Tupelo Honey Southern Kitchen & Bar to open first Columbia location on February 3
January 9, 2025
Asheville-based restaurant brings Southern food and Appalachian spirit to South Carolina’s capital city
Tupelo Honey Southern Kitchen & Bar announced today that the restaurant’s newest location will officially open in Columbia on February 3, 2025. The restaurant, which will be located at 2138 Pickens Street in the city’s BullStreet District, is a revival and celebration of Southern food and Appalachian traditions rooted in the Carolina Mountains. Tupelo Honey is best known for its Chef-inspired dishes that are simply crafted with fresh, responsibly sourced ingredients and served in a beautiful, welcoming space infused with genuine Southern hospitality. This will be the company’s 24th location in the U.S.
The restaurant will be commemorating the new location with a grand opening celebration on February 13. The celebration will kick off with a ribbon cutting at 10:30 a.m., followed by free entrees for the first 50 guests and free biscuits all day. Attendance is open to all.
“Being a Southern brand, it’s always a thrill when we can expand our presence to more friends in the south,” said Caroline Skinner, chief operating officer at Tupelo Honey. “We are equally as excited to be part of the incredibly unique BullStreet District that reflects the spirit of downtown Columbia in a fresh, exciting way. We know we’re joining what is not only a great culinary community but a thriving business district in the heart of the city that’s helping put Columbia on the map.”
The newest Tupelo Honey location will occupy more than 6,300 square feet inside the Bennet at BullStreet, located geographically in the center of the district, with additional outdoor space for 62 people. The restaurant will be staffed by more than 100 employees local to the greater Columbia region.
The restaurant will feature a modern twist on Southern favorites, including its iconic bone-in, honey-dusted fried chicken; three variations of Tupelo Honey’s fried chicken and waffles, like the mac-n-cheese waffles with Asheville hot fried chicken; blackened wild-caught mahi-mahi with creole butter; a scratch-made beef and chorizo meatloaf; nostalgic nods to classic dishes, like sweet potato pancakes; and a host of other sweet and savory combinations served during all-day brunch, lunch, dinner and happy hour. An extensive Kids Menu, featuring items like buttermilk fried chicken tenders, mac & cheese, stone-ground goat cheese grits and more, is also available. Click here to see a full menu.
Tupelo Honey’s bar menu will feature a full cocktail menu, including fan-favorites like the “So Fresh & So Green, Green,” a green-juice martini with Prairie Organic Gin, fresh cucumber, lime, St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur and a cucumber ribbon, as well as the “Magic Lemonade,” a tableside, color-changing experience with Tito’s Handmade Vodka, butterfly pea flower syrup and lavender lemonade. The bar menu also features four different mimosa options – including a four-drink flight – as well as classic Bloody Marys, margaritas, a full wine list, and a robust selection of spirit-free sips. The Columbia location will be pouring draft cocktails and selections from South Carolina-based breweries, like Amor Artis Brewing, Edmund’s Oast Brewing, Southern Growl Brewing, Steelhands Brewing, and Savage Craft Brewing, and distilleries like Six & Twenty and Hollow Creek.
On the menu will also be Garnet & Black Vodka, the official vodka of The Garnet Trust, the official NIL collective of the University of South Carolina. Hollow Creek Distillery, makers of Garnet & Black Vodka, donates 25 percent of proceeds from each bottle to The Garnet Trust to support the university’s NIL efforts.
“The bar is high when we bring our Southern classics and culinary vision to such a true city of the south, like Columbia,” said Eric Gabrynowicz, Tupelo Honey’s executive chef and vice president of culinary. “We can’t wait to wow our guests in only a way that Tupelo Honey can.”
The restaurant’s hours of operation will be Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. The restaurant will also host weekday Happy Hours from Monday through Thursday, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. To learn more about Tupelo Honey, please visit its website.
About Tupelo Honey Southern Kitchen & Bar
Tupelo Honey has an independent spirit fostered from its start, deep in the Appalachian Mountains. Here we learned the craft of Southern cooking and Southern hospitality. We take a fresh perspective on classic Southern-inspired dishes and twist familiar gatherings into new and memorable experiences. At our core, Tupelo brings people and communities together. Tupelo Honey feels like your home away from home.
We began our journey in 2000 as one of the first farm-to-table scratch kitchens in downtown Asheville, NC. We have honored that tradition of scratch-made food and drinks, and our farm-to-table roots have grown with us to an impressive network of purveyors and farmers that serve our restaurants all over the country.
More information about Tupelo Honey Southern Kitchen & Bar and its careers can be found here.
