The hot dog pop-up with chef-y combinations found a brick-and-mortar home in Travelers Rest. Situated next to the third location of craft beer bar Community Tap, the twisted diner with 80s sensibilities offers inventive sandwiches, a blue plate special, sharable starters, and signature dogs, including “Love in the Time of Collard-a,” a beef dog topped with braised collard greens, prosciutto, and cornbread crumbles. There’s Sunday brunch and Tuesday casserole night, which sometimes includes a shepherd’s pie in the shape of an igloo.

The cheery counter service restaurant on Wade Hampton offers every variation of birria-style taco (note: the dipping broth is an extra order). A loaded nacho comes with nearly a $17 price tag but is topped with enough pork, steak, seared chicken, and whole shrimp to feed two to three people. There’s also birria ramen and fried rice and seasonal specials. Layered drinks, in massive cups, offer a Mexi-Cali dining experience in the Upstate.

Historic Overbrook is becoming a dining destination, and Harry’s Hoagies, from husband-and-wife team of Michelle Pavlakos and Andrew Fallis, draws a lunch crowd to the neighborhood. Built on seeded hoagie rolls from Liscio’s Bakery in New Jersey, a menu full of inventive sandwiches has captured Greenville’s fancy. Hot hoagies, like the M.A.P. (fried mozzarella, arugula salad, marinated cantaloupe, and prosciutto) feel gourmet.

Chef Joe Cash’s resume includes time in New York City at Per Se and Major Food Group, but he returned to Greenville to open his own fine dining restaurant, Scoundrel, in the heart of downtown. A cadre of classically built dishes fills the daily menu, including Caesar salad with a bit of celery root, seasonal whole fish, glazed mussel toast, and his grandmother’s cocoa powder layer cake, which he says will never leave the menu. But the braised quarter cabbage, if available, is a not-to-be-missed side. The luxe space includes art and vintage items collected by Cash.

Popular pop-up dumpling business Sum Bar recently opened next door to Fire Forge Brewery on East Washington Street. The dim sum spot, the brainchild of proprietor Khailing Neoh, is a sought-after reservation. Her handmade shumai is offered in more variations now and other dishes have been added to the menu such as char siu pork, egg custard tarts, Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce, and blistered green beans. The sustainable restaurant doesn’t offer takeout boxes, and during the day transforms into Coffee Coffee, an exquisite coffee counter run by Jeremiah Romo, which opens at 7 a.m.

The Alice in Wonderland-themed bar in West Greenville includes a covered front porch, which is a favorite during happy hour, and an intimate back bar that can be reserved for private parties. In between holds a combination of bar and banquet seating that creates attractive groupings for two or ten. A limited menu keeps the focus on drinks, like the Morning Mahogany, which is Elijah Craig, espresso, and Montenegro. The by-the-glass wine list is full of interesting options from $8-$20. Picturesque interiors and clever bathroom decor keep cameras popping. Tuesdays offer half-price bottles of wine.

Julian Loué launched his pandemic bread-baking hobby into a second career, opening Rise Bakery on Pendleton Street in West Greenville. The team at Rise produces bread daily for several restaurants — like a kalamata olive and polenta country loaf — but locals stop in for morning pastry and perfectly lacquered croissants. A double-twisted cardamon bun is aromatic and beautifully constructed. Hot and cold sandwiches are available at lunch. 

Bringing fine dining to Greenville’s Eastside is Patterson Kitchen + Bar, part of the new Hotel Hartness. Executive chef Tanner Marino and chef de cuisine Gianna Smutzki present updated Southern plates such as crab-stuffed ahi tuna and duck cavatelli. There’s also a beet salad, cioppino, filets, and multiple gluten-free desserts. The 73-room boutique hotel sits within a 467-acre urban village. The Captain is the property’s intimate cocktail bar and sits inside the original manor home.