Sassafras Southern Bistro — Restaurant in Greenville

My husband and I went there this evening for my 60th birthday. We had never been there and we don't frequent Downtown Greenville a lot. So when I put it into my navigation it wanted me to park in the Richardson parking garage but told me to turn on the street before the garage entrance. Fortunately I found a parking space on East Washington that was free. Then I began with my husband walking to where the restaurant was supposed to be. It's in a plaza area with other restaurants and shops. However their sign which is decently large you cannot read the word sassafras and the words Southern Bistro are very tiny so we walked around the block because that's the way the navigation took us finally because my reservation was already passed I called the restaurant the girl was very nice and talked us through where they were with the big green awning. When we got in there and got to talk to her I said it would be nice if your name was on the sign she said it is in light blue and we think we need to do something about that. We were then taken to a two top table that was in the corner of a back room I had my back and side against a brick wall and my husband was looking at the brick wall. Our server Shirley was very nice. Came over within 3 minutes of us being seated and got water. Then she took our drink order. It was about 8 minutes before our drinks came to us. My husband ordered an appetizer which he felt was very good. We decided to order our dinner right after he ordered the appetizer. He also ordered a salad with his dinner. I was out of my first cocktail for about 6 minutes before Shirley came back and I had to ask her to please take the water away and get another cocktail for me. The table beside us was a four top they set two people at it they arrived while we were eating our appetizer. Their server brought their drinks within 3 minutes of them sitting down and they actually got their dinner before we got ours. Shirley was very involved opening doors at the end of our room to the outside area. I ordered my meat medium rare it came out medium my husband ordered his medium well it came out medium the food was dehydrated. The owner did stop by and asked how everything was I just looked down at my lap because I did not want to disrupt the table next to ours. The storm was coming up so I asked Shirley for our check right away. We left and personally I will not recommend this restaurant to anyone that I know. The dinner that I cooked at my house last night for my girlfriend and my husband was way better than what I ate tonight for my 60th...

Came to this restaurant about 45 minutes before closure. They greeted me with a smile and didn't mind me coming in late.

I ordered the Charleston mule to drink (in addition to the water they brought out) and fried green tomatoes with pimento cheese for an appetizer. That mule was quite possibly the best mule I've ever had. I'm a snob for Russian mules. And this was perfect.

There appetizer of fried green tomatoes was awesome. The tomatoes were cut thick and fried perfectly. Moist in the inside, but not so moist as to wet the breading. The pimento cheese was an addition that was incredible as well. Perfect Way to make a basic southern dish unique and delightful.

For dinner I ordered the salmon and blue crab over grits. I requested collards instead of the asparagus. I definitely confused the kitchen. They ended up separating everything. Waitress offered to re do it. I had already taken a bite of what I would come to eat as the BEST cooked salmon in my life and I wasn't going to let her take it back. I'll just come back next time and be more specific... Lol.

My one and only complaint came from this dish. The hush puppy was weird. But I didn't order this dish for hush puppy or even knew I got one. So no harm in this small caveat.

To end the night I took dessert home with me. I seen a table get four "peanut butter pie"slices sent to their table and I was immediately hooked. I don't even like peanut butter, but let me tell you something... I could become allergic to peanut butter tomorrow and I'll eat another slice of that pie in a heartbeat.

The manager came over to every table, including mine to check on them while I was there. That definitely puts this place above most restaurants.

This is my first time in South Carolina. And this restaurant sealed my faith here in South Carolina. I could move here just to eat at this restaurant. Greenville has something special right here at Sassafras. I...

It was good, but not stunning or overwhelmingly delicious. We had the she crab soup, blue crab nachos, bbq egg rolls, beef du croute, lobster sauce scallops, seafood trio and mahi. A few bottles of wine kept us sane during the intense and overbearing street music that was aimed directly at our heads (more on this later).

The she crab soup was very good, but we all agreed none of the dishes were able to surpass Soby’s besides this. Our waiter was very apathetic, disengaged and had to be asked to clear our piling dirty plates, refill the water or grab more wine.

The outdoor space was simple and would make great seating, but a local busker didn’t just play their smooth jazz smoothly, they cranked it up so high we couldn’t have a conversation or hear anything spoken, 2’ from one another. Totally ruined the vibe, ears ringing after they ceased. This isn’t the restaurant’s fault, but we mentioned the extreme level to the waiter and manager. They shrugged it off as “it’s never happened before.”

Specifically regarding the food, the she crab soup was nice and sherry-heavy, without too much cream. The bbq egg rolls were a bit gimmicky and ok, the nachos were not good. Few toppings, seemingly store bough chips and pickled jalapeño that made them feel like I made it at home in the microwave. Very little crab. I’d prefer to pay double and get more quality on this dish.

Main courses varied, the grits with the mahi was bland, risotto under scallops was good but the lobster sauce tasteless. The beef du croute was actually our favorite main. We also enjoyed the stringed beans.

A tough call; the prices aren’t bad, but it felt a bit like we got what we paid for. Lots of incredible restaurants in the area, we’d come back but only after trying something new or...