Grits and Groceries
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A visit to the Grits and Groceries restaurant in rural South Carolina is a special treat.
This here is a giant rooster festooned in Christmas regalia.
This here is not just any giant rooster festooned in Christmas regalia.
This here is Grits and Groceries’ giant rooster marking the spot where people from far and wide flock to for great food.
Last week, in hopes of finding lunch, we took off in search of this giant rooster. I heard him from afar calling my name in his giant rooster way.
It was a foggy, rainy day – the likes ne’r one has seen ’round these parts in a while, but the giant rooster shone through the misty rain like a beacon in the night…
(I made a B+ in creative writing in high school. That’s why I majored in art.)
The trip to Saylors Crossroads, located near Belton, SC, proved to be well worth every single one of the 49.3 miles. The little building might be deceiving to those that pass by unknowing of the goodness inside. No joke people. This is the real deal.
The inside is quaint and cozy. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming. It smells like bacon and coffee and an old country store. They should bottle that smell into a cologne and call it “Love.” I’d buy it.
No cell phone calls allowed. No bother, you’ll be too busy eating to take that call anyway.
Owners, Joe and Heidi create their magic in an unassuming kitchen with the freshest local ingredients they can find. From cheeseburgers to Smoked Salmon Shirred Eggs and an array of baked desserts made by Joe, the resident pastry chef, you’re sure to find something that’ll tickle your fancy.
They certainly know their way around a kitchen. You can check out their full bios here.
My first sign of the goodness to come was the tea. Good tea.
And good tea = good sign.
*Please be prepared. This is not diet food people. If you’re on a diet and beg for no temptations, turn away. Turn away now. But if you like real home-cooked food, made with the freshest ingredients by some of the best chefs around, keep on reading.
We started with Crab Cakes.
Delicious. Yummy. Perfect.
Who knew we’d find the best crab cake around? Who knew.
And this Black Eyed Pea Cake or fritter kinda thing was mighty tasty too.
About now I was glad I had not eaten breakfast that morning.
We proceeded with the main course. My daughter ordered a cheese burger.
I think she may have cried a little. Tears of joy.
My son chowed down on a chicken sandwich the size of his face.
“I hope the food in heaven is like this,” he mumbled through a mouth full. Hey, no talkin’ with your mouth full dude.
But well said dear one. Well said.
The Shrimp Po’ Boy somehow made its way to my spot. I thought I ordered salad?
Good stuff.
My husband enjoyed one of the daily specials, brisket.
We’re not finished. We ordered dessert – for the long ride home through the wilderness. We needed sustenance. people. Sustenance.
The dessert menu is a myriad of delights. Homemade pies, cakes and ice cream made with milk from a local dairy, Happy Cow. How do you choose? The Chocolate Coco-Cola Cake was the perfect way to top off our culinary adventure. Moist and yuuuuuum.
Grits and Groceries offers southern comfort food made with the same care and attention to detail you’ll find at any shishy poopoo fine dining establishment. A friendly place, relaxing and homey, Grits and Groceries will see our happy faces again real soon.
It’s a good thing that Grits and Groceries is out-of-the-way. This place is too good to go there on the way to somewhere else. Grits and Groceries is a destination in itself. So if you’re in their neck of the woods – or heck, the eastern seaboard – make your way to Grits and Groceries. Make sure to keep your eye peeled for the giant rooster (although he’s won’t be donning his Christmas regalia until next year) and save room for dessert.
Check out Grits and Groceries hours, menu and other information at gritsandgroceries.com.
Cock-a-doodle-doo!
I’ll have that piece of cake please!
i absolutely LOVE little out-of-the-way places like this. they’re hidden gems, there’s no doubt about that, and the food you’ve depicted and described looks completely irresistible. awesome post, all around. 🙂
You had me at ‘crab cake’. Yum. Definitely a purposeful day trip for us this year!
Sounds exactly like my kind of place! If I’m ever within about a two hour drive, I’m heading directly there!
Oh my… we LOVE us some Grits and Groceries! One of our daughters discovered it while on a visit to Erskine there in Due West. In fact, we like it so much we’ve been back several times over the past few years. She gave me the Grits and Groceries cookbook so we can fix some of our favorite dishes when we get a hankerin’ and don’t have the time to drive there. You’re right Hat Lady… it is southern comfort food at it’s best!
OMG i want it all the food, the kitschy cute stuff and that chicken out front would ROCK the bench monday group on flickr….we love chickens!!! I challenge you to take a photo with it next trip and post it to the group on a monday!!!
http://www.flickr.com/groups/1040132@N20/
your descriptions are great…..seriously sounds like heaven to me, and you are sooo right about TEA, if I cannot drink the unsweetened tea because it is cloudy, icky or otherwise gross….it does not bode well for the food or establishment!
That chicken sandwich, like a pulled chicken? with bbq sauce? yummmm
this totally reminds me of a place a friend took me in Shelbyville, Tennessee…a totally unassuming house in the middle of horse country, that was worth our 120 mile drive on the way to Falls mill!
I love quant little places like this. Wish I lived near by.
Wait a minute, maybe that would be too dangerous. Let me rephrase that. Wish I was visiting nearby! 😉
I’ve gained five pounds just looking at your pictures!
We’ll have to make a trip there my next visit. Hopefully soon.
Love ya’ll,
Mom
Makes me want to come to SC just to go there!!
Ok, Amy…we are SO going there sometime soon!! The crab cake picture…yummm!
Denise & Hat Lady — y’all better invite me along, or I’ll just have to pooch my lip at y’all…
Hysterical picture of Hank! And “shishy poopoo” made me LAUGH OUT LOUD! 😀
Me = Going there soooooooon!
It is amazing. At a non-descript cross roads, no view and in the summer you eat at a table in the yard under the tree. The food is amazing and the whole atmosphere is terrific. I have had breakfast there… and there was a crowd that morning, and now I am looking forward to lunch – your photos were droolingly fantastic!
I like out of the way places too. Have you ever tried the Village Baker in Pendleton? I can’t think what they call it but in the morning they make these large flat round things that have a pecan flavor. I LOVE LOVE LOVE them. You can buy cake by the slice. They serve lunch too and their philly cheese steak sandwich and their potato salad are yummy! There are some neat little stores right around the square in Pendleton too.
Hey Deborah!
Pendleton is next on my little towns to visit and blog about! I just wrote it on my calendar yesterday in fact. Thanks for the tips. I’ll try to head over in the morning eat breakfast and just hang out through lunch too. ;-]
~ Amy J.
What a fun place! I love all of your photos-thanks for sharing with us!
you may want to call before you go. Seems like they are closed a couple of days a week but I can’t remember what days. I’ve only been there on Saturdays.
Try it for breakfast, too! I had a Redneck Eggs Benedict with a biscuit, fried green tomato, country ham and poached egg. Oh, yeah, and hollandaise sauce. It was fab!