Spartanburg may embrace its small-town identity, but it eats and plays with a big appetite for life. The town square, lined with restaurants, shops, and hanging flower baskets, opens onto a plaza that hosts music and festivals. Trains whistle well into evening, earning the Hub City nickname, while diners linger over cocktails, sushi, tapas, and craft beer. Once known as the hometown of Denny’s, Spartanburg today reflects the presence of BMW’s North American headquarters, with fresh chic appeal.
This year the Hub City Spartanburgers made their minor league debut, part of the Texas Rangers farm system. The playful name tips its hat to the town’s rail and textile heritage. In fact, Fifth Third Park follows the natural slope of downtown and offers glowy vibes as the sun sets and the last train blows. Concessions feature local flavor, led by the official Spartan-burger: a juicy burger topped with pimento cheese and a fried green tomato. Just steps away are downtown staples like Delaney’s pub and Smoking Butt Heads BBQ, while fan favorites, including Venus Pie, Sugar-n-Spice, and Gerhard’s, are not much farther afield.
Best Places to Eat, Drink, and Explore
Best Spot to Enjoy the Night Air: Fr8yard
Spartanburg’s go-to hangout, FR8yard is the state’s first fully outdoor biergarten. More backyard cookout than bar scene, it’s a fun mix of yard games, live music, and massive projections for sports, movies, and more. The menu features house sausage, gourmet dogs, street meats on a stick, and pretzels, paired with 16 taps and signature “yard” cocktails.
Best Revival: The Kennedy
A dazzling dinner experience awaits at this onetime corner auto shop. William Cribb, 2017 South Carolina Chef Ambassador, is a wizard of local-seasonal fare; beautifully plated oysters and other small plates, like a bigeye tuna carpaccio or dressed ricotta gnocchi, never fail to impress. There’s a moody cocktail bar, too, along with a four-seat chef’s counter worth reserving.
Best Brewski: Rockers Brewing Co.
Founded in 1997, with a solid claim as one of the oldest breweries in South Carolina, Rockers has grown from brewpub to craft beer pilgrimage icon. Its lively taproom is a great place to drink award-winning ale like Son of a Peach and Brown Eyed Squirrel. Seasonal releases, live music, and a pet-friendly atmosphere make this brewery stop feel hyperlocal.
Best Coffee Talk: The Pharmacy Coffee
The folks from Little River Roasters brought their craft to the historic Montgomery Building, opening a sunny coffee lab with an Art Deco backdrop. Drinks follow a “terroir-based approach,” while baked goods, sandwiches, and friendly regulars make it a warm spot to linger.
Best Watering Hole: Main St. Pub or Nu-Way
It’s a toss-up between a neighborhood bar and an epic dive. Main St. Pub is Spartanburg’s answer to Cheers, where everybody knows your name, and it’s full of stellar pub fare like a charcuterie-loaded pretzel and excellent wings. Nu-Way is the late-night spot for relaxed cocktails, pool, live music, and a hot griddle that produces a standout patty melt.
Best Place to Eat Like a Local: Cribbs Kitchen
A Southern-inspired menu and relaxed vibe have proven a winning formula. Outstanding burgers, inventive salads, and ever-changing offerings like tuna nachos, fried chicken (with incredible collard greens), and a smoked bone-in pork chop keep the concept fresh. Its location, beside Rockers and across from the AC Hotel, makes it an easy stop, but seasonal cocktails and lots of local tapped beer make it memorable.
Best Drinking Game: Willy Taco
The original Willy Taco location, which is in a neighborhood outside of downtown, is a fun place for all-juice margaritas, seasoned micheladas, and an extensive tequila list. From happy hour to well past dark, it’s an easy spot to dine solo or for large group dining.
Best Patio Pounder: Bond Street Wines
The wine bar and wine shop make a cute downtown backdrop for sipping with friends. Shelves are stocked with lots of drinkable labels alongside small production, farmer-made wines. Tastings, events, expert help, and cheese boards make Bond Street a place to linger inside among the bottles or outside on the patio, which faces Morgan Square.
Best Monday Supper: Heirloom, a Milltown Eatery
Monday dinners can be a tough find, but Heirloom delivers with farm-driven plates like a pork chop with andouille jam, shrimp perloo, and a double patty burger utilizing Walnut Grove beef. Steps inside the Hilton Garden Inn, the chef-owned restaurant surprises with a thoughtful, locally minded menu and a bourbon list that runs deep.
Best Bite: Euphoria Kitchen + Cocktail Room
This new club doesn’t get going until well after dinner, but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t arrive sooner, especially for a roast turkey and collard green dip, served with toasted pita, that feels like a modern love letter to Southern cuisine. Fried seasoned wings and craft cocktails also hit the mark. Saxophonist Steven Galloway plays weekly.
Claim to Fame
Comfort food in Spartanburg can be summed up with one word: Wade’s. What began as a grocery lunch counter in 1947 evolved into a beloved institution even before it won the James Beard America’s Classic Award in 2024. The daily menu feels like a warm hug: fried chicken, roast beef, turkey with dressing, creamed potatoes, broccoli casserole, mac and cheese, sweet potato soufflé, and pillowy yeast rolls that are legendary among locals. Still family-owned and -operated, and staffed by devoted, long-tenured employees, Wade’s serves thousands of plates a day with its renowned brand of hospitality.
Where to Shop
On the ground floor of a historic downtown Masonic Temple, Hub City Bookshop shares space with Little River Coffee Bar, giving it the feel of a third space. Run by the nonprofit Hub City Writers Project, it calls to locals and tourists alike while supporting writers with a Southern voice. The bookstore also hosts more than 100 annual events, and the project’s press produces award-winning fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
What began as a market stand is now part café, part gourmet shop, and full of Southern comfort. Mornings offer coffee, quiche, and biscuits, while lunch rolls into sandwiches, soups, and hot plates. Between shelves of dips, baked goods, and heat-and-serve meals are the brand’s signature seasoning blends as well as artisan gifts. Local favorite Dottie’s Toffee is here, too. It feels like stumbling into the city’s pantry.
Prostor European Food and Deli
This small specialty grocer is packed out with imported Eastern European and Slavic treats including jams, cookies, chocolate, pickles, condiments, tea, and coffee. Packaged specialty items hail from Ukraine, Poland, and more. There’s a bakery counter and deli, along with super friendly service with easy parking on Spartanburg’s Westside.
Where to Stay
Opened in 2017, the 10-story AC looks like it’s been part of downtown Spartanburg for generations, with a brick facade and neoclassical design. Across from Rockers Brewing Co. and beside the new ballpark, the hotel distinguishes itself through a partnership with the Johnson Collection, one of the most significant private holdings of American art. More than four dozen works fill its public spaces, many tied to the avant-garde legacy of Black Mountain College. The collection features Southern artists, with an emphasis on Black and women creators, as well as modernist and experimental art. The Johnson Collection’s main gallery is just down the street and is open weekly to the public.
Meet a Local
Restaurant Designer Sandra Cannon
Sometimes a local makes such an indelible mark on a place that you can literally see their work at every turn. This feels true of restaurant designer Sandra Cannon, who at this point has influenced how you feel when walking into dozens of Spartanburg restaurants, bars, breweries, markets, and more — including the new Spartanburgers stadium.
Q. What is unique about what you do?
As a restaurant designer, I immerse myself in the fantasy of being a patron at a client’s concept. I think about how the diner could feel initially. I imagine what they would see and smell, what they might order, how they would interact with the space. We know when you first arrive you will notice about three elements, but we don’t know what they will be. Once you really settle in, you’ll start to notice details, even down to how the chair is stitched.
Q. How has this community in particular shaped your business vision?
Sandra Cannon Interior Design is celebrating 20 years in business. I landed in Spartanburg at the same time that Spartanburg wanted to grow as a Southern city. It was preparation and opportunity colliding, and it made a huge impact on my professional life. I wanted to have a deep reach and be a part of its development, which has been rewarding beyond my dreams. I’ve worked on projects that have become beloved places like Cribbs Kitchen, Main St. Pub, Blue Moon Market, and Flock Shop, just to name a few. Spartanburg has become a really special place for independent dining.
Q. How are you involved in giving back/participating in community-building events?
I’ve always been interested in collaborative teamwork and giving back is a natural part of who I am as a creative, so when Spartanburg wants to do something new, I jump at the opportunity to be involved. For example, Fr8Yard, the idea of a fully outdoor restaurant—it felt like lighting in a bottle, and everyone was hungry to do it, but it had to be greenlighted with creativity. It was a unique time for the city to take a chance and it worked. When I look back, I realize it was an opportunity for a fresh perspective and a turning point for downtown.
Q. What’s a hidden gem in your city that visitors shouldn’t miss?
There is a tiny Thai restaurant called TeaStar Thai Café that I love. It’s run by a mother and son, and everything is made fresh. They moved to Spartanburg intentionally so they could open an affordable restaurant where they could share their cuisine.
Q. What’s a Spartanburg thing to do with out-of-town guests?
Right now, I want to take everyone to a Spartanburgers game. I designed these dugout-inspired bar areas that feel special, and a bunch of lighting tailored to the shapes of the greatest game. I’d go to Rockers before a game to hang out—the brewery is a great local experience for someone visiting.
