Slapfish (Hilton Head Island, SC)

 1024 William Hilton Pkwy, Hilton Head Island, SC

 

Slapfish is a national chain of upscale fast food fish restaurants with currently some 20 locations across the US. It has an eclectic menu, which reflects more a fish restaurant than a fast food chain, including Chowder Fries, Lobster Roll, Fish & Chips, and various salads.

 

I get the Fish & Chips, choosing two pieces rather than one ($14), which comes with home-made Tartar sauce. The two pieces of fish are lightly breaded and well fried: very good! The fries are thick and crispy, with light seasoning. The Tartar sauce is yellowish and has a bit of a citrusy taste.

 

VERDICT: 90/100

Very good fish & chips and the other, healthier options, were good too (although the salad had a lot of fries in them).

Palmetto Dunes General Store (Hilton Head Island, SC)

1 Trent Jones Ln, Hilton Head Island, SC

 

Palmetto Dunes General Store is a grocery annex tourist store in the big tourist community of Palmetto Dunes on Hilton Head Island, they have a small buffet that serves mostly Southern (fried) food -- I took the picture when they were closed already. Their fried chicken, in particular, is famous in town — they make it at 11 AM and run out fast.

 

I get one big piece of fried chicken and two chicken thighs in hot sauce ($4.99). The fried chicken was a bit dry but the taste of both the chicken and the coating were great (bet it tastes awesome when it is freshly fried). The thighs were really meaty.

 

VERDICT: 88/100

Seems like the hype is deserved. Next summer I’ll be back, at 11 AM!

 

Zimbe Dogs (Anderson, SC)

206 W Franklin St, Anderson, SC 29624

Zimbe Dogs is a small hole-in-the-wall just outside of downtown Anderson, where you order through the window. They serve a broad variety of hot dogs but also burgers, wings, and various sides. The owner is friendly and very entrepreneurial, telling me all the specials for the next day.

I get a Chili Dog ($2.50), a Fire Dog ($3), and a Mammoth ($4). The Chili Dogs is just a hot dog with chili, which tastes a bit too sweet. The wiener is a overpowered by the bun. The Fire Dog turns out to be a Chili Dog with some crusted Fritos Flamin' Hot Flavored Corn chips on them. Tastes largely the same, just crunchier. The Mammoth is a sloppy joe, in this case a soft and sweet bun with yet the same chili. I’m happy I added jalapeños to it, as it is too sweet for me.

VERDICT: 80/100

Old school hole-in-the-wall with decent hot dogs and broad selection of other stuff. The chili is a bit too sweet for me though.

Arnold’s Homemade Famous Burgers (Greenwood, SC)

 1601-1611 Woodlawn Rd, Greenwood, SC

 

Arnold’s Homemade Famous Burgers is an old-school diner/snackbar attached to a gas station outside of Greenwood, SC. It has the regulars: burgers, hot dogs, fries, sandwiches. It also has a location in Anderson, SC.

I get a Bacon Hamburger plate ($7.50) and a Hot Dog ($1.99). The burgers comes with lettuce, tomato, onion, ketchup and mayo. It’s pretty good for an old-school burger. The patty is fresh and the bacon crispy. The fries are potato-y but get saggy too fast. The Hot Dog comes with onions, mustard, and chili, which is more a tasty heap of ground meat. Still decent. The coleslaw is a bit tasteless.

VERDICT: 83/100

Arnold's is a good place if you fancy an old-school burger joint.

CharBar Co (Hilton Head Island, SC)

33 Office Park Rd #213, Hilton Head Island, SC 29928

 

CharBarCo has the best burgers and sushi on Hilton Head Island, according to the various wards the won. It’s a pretty big restaurant (particularly the patio) that has an eclectic mix of food, from classic US sports bar to sushi rolls and bowls.

 

I eat here with my family, who tell me the salads and sushi are good. I go for the Dirty South Burger ($22.75), which allegedly made the Top 20 in the World Burger Championship. It is described as “signature beef blend topped with smoked pork belly, red onions, tomato, candied jalapeños, bourbon bbq sauce, on a toasted brioche bun (I hold the pimento cheese). I ask for medium and I actually get medium! The burger is overall really well done, even though it is not my combination of flavors (too sweet). The side of Hand Cut Chips is good as are the French Fries, which my sons eat (thin but potato-y). My wife and I share a Double Chocolate Milkshake ($7), which is thick and tasty (not too sweet).

 

VERDICT: 89/100

This is a good place to eat and to pig out. The burger was expensive but very good. Next time I would build my own though.

Street Meet American Tavern (Hilton Head Island, SC )

95 Mathews Dr., Suite #D11, Hilton Head Island, SC 29926

 

Street Meet American Tavern is basically a sports bar that is home to Ohioans on Hilton Head Island. It has the classic staples of the American sports bar and many of them have won local awards – including the hot dogs and chicken wings. They have inside and outside dining.

 

I get the Hoffmann’s Snappy Griller ($7) and add chili and jalapenos (+$1.50). The dog is imported from Syracuse, NY, and has a nice snap to it. The chili is amazing and the jalapeno fresh. All in all and excellent hot dog. The Wings ($8.50) are six meaty legs and wings but a bit dry and with too little buffalo sauce. The Basket of Fries ($6.50) is plentiful, my son and I don’t finish it, but they are essentially thicker Burger King fries – I don’t understand Americans fascinating with coated fries.

 

VERDICT: 80/100

A decent sports bar and if you choose well, you can eat well here.

Kendall’s Grill (Greenville, SC)

Inside the Greenville Triumph SC stadium

Kendall's Grill has a restaurant in Greenville with a broader menu of breakfast, lunch, dinner, and sweets options, but serves burgers and hot dogs in the Legacy Early College Stadium during Greenville Triumph games. I get a Slaw Dog ($1.50), which is a small wiener with mustard, slaw, and tasty liquidy chili on a fresh bun. Very tasty!

 

85/100

Pretty good quality for stadium food. Would definitely try their brick and mortar.

Myami Bites (Greenville, SC)

 126 Augusta Street, Greenville, SC, 29601

 

Myami Bites is located in the same spot (Gather) as HenDough Chicken and Donuts, Gather, a funky collection of bars and little restaurants in downtown Greenville, SC.  offers a fairly limited menu of Cuban snacks and sandwiches. Despite the fact that I order just a sandwich, and there is just one person before me, it takes very long (ca. 15 minutes) before I finally get my food.

I get the Cuban ($11.99), which is a very thin sandwich with roasted pork, ham, pickles and mustard (I asked for no cheese), pressed to make it soft and warm inside. While it is very tender, and the pork has good taste, it is not remarkable and, obviously, overpriced.

82/100

While the quality of the Cuban sandwich is definitely good for a place outside of Miami, it is also seriously overpriced. 

 

HenDough Chicken & Donuts (Greenville, SC)

 126 Augusta Street, Greenville, SC, 29601

 

 

HenDough is one of almost ten small food and drink places in Gather, a new hip venue in downtown Greenville -- their original, brick and mortar, location is in Hendersonville, NC. It serves, you guessed it, (fried) chickens and donuts. They have tenders, wings, and sandwiches. 

 

I get the Maple Bacon Chicken Sandwich, which comes with lettuce, caramelized onions, bacon, and maple drizzle. The chicken is thinly coated and very juicy. The bacon is a bit chewy but tasty. The combination is good but there is a bit too little maple sauce. Both donuts are quite thick and doughy. The various toppings of the Blueberry Caramel Coconut Donut ($2.25) are too weak for the thick dough and falls the Glazed Donut ($1.75) is overall underwhelming.

 

 

83/100

I like the setting and the chicken itself is very good, but the donuts are not special.

Rush’s (Columbia, SC)

283 Harbison Blvd, Columbia, SC 29212, USA

Rush’s is a local fast food chain in Columbia, SC, and its surroundings. In addition to the usual fast food it serves bbq and fried chicken. The company slogan is “You’ll love the TASTE we’re made off”. It looks pretty shabby inside and even the pictures don’t look very encouraging.

I get a Slaw Dog ($2.51), a very basic hot dog covered with mayo-y cole slaw that overpowers everything else. The Chili Burger ($3.80) is a sad little burger with unremarkable chili. Finally, the Banana Shake ($2.59) is way too sweet.

VERDICT: 61/100

Affordable but pretty poor old-school fast food.

Scooby Do Gelato Shop (Columbia, SC)

725 Saluda Ave, Columbia, SC, USA

Scooby Do Gelato Shop is a new and very modern shop in a street full of quaint stores in the cute Five Points area of Columbia, South Carolina. Its gelatos and sorbets are homemade with local ingredients. They have about 10 different flavors, classics like chocolate and vanilla as well as originals, such as lemon ginger hibiscus.

I get a small portion, which is two decent scoops – the price depends on the weight (mine $4.23). The pistachio is creamy and has a good flavor, the rosemary & pineapple is fresh with a bit sour aftertaste (ginger).

VERDICT: 85/100

Good gelato for US standards.

Pawley’s Front Porch (Columbia, SC)

827 Harden St, Columbia, SC 29205
 

Pawley’s Front Porch is a kind of sports bar with an odd porch on quite a busy street in the Five Points area of Columbia, South Carolina. It is famous for its burgers, which they serve in about 10 different and quite original varieties. Given its reputation, I have quite high expectations.

I get the Wadmalah ($10.75): chipotle BBQ sauce, fried pickle chips, and applewood smoked bacon (no cheddar) on an 8oz burger. While the burger was freshly prepared, it tasted dry and salty. The fries were soggy and undercooked and salty.

VERDICT: 72/100

Disappointing. Seems more an institution than a really good place to eat. Does get an extra point for having a food truck though.

Sully’s Steamers (Greenville, SC)

6 E Washington St, Greenville, SC 29601, T: 864-509-6061

 

Sully’s Steamers is a bagel and sandwich place in downtown Greenville, South Carolina. It steams its own bagels, in many varieties, and offers a broad range of sandwiches, including breakfast sandwiches, which is what we come for this Sunday morning. 

My wife gets the El Camino ($6), which comes with ham, egg, jalapeños, and pepper jack. It is very hammy, but tasty, despite the kind of generic looking bagel. The twist is in the everything bagel, which has its seeds not only on the outside, but also in the inside. I’m getting the Meat Chimney ($6.25), which comes with sausage, bacon, and egg (I ask for without cheddar). The bagel is dense but soft, the sausage patty is big and salty, the bacon thin and non-descript, and the egg is a solid puff piece of omelet. It’s ok, but not really better than, say, Panera.

VERDICT: 82/100

Very decent breakfast and sandwich place.