The food at Bacon Bros is what I’d call farm-to-table, southern-inspired gastrofare–it’s comforting and hearty, and, sure, they’ve got the southern standards covered, but their urbanized approach has upped the ante. Pimento cheese? They serve it up with bacon jam. Mac and cheese? Theirs has bacon and chiles. The burgers? Made with a house-ground mixture of bacon, brisket, and beef chuck. Jonesin for some pulled pork? How bout pulled pork shoulder with cornmeal and country ham waffles (yep, there’s hunks of ham right in the batter), sorghum BBQ sauce, and creamy slaw? It’s awesome, believe you me, and it was my favorite of all the dishes I devoured at Bacon Bros.
When you’re visiting a place with “bacon” in the name, especially one that cures, smokes, and dries all their meats in house, you’d be remiss to pass on the charcuterie offerings. The term “in-house” used here is literal–there’s a glass-enclosed curing room near the rear of the restaurant, where you can see the Bacon Bros pride and joy: all-natural, pasture-raised meats from South Carolina farms, which they pitt smoke with South Carolina peach wood. They even sell packs of their peach wood smoked bacon to-go for $9. How’s that for bringing home the bacon?
There are half a dozen “snacks” (or small plates) on the menu, including tater tots with smoked pork shoulder, sticky bacon caramel popcorn, and cornmeal fried pickles with smoked ranch. I imagine most people come to Bacon Bros to eat themselves to the brink of meat sweats (I know I was successful in this mission), but if salad is your thing there are several interesting options, like the frisee topped with a poached farm-fresh egg, kale with grilled fig and lardo (cured meat) vinaigrette, or arugula with lamb ham, apples, and pistachios.
The menus offers overs half a dozen sandwiches, including a pressed beef tongue sandwich with horseradish and pesto and a pork belly pastrami with fried duck egg. Everything on the menu is over the top–the bolgona sandwich has pimento cheese, pickles, beer mustard, and a potato roll, for god’s sake. I don’t even like bolgona, but I want to eat this sandwich! They’ve also got any kinda of weenie you’d like, from sweet Italian sausage to traditional hotdogs, bratwurst to chorizo.
Did you save room for dessert? How about apple pie with sharp cheddar, orange dreamsicle pound cake, or a chocolate peanut butter cake so dense you’ll need a knife to saw through it?
The menu offerings change seasonally, and Chef Gray is always creating inventive specials, like beef cheek ravioli with orange sweet potato puree, smoked trout soup with celeriac and matchstick apples, and mustard barbecue beef brisket & bologna mac and cheese I slammed at dinner. Each of these dishes were awesome–I’d order each again.
If it’s a nice day, there is plenty of outdoor seating with fantastic views of the park, but rain or shine, you can’t go wrong with grabbing a seat inside at the Chef’s bar, which gives you a prime vantage point of the small open kitchen. I stopped into Passerelle late one Sunday afternoon, and had the pleasure of watching Chef Drew prepare my entire meal, start to finish.
My meal started with a delightful baked goat cheese. The cheese is mixed with blueberry jam and wrapped in a thin layer of pastry. It’s baked until the cheese is melty and the pastry crispy, and served warm with candied walnuts and pomegranate glaze. The dish was light and delicate while still feeling indulgent. Likewise, the smoked salmon-potato croquettes with horseradish crème fraîche were light (even though they’re fried). I also enjoyed the harvest salad with roasted pumpkin, dried cherries, blue cheese, pumpkin seeds, maple Greek yogurt dressing.
Hands down, my favorite item at the bistro was the Mussels Passerelle–large succulent mussels served in a saffron cream sauce with tomatoes and grilled bread. Since I was in for a late brunch, I also enjoyed the croque madame (grilled ham & Gruyère on country bread topped with Mornay (bechamel) sauce) with frites.
Note these portion sizes are smaller than usual, given Chef Drew (thankfully) prepared sample-sized offerings for my tasting.
How beautiful is this dessert? It’s the flourless chocolate cake, with hazelnut crunch, raspberry coulis, and Chantilly cream. Perfect with a small cup of café.
Breakfast alone is worth a stop into Roost, but their soil-to-city mission, which focuses on local, organic, and seasonal ingredients, puts them high on my list of places to try for dinner on my next Greenville visit. Any restaurant can claim such commendable goals, but Roost actually lists their farm relationships, including which specific products are sourced locally, right there on their website. I love that!
When I was a freshman in college, I often carried a rice crispy treat in…
If you've never had the pleasure of doing a honey or maple syrup tasting, I…
A big thanks to Hook Line and Savor for sponsoring this post and for creating great-tasting, allergy-friendly,…
A big thanks to Hook Line and Savor for sponsoring this post and for creating great-tasting,…
A quick and hearty vegan and gluten-free stew that comes together in less then 20…
Last month, I got the chance to hang out with some folks from the Ohio…
View Comments
Mmmm, Bacon Brothers is one of my favorites!!
Glad you enjoyed your stay in our happy town :)
Bacon Brothers is great!! You walk in and smell that wonderful smell of smoked meat! Mouth begins to water! Jason and his whole staff are fun, efficient and always make you want to go back for more!! 5 stars in my book for food and staff!!