Take-Out COVID-19

As Greenville continues to allow take-out and curbside pickup for its many restaurants, bars, and breweries, I strongly encourage supporting small businesses if you and your family feel safe to do so. Small businesses and their families are hit the hardest, and anything we can do to help the backbone of Greenville stay strong goes a long way.

Here are a few places I enjoyed supporting last week.

Bento Boys

Bento Boys is a favorite on a normal day, and while they are located across the street from Bob Jones University, I imagine their business got hit unexpectedly when students went home to continue the semester online. Since they’re in my area, I dropped in for take-out and got my usual. While I don’t have a photo since I didn’t think to make a post about it, I got their Chicken Hibachi meal with no rice, extra veggies, and they threw in an egg roll! Bento Boys is extremely, extremely feasible for anyone on a budget and a super small business with super big flavor.

Bucky’s BBQ

Another on N. Pleasantburg, Bucky’s BBQ has been a longtime favorite of mine since my college days. I’ve tried every single one of their sides and their sauces are hands-down the best in the Upstate. I got my usual pork plate with green beans and coleslaw, but also highly recommend their mac and cheese and to-die-for (but not because of COVID-19) sweet potato crunch. I sat down with my BBQ, started a quarantine Facebook Live, and chatted to myself for a few minutes.

Barberitos

Barberitos, the king of “Southern Roots. Southwestern Flavor.” isn’t quite as small as other businesses in the area considering they’re part of a chain, but since they use locally sourced farm-fresh ingredients their impact in our community is a great one to support. When they engaged with my Instagram posts to support local amid COVID-19, I gladly placed a curbside pickup order for a Chicken Burrito Bowl. Thanks to beautiful weather, I enjoyed this on my “front lawn” in the sunshine.

Sirin Thai

As you all know, Sirin Thai is one of my all-time FAVORITE restaurants in Greenville. They’re a little farther from my house, but I knew I would get take-out from them at some point. I went with my usual Panang Curry with chicken at medium spice and this meal was the highlight of my week. Sirin Thai is indescribably close to my heart, and to think of how they’re affected through this as one of the newer restaurants, it really gets to me. But all emotions aside, their food is incredible. This photo doesn’t do them justice whatsoever, but trust me there was way more food.

Sidewall Pizza

Friday nights are pizza nights, and although we usually get Marco’s Pizza, in light of the current situation I went for Sidewall Pizza. I saw on Instagram (yes, Instagram runs my blog decisions) that they established the Sidewall Pizza Employee Relief Fund with the promise to donate 100% of all gift card purchases to provide assistance to their staff including pizza makers, cooks, dishwashers, and servers. I bought a gift card, called in my order, and picked it up that evening. The take-out line was spread out every 6 feet with safe, happy pizza enthusiasts. Our pepperoni pizza was so good, I’m vying for it to become our new normal.

If you’re supporting local, feel free to tag #gvlenthusiast so I can see and share it, and please visit Kill COVID, Not Small Biz for an extensive list of Greenville restaurants offering take-out, curbside, and online services.

“One of the most important things you can do on this earth is to let people know they are not alone.”
― Shannon L. Alder