Addysc

I own a Restaurant for 16 years and I'm very lucky that I'm still there. In the last 16 years I have seen 70 Restaurants come and go in Downtown. First let me give my opion about of your choices. Personally I think some restaurants are VERY overated, expensive and overdone. Most of it is Hype and marketing. Many restaurants have very good chefs, because that is the reason you open a restaurant, to serve good food. Taste is personal, thats why we have so many restaurants and many choices. Yes sometimes you can have a bad day when visiting a Restaurant. Believe me thats not the owners choice, but problems can occure in a work shift. Maybe the owner is sick and has a help to subsitute him or a waiter is helping you who should't be a waiter. Never judge a place by one visit, try it again a few weeks later and on a different day ( Maybe its that day the chef is off ) I like to visit small places because lot of times the owner is in charge of the food and food is not cooked in masses. 99 % of the restaurants uses the same tenderloin as the big places. I prefer to clean and cut the meat myself and cured it for a few days ( What the big places can't do) Our demiglace is made by hand and takes 3 days ! Small places don' advertise that much so the saving goes to the customer. Small places don't have a huge crew and overhead. But I know big places who cook like a small place ( La Bastide, to name one ) If you are new to the area I would recommend instead of dinner visit that evening a few places and just have a appetizer and a drink and see if you like the place and if the menu is according to your taste. Greenville has a lot of great Restaurants, so you have choice enough. Their is no reason to stand in line for food, because their are enough other places. Some places are crowded because they are " In" but if you have enough friends their is no need to be seen with the "in" crowd, I prefer to be seen with regulars of a restaurant. Small places have most of the times much better prices for the same product, even that they pay more then a big place ( Buying power )I have seen prices as triple for the same product. Going out should be a adventure and fun. Try different areas of the city or just take the car and drive around and look around ( Not to the places with lines) You always will find something you never heard about and maybe you will be their next regular without waiting for a seat !.