
Legendary | Worth driving from anywhere
Grits & Groceries
Review by: Michael Stern
Saylors Crossroads is as rural as a place can be, surrounded by acres of agriculture and a far piece from any town. At this bucolic spot in the heart of South Carolina’s Piedmont stands a restaurant that is true to its country location but also is a beacon of sophisticated cooking.
How did such a paradox come to be? Owners Heidi and Joe Trull had a baby. At the time, they were successful restaurateurs in the Creole culinary polestar, New Orleans – he was Emeril Lagasse’s pastry chef at Nola, she ran the esteemed Elizabeth’s – but they wanted to raise their child in the Carolinas where they grew up. So they found an old country store and made it into Grits & Groceries.
Here you find local produce used to make traditional dishes, but with a twist, the twist frequently being a South Louisiana accent. Examples: pork steak with Creole gravy; shrimp po boy; praline-crusted bacon. Among other menu highlights are a juice-heavy pimento cheeseburger draped with bacon, okra fritters with corn relish (a Wednesday special), and an appetizer of crisp-fried spheres of country ham and pimento cheese rolled in corn flakes and presented on a puddle of sweet-hot pepper jelly. If I have a problem with this place, it’s that there are too many intriguing things on the menu to taste them all, even in multiple visits.
Dessert is as good as it gets. Banana pudding is loaded with cookies and topped with real whipped cream. Crisp-crusted fried apple pie is served warm, inducing ecstasy when sided by a scoop of house-made cinnamon ice cream. Chocolate Coca-Cola cake is moist and powerfully chocolaty. F.R.O.G. cobbler (fig, raspberry, orange, ginger) is a sweet-tart triumph. And there’s butter-yellow sweet corn ice cream, coconut bread pudding, chocolate coconut cheesecake, peanut butter crunch bread pudding, and whiskey egg nog ice cream.
Directions & Hours
Information
Price | $$ |
Seasons | All |
Meals Served | Lunch, Dessert |
Credit Cards Accepted | No |
Alcohol Served | Yes |
Outdoor Seating | Yes |
What To Eat
Palmetto Burger
DISH
Tomato Pie
DISH
Ham Balls
DISH
Chocolate Coca-Cola Cake
DISH
Fried Apple Pie a la Mode
DISH
Praline Bacon
DISH
Okra Fritter Salad
DISH
Sweet Corn Ice Cream
DISH
Hog Wings
DISH
Carolina Shrimp Gravy and Grits
DISH
Stuffed French Toast
DISH
Fig Cake
DISH
Blueberry Fritters
DISH
Goober Pie
DISH
Buttermilk
DISH
German Apple Pancake
DISH
Pecan Pie
DISH
Ambrosia Bread Pudding
DISH
Red Rooster Breakfast
DISH
Apple Dumpling
DISH
Cornmeal Apple Cake
DISH
Shrimp Po Boy
DISH
Pork Po Boy
DISH
Grits & Groceries Recipes
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