Greenville boasts a lot of excellent food. But how do locally owned restaurants fare with the most important meal of the day?
The BJUtoday content team did a delicious research tour of popular locally owned and operated breakfast spots within 30 minutes from campus. We’re passing you our list of favorites—including all the details you need to decide where you’ll brunch next.
Key
$: $0–7
$$: $8–14
$$$: $15+
Tandem Creperie and Coffeehouse
$-$$
7 a.m.–3 p.m.
2 S. Main St., Travelers Rest, SC 29690
Website: tandemcc.com
Tandem Creperie and Coffeehouse in Travelers Rest brings people together to eat, sip and stay. Tandem serves sweet and savory crepe dishes. You can order beautiful lattes (served in their signature Insta-worthy bright yellow cups!) and other coffee options.
Tandem fills its plates with ingredients sourced from local small and family-owned farms. They pay attention to presentation, too. Their cinnamon roll crepe arrives rolled up and folded to look like its pastry namesake.
The restaurant offers a variety of seating options. You can sit at a counter and eat solo or gather friends around their long tables. Order at the counter, and they’ll bring your plate to wherever you choose to sit.
Tandem doesn’t offer any student discounts at the moment but strives to offer the lowest price on all their entrees.
Biscuit Head
$-$$
Weekdays 7 a.m.–2 p.m.
Weekends 8 a.m.–3 p.m.
823 S. Church St., Unit C, Greenville, SC 29601
Website: biscuitheads.com
Biscuit Head’s claim to fame is massive biscuits. Their menu includes delicious made-from-scratch biscuits and a variety of sides. Biscuit Head offers sides sourced from local farms, including southern favorites like pimento cheese grits and fried catfish and staples like bacon and eggs. Their menu includes gluten-free and vegan options—even for biscuits. They offer gravy options like venison sausage gravy and sweet potato coconut gravy. They also have a jam bar! You can sample homemade spreads of different flavors from strawberry to apple pie.
Long tables inside and outdoor tables for al fresco dining create a relaxed atmosphere. Seating options allow you to eat with friends or enjoy your biscuit solo. The ordering format lets you order at the counter then seat yourself. A waiter brings your order to you.
The value at Biscuit Head is amazing. There are plenty of options for entree sizes—and prices. I ordered the Half Breakfast, which gets you two eggs prepared the way you like them, a side and a biscuit for $6. For $2.25, you get unlimited refills on brewed coffee. Their priciest options cap at $9.
Did I mention they have a jam bar?
Stax’s Original Restaurant
$-$$
Breakfast Hours:
Weekdays and Sunday: 7–11 a.m.
Saturday: 7 a.m.–12 p.m.
1704 Poinsett Highway, Greenville, SC 29609
Website: staxsoriginal.com
Eating at Stax’s is a time-honored Greenville tradition. Stax’s Original has a reputation for its friendly atmosphere, community focus, and generous helpings of classic southern cooking.
Stax’s started as a drug store and soda shop in the 1950s called Shaw’s Pharmacy. Then the Stathakis family bought it and turned it into a full-service restaurant. They renamed the business to Stax’s, an abbreviation of their family name.
Thirty years later, Stax’s has become Greenville’s go-to place to meet friends and family for delicious meals. The restaurant family of staff focuses on maintaining a neighborly atmosphere. They’ve hung drawings and collages of black-and-white photos of regular customers on the walls. The restaurant still has the original ’50s diner counters and swivel stools available as seating.
At Stax’s, you seat yourself and place an order with a waiter or waitress, who’ll bring your food to you. Ask for coffee ($1.75), and you’ll get endless (and frequent) refills. Breakfast options vary in size and price. You can order a from a list of breakfast sandwiches (about $4.75 on average). Their priciest breakfast is an eggs benedict combo including an English muffin, baked or country ham, and home fried potatoes ($9.45–10.45).
Stax’s Original offers discounts to university faculty, staff and students—just be sure to bring your ID card!
The Hungry Drover
$-$$
Breakfast ends at 11 a.m.
Hours are irregular; check their Facebook page
2601 Tigerville Rd., Travelers Rest, SC 29690
Website: hungrydrover.com
If you’re looking for down-home country cooking in massive portions, The Hungry Drover delivers in spades. Their menu has something for everybody. They offer scratch-made bread, cinnamon rolls, grits and dinner-plate-sized pancakes. Select from one of their meal options or create a breakfast from their long list of optional sides. If you’re feeling really hungry, splurge on their Big Drover Omelet, which holds everything an omelet can hold.
Fruit, veggies, eggs, sausage and bacon all come from local farms, but the pro cooks at the HD don’t let that affect their bottom line. Items start at $3.25 and climb no higher than $9.50.
The Hungry Drover front-loads the ordering process. Order your meal at the counter and pay at the same time. A server will hand you a table number and bring your order to the table you’ve picked for you and your friends.
Traveler’s Restaurant
$
7 a.m.–2 p.m.
536 N. Highway 25 Bypass, Travelers Rest, SC 29690
Nestled on the northernmost edge of Travelers Rest, The Traveler Restaurant is a neighborhood treasure. Joyce Cox and her family have owned and operated The Traveler for 45 years. They pride themselves on their quick and personable service, family-friendly atmosphere, and excellent homestyle cooking.
Choose from a breakfast menu including pancakes, biscuits, grits, eggs served however you want, waffles, home fries, hash browns and more. Entrees start at around $3, though you can order from a long list of side items for even less. Their most expensive items are their country steak platters at around $9. (We’re fudging on our price rating scale for this one since most of the breakfast menu is well under $7.)
I ordered a single egg breakfast and got a fluffy scrambled egg, grits cooked to perfection, and two thick slices of whole wheat toast. My bill was $3.24.
After you’ve seated yourself at one of the spacious booths or tables, waitstaff take your order and bring it to you when it’s ready. Of the breakfast joints we’ve listed here, it’s the farthest from BJU. But for the atmosphere, service and prices, it’s well worth the drive.
Don’t miss the rest of BJUtoday’s Around Greenville series.
