Sassafras Southern Bistro

Truly amazing meal
Here for a company event
A wonderful southern feel
Awaiting the Keylime pie

nothing special… there are better options for southern style food for sure.

One of downtown Greenville’s great dinner spots! It’s a must try if you haven’t eaten here!

First time here while traveling on business. The service and food were top notch. Our waiter was attentive without being overly attentive and was knowledgable on all of the menu items. Our table started with the steak and Gorgonzola nachos which were fantastic. For my main course I chose the beef tips on a recommendation from our waiter and he was spot on. Absolutely delicious. Our table left impressed and happy with the experience. I recommend a stop here. Cheers.

One of my favorite restaurants! Always delicious.

Awesome service and friendly staff. Was here for a business dinner from Chicago. Can’t wait to bring my wife down to Greenville just to eat here. (YES it was that good!!!)

Took forever to find a place to park, but worth it. This is located in the pedestrian street area, so your GPS might not find it exactly.
Once you are here, there is a nice low light, old town brick ambiance going on. Server was super prompt with my water (I’m was pregnant) and filled my appetizer super quickly.
Started with the pimento chip dip. It was good but nothing that I will order again. Seemed like a glorified cheez whiz sauce with homemade chips. It was large and would have been good for sharing.
My main course was the beef tips en croux, basically beef cooked in a roll with spinach, mashed potatoes and brown gravy… It was delicious! The meet was tender and the mashed potatoes were a nice mix of smooth with little potato chunks.
I hope to be back, but there are a lot of restaurants to try in this area.

Had a great meal as usual. Wed nights feature half price bottles of wine which is nice. Great She Crab Soup. Will return.

Daughter, who eats out a great deal, thought her filet mignon topped with baked olive-​roasted red pepper goat cheese, served with green beans and mashed potatoes was one of the best tasting meals she had ever had.
My beef tips with asparagus and grits was very good, although grits could use some creaminess, less salt.
Had ordered an appetizer of potato crisps with pimento cheese dip. Crisps were deliciously thin and seasoned, but dip was super salty and did not appeal to these two pimento cheese lovers at all. Manager took it off the bill, letting us eat the crisps.
Good selection of wines, good location,
Nice outdoor seating. Wait staff was attentive and knowledgable.

The food would be decent if it was fresh. My husband and I tried it out for date night and that night and the next day I spent my time vomiting. I got the shrimp and grits which were really good but the shrimp smelled a little too fishy… which should have been an indicator right there but I assumed they knew what they were doing.
Two stars because the restaurant is nice and they let us have a table when we came in earlier than our reservation time.

While my experience at Sassafras was positive overall, with a tasty appetizer and good service, I found main course to be a little subpar for the price point.
We tried the pimento cheese fondue as an appetizer, and it was delicious! I would give that dish a 5 out of 5.
For dinner, I had the sirloin tips with creamy Parmesan risotto and asparagus. The sirloin tips were good quality and flavor, but slightly overcooked for my preference (I ordered them medium rare, they came out medium). The asparagus was good, nothing special. The risotto was really disappointing. I LOVE salty foods, and this was even too salty for me. The texture was also off, almost gritty/​grainy as opposed to smooth and creamy. 2.5÷5 on this dish, IMO.
We went on a Wednesday and the wine was half price, so that was a great deal! And the service was very good, which I appreciated. We enjoyed our meal on the patio which was perfect for a cool breezy evening.

Wonderful place we looked at Unilocal to find and what a great find. We will be back! Pork egg rolls were so good with the best creamy crispy cole slaw. I had the filet and my hub had the halibut. Fantastic food, great atmosphere and attentive service.

Stunning! Fantastic location in a historic building. Phenomenal food. I had the marinated steak tips and everything on the plate was scrumptious. Best food in Greenville by far.

I like everything about the place. It is where I asked my wife to marry me and so far we always return there to celebrate her birthday and the proposal. The food is great have not had a bad dish from there.

I’d recommend their she-​crab soup. It’s likely my favorite thing there. I also enjoyed their nachos, which have jalapeños that give it a good kick, and they’re big enough to be a meal.

Sassafras
Southern Greenville spot when you’re looking for more than casual but less than fancy. 3. 5 stars
Food: 4, atmosphere: 3.5, service: 3
Cost to worth it rating: 3 (small nachos $ 10, entrees mostly between $ 20 – 30)
Eve award: best crab nachos. Best thing I ate that weekend
Return worthiness: yes
Highlights:
— Crab nachos: homemade colored chips, red and green tomatoes, jalapeños, melted cheese fondue, and pile o blue crab to top it all off. Be still my heart. Too bad the hub doesn’t do seafood so I had to go on a solo mission to brave the «small» portion.
— Stuffed chicken: breaded and fried breast with cheese and spinach inside. Very tasty
— Dessert martinis: lots of delicious options like tiramisu, espresso, and almond joy
— Dessert menu: I’m more of a savory girl, but this menu had all of the highlights I jump on when I see them. Hard to make a decision but pb cup cheesecake was delicious.
— Hush puppy addition: both the hub and I’d entrée came with a single hush puppy that was delicious.
Midlights:
— Shrimp and grits: Wasn’t bad, but I’m a connoisseur and it didn’t quite do it for me. The downside was the sauce: gravy-​like, too thick and congealed, and lacking flavor. The shrimp were large but ever so slightly cooked more than I wouldn’t liked.
Lowlights:
— Not on open table. Probably why we’ve never been here all of these years. But could email a reservation so didn’t need to call.
Enjoyed the spot and would come back just for those nachos and dessert.

Giving four stars somewhat generously. The service was great really nothing to complain about. I started off with a rum and coke, poured rather stiffly (definitely to my liking). Had oysters Rockefeller which were very good. They were cooked well and not chewy. My main course was filet minon and pimento I was warned by my the group who are long time regulars that they tend to over cook steak so I ordered rare in hopes of it being medium rare. The steak did come out medium rare plus. Which I think for a restaurant of that stature they shouldn’t be over cooking steaks The flavor profile was out of this world it was very tender and delicious, the asparagus as well were cooked to perfection and the potatoes were delicious. Sampled off of everyone’s plate and all the food was very good. Would eat here many more times and do recommend.

I’d say this was the best meal we had while staying in Greenville. Based on a suggestion by the guy that made the initial recommendation (a helpful, friendly gentleman working at Greenville Growler Station), we only ordered one meal (he talked up their size and suggested sharing). Of course, we did end up going for an appetizer as well, once we saw blue crab nachos on the menu.
The nachos were incredible. A big pile of nachos covered in all sorts of great stuff like jalepeños, green olive slices, and a significant amount of blue crab meat. Think about the best nachos you’ve ever had, and think way better. That’s these nachos.
For our shared meal, we ordered the beef tips, confusing at first glance because no beef was visible. It was cooked into a pastry shell, sitting on top of a pile of mash with a moat of brown sauce around it. The meat was tender and the pastry was delicate and delicious. There’s a lot of flavor coming from that brown sauce too, making it great for dipping/​mixing.
The service was as great as the food. A flawless experience all around.

I was in Greenville for a work trip and tried to hit a handful of restaurants. A larger group of us came here and received excellent service and even better food. I highly recommend the Beef Tips en Croute. So, so good. If I get the chance to ever be in Greenville again I will be stoping here.
Loved the environment too. Felt appropriate for the style of food and overall vibe of the restaurant.

We are visiting the area and wanted authentic southern food. There was no where on the outside patio to sit, and the inside was reserved for a wedding party. We really wanted to eat here though so we ate at the bar where full service was provided.
The service at the bar was excellent. We never had an empty drink or water. For as busy as they were, our food came out fast, hot and delicious. We split the pulled pork egg rolls and the crab cakes. The food melted in your mouth and was delicious !
We had a great time here. The only reason that I did not give it 5 stars, is because of the lack of seating available, and it is a bit pricy, but worth it.