Q: What two menu items does every restaurant in Greenville serve?
A: Tap water + the best shrimp and grits in town.
I jest– but any Google search of the “best shrimp and grits in Greenville” is so varied + inconclusive– it could leave even a seasoned foodie lost.
To fix that, we’re putting the question into the hands of our readers. (Yup, that means YOU).
But first, a quick history:
1607: Native Americans offer a dish of soft, mashed corn called rockahomine to settlers in Jamestown. The dish is popular among the colonists, who eventually shorten its name to hominy.
1800s: The Gullah Geechee people, who are known for using the limited ingredients they had available to create innovative dishes, are believed to have added items like fish, oysters + shrimp to their rations of grits.
1930: “Two-Hundred Years of Charleston Cooking” is published + features a recipe for “shrimp and hominy,”– its first appearance of the dish in a cookbook.
1982: South Carolina native Bill Neal begins serving shrimp + grits at his restaurant, Crook’s Corner, in Chapel Hill, N.C.
1985: Neal’s recipe is published in the New York Times, and the culinary world is forever changed.
2018: GVLtoday readers cast their votes in a poll that will determine– once and for all– where to find the best shrimp and grits in Greenville.
Who did we miss? Let us know.
