A wealth of food finds has turned this town into a culinary destination.
I was standing on a pedestrian bridge in downtown Greenville, South Carolina, overlooking the Reedy River as it cascaded over giant rock outcroppings, when the tour guide casually pointed to an abandoned structure at the water’s edge and tossed out, “That old building was where Duke’s mayonnaise was first produced.”
Stop the tour! I had to pepper the poor guy with a plethora of questions. Having grown up knowing only Miracle Whip as a condiment, I became a devoted Duke’s fan after discovering it in Atlanta decades ago. (And I’ve successfully converted others to its delectable qualities as well.)
Turns out this town, about a two-hour drive from Buckhead, is where, in 1917, Eugenia Duke started selling sandwiches with her homemade mayonnaise in nearby Army canteens. A year later, she had a delivery truck, and by 1920, her sandwiches were selling at local tea rooms and groceries. Today, only one outlet has cornered the market on Duke’s recipes: The Duke Sandwich Company store stocks an array of products and prepared foods.
But Duke’s isn’t the only foodstuff feeding the Greenville community. The culinary culture has captured the eye of out-of-town foodies such as the James Beard Foundation. At Scoundrel, the menu designed by 2026 James Beard’s Best Chef finalist Joe Cash opens with oysters and escargots and winds its way through Paris-inspired dishes of steak frites and vol au vent. The duck-fat fried frites alone are worth the visit.
In 2023, Dayna Lee-Márquez was a semifinalist for Beard’s Best Chef: Southeast for her restaurant, Comal 864. The sleek Midtown eatery opens early with breakfast versions of burrito bowls and tacos before switching to chili-lemon wings, Mexican street corn and quesitacos, a blend of braised beef, chihuahua cheese, onions and cilantro.
Other notable dining destinations are The Anchorage, named a Beard semifinalist for Best New Restaurant when it opened in 2017, and earned a place in the 2025 Michelin Guide as an American South Recommended Restaurant for its craft cocktails and innovative small plates such as cabbage kimchi pancakes and summer squash agnolotti. My favorite dining spot was Between the Trees, a rustic dining room overlooking the Reedy River falls where lobster fritters and bison tartare lead off a steak- and seafood-heavy menu.
For a casual lunch, I dove into a crispy, mixed greens salad with apple rosemary dressing homemade by the chefs of Swamp Rabbit Cafe and Grocery, a popular quick-bite site with mostly outdoor seating. The menu items are stocked to-go in the store—a good thing because I had to bring two bottles of that dressing home.
My visit did take in more than food, though walking a short portion of the trails along the Reedy River did help work up an appetite. Cyclists and avid runners or walkers can fan out across the 32-acre Falls Park that features a 345-foot curved suspension bridge. Another fun pastime is watching a game with the High-A minor league Greenville Drive baseball team, an affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, who play in a scaled-down version of the Sox’s home turf, Fenway Park, complete with a 30-foot “Green Monster” left field wall. On game days, fans can tour the 1940s ranch home of “Shoeless Joe” Jackson that was relocated outside the ballpark. The Greenville slugger played with the Chicago White Sox but today is best remembered for being part of a group permanently banned from baseball for attempting to rig the 1919 World Series.
Each of my few Greenville days ended with a pampered stay at the Westin Poinsett, an historic hotel from the 1920s whose classic Beaux- Arts look was completely restored in 2000. But the best, for die-hard Duke’s fans like me, was a self guided driving tour that highlights locales and historic spots connected to the famous mayo. I made it to the best one about five minutes before it closed: The Duke Sandwich Shop was open just long enough for me to pick up pints of the classic chicken salad to savor back home.
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