPot Cafe was developed for people who yearn for sometimes forgotten sandwiches. Now it's all here at CrockPot from childhood greats to Adult favorites." -from the takeout menu
Open for lunch until about 3. Sandwiches in the $4-$6 range, salads about $6-$7. Try the Swamp Fox (peanut butter sandwich infused with banana and honey) or the State Line (salmon lox, capers, and cream cheese topped with pineapple on a bed of toasted chips). Or opt for the Southerner (BBQ sandwich slow cooked). Feel like a salad? Try the Islander (packed with veggies, grilled jerk chicken and jerk dressing) or the Vegas Salad (a caesar salad topped with grilled chicken).
Open for lunch until about 3. Sandwiches in the $4-$6 range, salads about $6-$7. Try the Swamp Fox (peanut butter sandwich infused with banana and honey) or the State Line (salmon lox, capers, and cream cheese topped with pineapple on a bed of toasted chips). Or opt for the Southerner (BBQ sandwich slow cooked). Feel like a salad? Try the Islander (packed with veggies, grilled jerk chicken and jerk dressing) or the Vegas Salad (a caesar salad topped with grilled chicken).
|
|
|
|
The Farmer's Table
401 East Kennedy Street
Open for breakfast and lunch Sunday-Friday, The Farmer's Table specializes in meals prepared largely from local farm products such as Carolina Bison, cage-free eggs, and Carolina Aquaponics tilapia. Prices range from about $5-$12 and breakfast is also available at lunch. Works from local artists decorate the colorful interior. Notable fare include: Grav Lox Omelet, Bay Side Eggs Benedict, Shrimp & Grits (Charleston style), Monte Cristo French Toast, Yogurt Parfait, Alcatraz Sandwich, and Diablo Burger. A nice touch is that the menu uses icons to denote spicy and vegetarian items. A wide variety of salads, specialty coffees, and juices are also available.
|
Veggie Omelet with Seasonal Fruit.
|
|
Southern Eggs Benedict: fried green tomato, crab cake, egg, and béarnaise sauce on a buttermilk biscuit.
|
|
Southern Eggs Benedict with Charleston Style Cheese Grits.
|
WILD ACE Pizza and Pub
148 West Main Street
Located on the north side of Morgan Square, Wild Ace Pizza and Pub offers a wide selection of salads, sandwiches, pizza, calzones, pasta, wings, and appetizers. Prices are about $8 to $10 for entrees, excluding pizza, which ranges from about $10 to $20 depending on size and toppings. A party room is available upstairs. See the hostess for outside seating. The most interestingly named item has to be "The P-51 Mustang Down in Flames," a cheesesteak sandwich with jalapeño cheddar cheese.
Exterior view
|
Lots of WWI and WWII vintage fighters
|
Good writin' pen
|
Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad
|
Bavarian Style Pretzel
|
The Fighter Ace
|
Mon Amie morning cafe
2601 East Main Street
Delightful is the best way to describe Mon Amie. Step inside to visit another world. Choose a table or sit at the high bar and watch the chef prepare your selection. Expect to pay about $5 to $10 for dishes with groovy names such as: Chien Chaud, Garbo Crepe, and Chunky Monkey Pancake.
Delightful is the best way to describe Mon Amie. Step inside to visit another world. Choose a table or sit at the high bar and watch the chef prepare your selection. Expect to pay about $5 to $10 for dishes with groovy names such as: Chien Chaud, Garbo Crepe, and Chunky Monkey Pancake.
Mmmm. Trio lunch: Croissant, soup, and salad
|
Yummy "Western Front" omelet
|
Delicious breakfast crepe
|
Monsoon Noodle House
|
The Monsoon Noodle House offers a varied Asian cuisine such as Japanese Seaweed Salad, Lo Mein Noodle Soup, Mongolian Stir-Fried, Vietnamese Vermicelli Seafood Salad, and Pad Thai. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner. Prices are reasonable.
Coconut Shrimp
Use leaves on right in which to wrap up goodies on left.
Crab cakes with veggies
|
Cribb's Kitchen on Main
|
Cribb's Kitchen is open for lunch and dinner. (Meals are not served between 3 and 5 p.m., however.) Interesting appetizers include: Pork & Collard Green Eggrolls, Lump Crab & Pimento Cheese Dip, and Southern Fried Sushi Roll. Nine base salads are offered to which a large variety of meats can be added.
Entrees include such delicacies as: Bourbon & Molasses Glazed Salmon, Seafood Minestrone, Wildshire Beef Tips, and Pecan Smoked Pork Chop. A wide choice of sandwiches, burgers, and wraps round out the menu. Prices for entrees range from about $15-$25. Most other items are priced at approximately $8-$12. 
Mural nearing completion on east side of Cribb's Kitchen.
|
Hub Diggity Dogs **UPDATE: Hub Diggity Dogs has moved to Wall Street!**
119 Dunbar St.
Woman from Hatboro, Pa., studying menu.
Breaking news! Hub Diggity Dog, a popular lunchtime eatery, is opening a new dining room next door to the current Dunbar Street location. Also, look for extended afternoon hours. HDD is located in the former music studio of Aaron Whisnant (Albert Hill Band, Dezerey's Hammer). Prior to that, the building housed Goldmaster Jewelers.
Hub Diggity Dog, owned and managed by (formerly) retired, textile magnate from New Haven, CT, "Bobby," offers several types of hot dogs, including a tasty bratwurst on pretzel roll sampled by SS. The woman pictured to the left had a veggie dog and was quite pleased. Incidentally, the (very) soft pretzel rolls are imported from Texas and SS is unaware of another restaurant in town with this type of bun.
If one doesn't feel in the mood for a hot dog, the menu also includes items featuring chicken salad and pimento cheese. According to Bobby, a BBQ item will be added soon.
Prices range from $1.65 for a plain dog to about $12 for the specialty, lobster dog. Bottled drinks sell for $1.75.
http://www.hubdiggitydogs.com
Hub Diggity Dog, owned and managed by (formerly) retired, textile magnate from New Haven, CT, "Bobby," offers several types of hot dogs, including a tasty bratwurst on pretzel roll sampled by SS. The woman pictured to the left had a veggie dog and was quite pleased. Incidentally, the (very) soft pretzel rolls are imported from Texas and SS is unaware of another restaurant in town with this type of bun.
If one doesn't feel in the mood for a hot dog, the menu also includes items featuring chicken salad and pimento cheese. According to Bobby, a BBQ item will be added soon.
Prices range from $1.65 for a plain dog to about $12 for the specialty, lobster dog. Bottled drinks sell for $1.75.
http://www.hubdiggitydogs.com
New location on Wall Street
|
NY Yankee memorabilia inside new location.
|
"Bobby" (owner and manager)
|
Sign for Hub-Diggity on Morgan Square. Lobster rolls are extremely popular.
|
NOTE: Zarza's is no longer in business. :(
Zarza Eclectic Cuisine
149 South Daniel Morgan Avenue
"Gregory" welcomes customers to Zarza, a restaurant specializing in cuisine from the Caribbean, South America, and southern Europe. Zarza has an elegant atmosphere, which extends even to the rest rooms. SS recommends choosing a table rather than a booth, as the former's chairs are more comfortable. The lunch menu features soups, salads, crepes (the chicken and corn crepe is quite delicious); entrees such as Pasticcio, Pabellon, and Salmon Filet au Poivre; sandwiches, for example, ares, pernil, Cuban, and choripan; and gourmet hamburgers. SS sampled the Castellana Burger, which is a half-pound beef patty topped with turkey, fried egg, sauteed onions, green sauce, spicy fried pickles, tomato, lettuce, and melted fresco cheese on a ciabatta roll. (For a less spicy treat, omit the fried pickles.) Interesting vegetarian items are also available. Lunch items range from about $6 to $10, and evening items approximately $14 to $44. One of the owners has a blackberry farm which produces fresh fruit, flavorings, and blackberry wine.
SS readers may be familiar with The Showroom, which is located upstairs from Zarza, and connected via an internal stairway. The building housing both was formerly a shoe store (Gilbert's) and before that a car dealership (probably Pierce Motors, a Ford-Mercury dealer).
http://www.zarzaeclecticcuisinesc.com
SS readers may be familiar with The Showroom, which is located upstairs from Zarza, and connected via an internal stairway. The building housing both was formerly a shoe store (Gilbert's) and before that a car dealership (probably Pierce Motors, a Ford-Mercury dealer).
http://www.zarzaeclecticcuisinesc.com
Castellana Burger
Yanni's
2600 E. Main St.
A delightful, family-run restaurant located near Star Lanes in the former La Baron building. The cuisine is largely Greek-Italian. Prices are very reasonable. The owners are Greek and the wait-staff largely Ukrainian, so the atmosphere has a decidedly European flavor. The "regular" customers are very devoted. SS has met one couple that dines at Yanni's (Greek for "Johnny's," incidentally) daily and sometimes twice daily! Another couple rides their motorcycle several times per week from Greer to visit this establishment, a 40-mile round trip.
SS's favorite menu items, in no particular order: souvlaki wrap, spaghetti with meat sauce, herbed burger, chicken salas-salad, and Hawaiian sub. 99 cent iced tea with unlimited refills is a nice bonus.
SS's favorite menu items, in no particular order: souvlaki wrap, spaghetti with meat sauce, herbed burger, chicken salas-salad, and Hawaiian sub. 99 cent iced tea with unlimited refills is a nice bonus.
Lobby ceiling
|
Chicken salad-salad
|