Roy's Grille

Roy's Grille is the kind of place that makes you slow down on the way in and check the address twice. It looks like a total dive, and I mean that as a compliment. Behind that humble exterior is some of the best southern cooking in the Midlands, and it has been there long enough that the people who know, know.

Roy's was established on September 16, 2014 by Chef Chris Williams, who opened it as a tribute to his late grandfather, Leroy Carter. Chris grew up in Olar, a small town in the Lowcountry, learning to cook from his mother and grandmother. Before Roy's, he cooked out of a gas station, first in Lexington and then in Irmo, which tells you exactly where this place's priorities sit. The food comes first. The building was never the point.

The menu is southern cooking done seriously. Barbecue is the anchor, brisket, pulled pork, and ribs, all of it treated with patience. But there is also breakfast, burgers, collard greens, candied yams, and sweet potato fries that are worth the trip on their own. And then there is the Carolina Korean Cheesesteak, shaved bulgogi-style beef with pimento cheese, spicy garlic mayo, and crispy fried onions. It placed eighth in the world at the 2022 World Food Championships, which is a sentence I do not get to write about most restaurants.

Chris Williams has also been named a South Carolina Chef Ambassador, which is the state's way of saying what Irmo already knew. When someone asks me where to actually eat in this area, not the place with the nicest sign but the place with the best food, Roy's is on the short list.