Higher Ground Char House — Restaurant in South Carolina

I was on a road trip to Greenville with my wife, son, and granddaughter. We had some excellent barbecue at Lewis' BBQ in Greenville. For the drive home, we considered eating at another barbecue place we know about in Columbia that is very good. But we opted instead to find a good burger joint, and my son located Higher Ground Char House in Chapin. It's a few miles off the main highway, but well worth the little detour if you're in the mood for great quality and interesting preparations of an American classic.

We arrived at opening and were greeted by a friendly hostess who offered us a booth. Soon our server, Emily, arrived. Emily immediately made us feel comfortable and welcome. She took our drink order, explained the day's "experimental kitchen" offering, and allowed us a couple minutes to mull over the menu. She was attentive throughout our meal, refilling our beverages and checking on our table to see if there was anything we needed. Her excellent service certainly enhanced our dining experience.

Higher Ground Char House offers several creative twists on hamburgers, and each was given a quirky name. I chose the "experimental kitchen" selection, the Angry Apple Burger (Grilled apple, Onion Ring, Apple Slaw, Angry Orchard BBQ sauce). I loved it! I had never had a burger with a grilled apple on it, but all the ingredients worked together to create a perfect blend of taste and texture.

My son and granddaughter shared their burgers. They got The Hot Mess (a deep-fried buffalo-sauced burger topped with mac and cheese) and the Swamp Monster Burger (basil pesto, over easy fried egg, cheddar cheese, artisan lettuce, tomato and onion). They enjoyed them both, but raved over the Swamp Monster Burger. I'll have to take their word for it because they didn't offer me a bite!

My wife enjoyed a Spinach and Strawberry Salad with raspberry vinaigrette dressing and grilled chicken. It was beautifully presented and tasted delicious! (My wife did offer me a bite.)

The atmosphere is casual and comfortable. The restrooms are clean. The food is excellent. The service is friendly and efficient. Given the cost of food and the quality served, I felt the prices were reasonable. If you are expecting fast-food chain burger prices, you may need to go elsewhere. But then again, you won't find the Swamp Monster Burger at McDonald's, will you?

It's too bad that we live three-and-a-half hours away. We have nothing like this where we live. So, we'll just have to savor the memories of our outstanding lunch experience at Higher Ground Char House, and look forward to a repeat visit when our journeys...

Had a pretty bad experience this evening, which was abnormal as I've been coming here since they opened and it's always been awesome. I specifically told the waitress I needed to be gluten free, and explained that I have a severe wheat allergy and carry an Epipen. She even asked if I needed the fries to be gluten free, which I said yes I did. Side note: I also asked for the egg on the burger to be well done as I had an organ transplant and have to have food well done. She came back with breaded fries and got me a new side, but then went to walk away. I explained that I cannot eat the burger because it has gluten-filled fries all over it. She comes back with a new burger with runny egg all over it because the egg was made over easy. I tell her I need a new one because I can't eat a burger with a runny egg all over it due to the possibility of bacteria with my compromised immune system. I wait 30 minutes and then all she brings back is an egg. At this point I'm tired, hungry, and ask why I didn't get a new burger. She says she thought it was just the egg. She asked if I wanted anything else, I told her all I wanted was what I ordered. 25 minutes later I finally get the burger. The manager was very sweet and fantastic, and so was the rest of the staff, but I'm seriously questioning this waitress's thought process and she was also kind of rude and didn't refill our drinks (mine once, but never asked my husband and never cleared the table). The manager comped our entire bill, which he really didn't have to do, my husband's order was fantastic and he really enjoyed it and my husband said that it was no problem to pay. Again, this has never been our experience here and this is definitely not normal. I'm just still floored about the whole experience. I think training on allergies is important and also maybe listening to the tables she's waiting on would be good because I feel like this could have been avoided if she would have actually cared. Again, we absolutely love this restaurant and I'm sure it's just a fluke and we had never had this waitress before. On a happier note, I was able to get the burger to go and it was amazing, as...

My Fiance' and I have wanted to try Higher Ground since we moved to SC two years ago. We found out about Higher Ground like many other reviwers; on the Highway Billboard on Rt. 26.

We were seated immediately and our server came over right away and took our drink order (iced Tea) which was good.

We looked over they're decent selection of Burgers and Signature Meals while enjoying our ice teas.

I chose the Fern Gully Burger with fries and my Fiance' chose the Char Burger dinner which was a slab of ground beef smothered in peppers, onions and cheese with Onion Rings as the side.

I had my burger medium rare and hers was medium well and they were both exceptionally juicy and tasty.

I had to put this burger in my top 3 favorites of all time and I am 61 y.o. and have tried many different burger places over the years.

My fiance' was equally as impressed and we said to each other "we would be back".

The Service was 5 Star, the food was definitely 5 Star, the prices were equal to or better than similar establishments.

Now on the down side, we rated this experience on 4 levels; Service, Food, Price, and Atmosphere. The first 3 categories got 5 stars but the atmosphere was a little more difficult to rate as I gave it a 4 Star and my Fiance' a 3 star out of 5.

The reason was not due to any flaws in appearance of the dining areas, instead, it was because the AC did not seem to be running. When we arrived it was comfortable but on the warm side. By the time we left, I was beginning to sweat slightly.

I am going to give Higher Ground a 4.8/5 because everything else was perfect. As I said, it wasn't obnoxiously warm, just a little to warm for our desired comfort levels.

You should try Higher Ground if you enjoy excellent Burgers. You will not be...