Greenville, SC: Sticky Fingers BBQ

Greenville is a nice town with a very cool restored downtown area that is charming and has a number of nice restaurants [and a surprising number of people asking for handouts . . . what's up with that?]. So today was a Sunday and I was disappointed in the number of what looked like great spots that were closed, but you know I like me some BBQ so I settled on Sticky Fingers. What a disappointment!!! The only thing that was good was the beer, everything else was average at best. The ribs looked promising, but the sauce was bland and boring. The mac'n'cheese tasted as if it came from a box and used that nacho cheese stuff rather than real cheese, and the baked beans were tepid. How can this happen in the heartland of BBQ? Then there was the service [or lack there of] . . . I sat at the bar, which is usually a good thing. Not here. The bartender was distracted by everything, including the TV. I had to ask for water, and after the food arrived had to ask for silverware. When I asked for the check and put out my card I actually had to ask him to process the card as he was leaving the area on some other distraction. This place has a prime location in the main street in downtown Greenville and is a prime disappointment. Don't waste your time or the calories, you'd be better off with room service at the hotel.

EatHereOrNot: NOT

Charleston, SC: Charleston Place: Charleston Grill

The Charleston Place hotel is one of the Orient-Express properties and that are justly known for their elegance and luxury and the Charleston Grill is the fine dining room on the property. While it is a beautiful and finely appointed room, it is not stuffy and the atmosphere is almost jovial [perhaps its just the southern way]. The room was comfortable and the staff friendly, but the food was a disappointment. The menu is divided into categories: "cosmopolitan", "southern", "pure", "lush". WTF? It made no sense to me and the dishes in each category were neither consistent nor related. I found it all kind of weird.

From the "lush" category I choose Truffled Mushroom Soup . . . you already know how I feel about truffles, so this was a no brainer. It was, sadly, a waste of truffles . . . inedible. It was so heavily salted that it was like drinking sea water. I sent it back after two bites and hoped for better things. Next from the "pure" section was Sauteed Pheasant Breast with winter root vegetables and lemon roesmary jus. The pheasant was a little overcooked but flavorful, and the vegetables tasty. The overall effect was of an "almost but not quite". I skipped dessert.

Highly recommended, beautiful and ultimately unsatisfying . . . have you had dates like that?

EatHereOrNot: MAYBE

Columbia, SC: Mr. Friendly's

This place is GREAT! Its a fairly small, casual restaurant with food that belies its simple surroundings. The space is an old bakery: brick walls, high ceiling, wood floors and filled with light. The food is 'new southern', which for me translated to delicious. I had lunch here and would have returned for dinner had I still been in town.

So, on to the food: buttermilk fried cube steak . . . the best 'chicken fried steak' I've ever had. Couple that with garlic mashed potatoes with black pepper cream gravy that was perfect and I'm in heaven. The plate also had a wonderful roasted corn salsa [this must be the new part of new southern] and a beautiful succotash. I was stuffed and still could have eaten the whole thing over again. For desert we ordered the key lime pie, and it was the only disappointment. The texture was rubbery and was more like something from a jello mix. I should have just had more mashed potatoes and gravy!

This was a wonderful discovery [thanks Bob!] and I will happily return. My only reservation is the name . . . does anyone else think that Mr. Friendly is a euphemism for a certain part of the male anatomy?

EatHereOrNot: EAT HERE