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Greenville, SC

Made in South Carolina: Flavors only found in Greenville

Jonah Flicker
Special for USA TODAY
Fried oysters and deviled eggs? Yes, please. You’ll want to finish this twist on a classic southern snack.

On a recent warm autumn night, I stepped out of the raucous din of Ink n Ivy, one of Greenville’s newer bar/restaurants, to get some air. I was immediately drawn into the Addys Dutch Cafe & Restaurant next door, a 25-year-old Dutch-themed throwback to the days before downtown Greenville was a bastion of food and drink. A lot has changed in Greenville, S.C. over the past 20 years, inspiring the city’s hashtag “yeahTHATgreenville” to differentiate it from the many other Greenvilles around the country.

The downtown area, which locals say was once decrepit and unsafe, has been revitalized, with almost 100 bars and restaurants lining the pedestrian-friendly Main Street.

“By the 1970s, Greenville's...once thriving downtown was largely abandoned after the large department stores moved to the rural malls,” says John Nolan, local historian and proprietor of Greenville History Tours. “Fortunately, Greenville had some great visionary leaders (government and private sector) that began planning some ambitious long-term goals and began following a master plan that helped show how to get there.”

Nowadays, you can find old-school haunts, craft beer pubs, sushi restaurants, barbecue joints, fancy coffee shops and even a distillery showroom along the city’s main artery that crosses over the Reedy River.

The Swamp Rabbit Trail is a 21-mile bike and walking path that connects Greenville, S.C. to nearby towns like Traveler’s Rest, with excellent food and drink options along the way. Falls Park, once an overgrown, unattended mess, is now a beautiful green space that highlights the waterfall below the pedestrian bridge.

Hotels and new construction have sprung up everywhere, and future plans include a 100-acre park on the north side of town that Nolan says will be “Greenville’s Central Park.”

Greenville, S.C. is a perfect example of the new south; a small town where locals and tourists alike flock to enjoy new flavors, riffs on traditional southern cooking, and craft beer and spirits.

Browse the gallery above for food and drink experiences you can only have here, and see more from the Only In series below.

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Only in Charlotte, N.C.

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