Gettin' my eat on

In my last post I mentioned how difficult the monthly tasks have been to complete.  It's ridiculous that hiking, shooting a gun, doing yoga on my own, blogging, doing a craft, deep cleaning one room, and reading a book all take so much effort.  It's not that they take up a lot of time on their own, but finding the time to focus on all of these things has been a challenge.

You know what hasn't been a challenge though?  Eating.  One of my favorite activities.

The first three months of the year were filled with new spots and I was so excited.  April slowed down a bit, but today I visited a hidden gem in Greenville:  Tanner's Big Orange.  This place is so non-descript and their marquee hasn't changed in the three years that I've driven by it several times a week, "Party Punch Headquarters."  It was so fun, especially since it was a random late afternoon pit stop with my coworkers, where we typically don't have a lot of fun outings or bonding time.

The place was awesome; every decoration inside the building is orange and hanging from the ceiling--a bicycle, a brain, a soccer ball, a Campbell soup can, jerseys, the list goes on.  And there are these precious clown paintings all over.  The people were so friendly and I made a new friend who did such a great job advising us on the menu.  His name was Kelly, so you know he had to be good.  He guided me towards the tater tots and the gold juice.  He was spot on.

Other new restaurants that I've visited this year...

Mekong, a Vietnamese restaurant that I've been eyeing for two years now.  I hate that I hadn't gone until this year.  It was delicious, the staff friendly, and they had a cute little garden out back.  Tom even let me get two desserts.  He's good like that.

Tito's Pizza--I've driven by this place a million times and never thought to stop in, but several of my friends talked about how great it was and they have gluten free pizza, so it was a no brainer.  Super friendly, but not my favorite pizza (even gluten free).  It'd do in a pinch though.

Rick Erwins--We went for a friend's birthday and it was really good.  Definitely wouldn't stop anybody from taking me there again.  Funny part about the evening was that it was cold and on our way there Tom asked if we could park at his office and walk.  Thinking it was only two blocks, I said sure, no problem.  Joke was on me as I thought Rick Erwin's was actually Nantucket and was so confused when he insisted we not turn at the two block mark.  Our other friends made the same mistake and actually valeted their car at Nantucket, and then had to walk to Rick Erwin's.

Palmetto Fine Foods--Another hole in the wall kind of place that I've driven by an awful lot and never thought to visit.  This might be the best meat and three in town.  The options were endless and lots of different, veggie friendly options.  And the cornbread was spectacular!

La Mariachi--Stumbled upon this joint after a visit to the gym on a Friday night, post ten miles of running.  Tom and I were both cranky and couldn't make up our minds and got tired of driving down Wade Hampton with nothing appealing to us.  I had the ceviche and it was really good, but, unfortunately I ended up throwing it all up shortly after.  Only complaint was that there was a lot of smoking inside and it seemed like the late night party place in Greer.

Scortinos--This place was awesome!!  They have eggplant on everything on the menu so you know it's good!

Roost--Tom hates this place.  Too slow, too expensive.  That may be true, but their fungi flat bread is delicious and I crave it all the time!!

Northgate Soda Shop--yet another place I've been wanting to check out and finally got the courage to go in.  Definitely not at hipster or intimidating as I thought it was, and not sure why I ever thought that. Mostly burgers, but the fries did not disappoint and their Greek salad was tasty too.  So fun and friendly.

Mama Maria--Restaurants on White Horse Road, especially ones sharing a wall with a salon, generally don't entice me to enter, but we randomly went here during work one day on our way back from the scrap yard.  Everyone said the pizza was excellent, but the fries are where it's at!!  I also had a Greek salad there.  Don't judge.  It's the only viable veggie friendly, gluten free option on a lot of menus.

Southern Culture--Oh my gosh, so good!  The goat cheese grits might be the best I've ever had.  The banana pudding was good and so were the tots and pimento cheese, and everything else we tasted!

Pho #1--ugh.  Granted I was cranky when Tom tried to surprise me by taking me to a Vietnamese restaurant, but they were so incredibly slow, not many menu options, and the food was lackluster.

Mark's Grill--Again with the fries.  It is a burger joint (a really overpriced one), so I had a portabella mushroom with feta and pesto and it was alright, but the orange dipping sauce for the fries is amazing.  Definitely working on recreating that at home.

Where will we go next?!