Last year I briefly posted about it, but my favorite restaurant as of late in Greenville SC (I’m there 2-3 days a week) is Bacon Brothers Public House, led in the kitchen by chef Anthony Gray, formerly of Southern Art in Atlanta.
When I first heard the name of the restaurant a few years ago, I was a bit turned off – the bacon trend and the tacking on of ‘Public House’ had already been in full effect for a while and it felt a behind the curve.
But what I’ve remembered is that within certain categories, there’s always room for more if it’s good. Take burgers – the trend feels like minced meat, but new, better chains emerge successfully and every time a badass burger from a hip independent is released, it’s met with critical fanfare and I make sure to add it to my list of must-tries.
This is to say, Bacon Brothers does an excellent job, with a varied menu full of smoked meats, Southern classics, in-house cured meats, classic cocktails, and killer sandwiches with a wide variety of influence.
Even with a somewhat rebellious Eastside strip mall location, Bacon Brothers is packed nearly every day and night, accommodated well by the very friendly staff. As a frequent solo diner, my favorite move is to post up at the bar with a nice cocktail, some spicy jalapeño boiled peanuts, and smoked chicken wings. At lunch I’ll get a sandwich, and dinner with family or friends is a great opportunity to try a lot. They will do a BBQ feast with sides for $25 a person if you have four people to commit, which I’ve yet to do, but it looks impressive as it’s heaved across the room to awaiting tables. Below are a few more dishes I’ve checked out recently.
Wings – crumbled blue cheese, pickled celery salad, apple bbq
Pressed beef tongue sandwich, swiss, pickles, onion, smoked mayo
Brussels sprouts – peanut, kimchi mayo | Pork belly cabbage wraps, benne, kimchi, peanut
painted hills short rib – hominy, chorizo, misc topped with beef chicharrones
Burger with ground bacon, brisket, chuck
This recently changed – it used to be of the thin double hard-sear variety, which I actually preferred. I found this patty to be a little tough.