Mortgage Broker in Greer, SC

GREER, S.C. —

The owners of a popular Greer, South Carolina, restaurant posted a heartfelt message after the restaurant was damaged by fire over the weekend.

The fire at Tadpole Fish Camp happened early Saturday morning.

Deputy Chief Shawn Harter, with the Tyger River Fire District, said the fire department received reports of smoke coming from the building around 3:30 a.m., and fire was through the roof.

Harter said there was a partial roof collapse. According to Harter, it was an electrical fire.

The owners posted on Facebook the following message over the weekend:

"This morning Dane and I received one of the worst phone calls a small mom and pop business could ever receive, around 3:30am The Tadpole caught fire, as soon as we were notified we started praying. Upon arrival we could not believe what we were seeing, it brought Dane to his knees and rocked us to our core. We have shed many tears today with our children, family, employees and loyal customers. The Tadpole was more then our business it was a major part of our lives and in many ways was like our second home. It will take time but, we know The Tadpole will be back and stronger then ever. We thank all our Tadpole family and customers that have been sending prayers our way and please keep sending them,we definitely will need all we can get during these trying times. To all our employees y’all our more then employees y’all are family our Tadpole Family we have all laughed, shared, and cried together. I can truly say and have said since we took over we could not have had a better group of people to share our journey with and the journey is not over it’s just a bump in the road."

A GoFundMe has also been set up.

The restaurant says, "All proceeds go towards supporting our employees, and the cleanup/rebuilding process. We love all our customers and we thank y’all again for all the prayers and support y’all are sending The Tadpole’s way."

GREER, S.C. (WSPA) – It’s hard to put into words the kind of week Michael Sibert is having.

On Monday, the Greer-based chef and his wife welcomed a new son into the world. And on Wednesday, he makes his national television debut.

Sibert will be one of the contestants on Wednesday’s episode of Guy’s Grocery Games on Food Network.

Hosted by Guy Fieri, the show pits four chefs against one another in a three-round contest in which they must complete cooking challenges using ingredients found in a mock supermarket built for the show.

“It’s amazing,” said Sibert. “Obviously I can’t talk to everybody right now. But I can see through social media the reactions it is getting. So many people are proud of me and happy to see somebody they know get that type of spotlight. That is an amazing feeling.”

Sibert is a classically trained chef, and the owner of two restaurants based in Greer – White Wine and Butter and Anonymous Burgers, both located at Cartwright Food Hall on Trade Street. The former location offers a selection of freshly made pasta and authentic Cajun meals derived from Sibert’s grandmother-in-law’s own recipes from New Orleans.

To really test his skills to get ready for the show, Sibert said he started making late night grocery store runs after work, quickly tracking down ingredients and preparing meals on a timer.

“I know the people at Food Lion got tired of me coming in right before close. I would go every night after work and really tapped into my inner Guy’s Grocery Games.”

Even with the preparation, Sibert said the actual experience of being part of the show was unlike any other.

“The experience of being on Guy’s Grocery Games has given me the opportunity to represent my state, Greer, my friends and family,” he said. “They get to see me break down barriers and help build a bridge of hope in my community for the little boys and girls who were told they weren’t good enough to do certain things.

“I just want them to know anything is possible and hopefully this experience will continue to give me purpose, and opportunities to make an impact in people’s lives.”

White Wine and Butter is inviting locals who want to cheer on Sibert when the episode airs on Wednesday. The restaurant is hosting a watch party for the episode. The show starts at 9 p.m., but anyone interested in watching is encouraged to show up a bit earlier to get a table and enjoy a meal before the show begins.

Guy’s Grocery Games airs Wednesday night at 9 p.m. on Food Network.

GREER, S.C. (WSPA) – It’s almost that time of year, where we celebrate the red, white and blue. But one celebration in the upstate likes to start the Fourth of July festivities early.

The City of Greer is set to host it’s 15th annual Freedom Blast on Saturday at the City Park.

“Freedom Blast is totally different from your typical Fourth of July event, where you come out and celebrate the birth of our nation. We celebrate and honor the reasons for freedom,” Event Supervisor for the City of Greer, Robbie Davis said.

One of those reasons is the men and women who serve this nation.

“It’s our way and our community’s way to give back to the reasons for freedom and for those men and women who fought and served to provide us those freedoms. So, the city is really big on our veterans.”

By throwing a jammed packed four-hour celebration, “we’ll kick off with our sky divers and end with our world famous- we’ll say world famous firework show,” Davis said.

As well as everything in between, “Our Texas Roadhouse rib eating contest right into our live music,” Davis said. “On site we will also have mechanical rides for a nice cheap $5 dollars. So, we keep everything at our festival within a reasonable price for families and friends. Then we will have over 24 food venues.”

This year’s event is expected to draw in 20,000 people.

“We expect a huge crowd and each year it seems to keep getting bigger,” Davis said.

Those big crowds are also good for businesses like Abbotts Frozen Custard.

“Freedom Blast for Abbotts is huge, it’s always a big turnout, a lot of prep goes into it and it’s an all-hands-on deck kind of day,” Amanda Hopper, Abbots Frozen Custard owner, said. “It will be a huge day with lots and lots of people and lots of business for all of the businesses downtown.”

The City of Greer says there are some rules that people have to follow. No smoking, no pets and no drones.

Poinsett Street will be closed Saturday for the event. As for parking, the city said it will be tight but there is plenty of free downtown parking locations as well as side streets.

GREER — Jason Clark is not remorseful over the closing of his restaurant after a decade. Rather, the chef and owner of The Strip Club 104 in downtown Greer is taking time to appreciate the experiences he had and time to consider the experiences he still wants to have.

“They are kind of open ended,” Clark said of his plans right now. “My wife deserves a vacation.”

The Strip Club officially closed Feb. 24. While news of the closing hit some hard, Clark said he’s excited for a change. All the pieces have come together in a way that makes now the right time to close this chapter.

“It’s exciting,” Clark said. “I’m handing it to a perfectly capable person that is going to take it to the next generation.”

Rick Erwin Dining Group is planning to open a new restaurant in the space. The deal was sealed Feb. 28.

Michael Ivey, owner and CFO of Rick Erwin Dining Group, confirmed the information, but said the restaurant group’s team is not ready to release details yet.

(Editor’s note: Rick Erwin Dining Group announced March 15 it would open Rick Erwin’s Greer, which will follow the traditional steak and seafood model used in other locations.)

“The fact is that’s what you hope when you sell that house,” Clark said. “You hope the next owner is going to appreciate it as much as you do.”

Why close now

Speculation abounds about why Clark closed The Strip Club.

The industry veteran isn’t much for speculation. Instead, he speaks about his restaurant with a respect but also a matter-of-factness. A restaurant, he said, “is a living, breathing thing.”

Clark knew from the day he opened the restaurant’s doors in 2011 that it wasn’t forever.

“The first thing that Joe Copeland at Greer State Bank taught me as my mentor, he said ‘Jason, you need to know how to get into business, you need to know how to change your business, and you need to know how to exit your business.’ I knew when I got into business, I got into it to be successful and have fun doing it, and eventually it was gonna be sold.”

GREENVILLE — Tucked in the middle of the aging shopping plaza on Pleasantburg Drive is a new business that’s hard to pin down.

Part retail shop, part museum, part demonstration center, part passion.

However you classify it, The Mushroom Spot has a unique backstory that begins with its owner, Ward Watson, and a hope to make the world of fungi accessible to all.

As a kid growing up in Greenville, Watson didn’t like mushrooms all that much, but he grew an interest that turned into a passion from years working in restaurants. In mushrooms, he found not just a world but a universe.

“I was like ‘you’ve got olive oil stores, vinegar stores, soy candle stores, why can’t you have a mushroom store?’” Watson said of the idea for The Mushroom Spot. “Mushrooms are not just come in and buy mushrooms. You can go look for them, you can grow them, you have the foodie products. We have supplements, adaptogens, lions mane, cordyseps.”

The store, set in the aging Lake Forest Shopping Plaza across from Bob Jones University, is somewhat unique in that it sells mushrooms in many forms.

It has fresh foraged mushrooms, along with mushroom-related products and foods, art, books on foraging and mushroom species, along with a small growing operation. You will find a handcrafted mushroom mug, mushroom jerky, mushroom tinctures and growing starter kits.

“Why not bring all that together in a store?” he said.

After graduating from Christ Church school in Greenville and attending Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, Watson stayed up North. Though he’d studied romance languages in school, he found a path to restaurants, drawn by the energy and the connection with people — and pushed by an economic downturn, he said.

He became fascinated with what he calls the intersection of mushrooms with human culture that stretches back centuries.

Do you have what it takes to beat the clock at Trapped in the Upstate in Greer, SC? Will you figure out the puzzle or will you get trapped? Don’t worry. You’re not really trapped. But just to be sure, we visited to check out this escape room experience. Read our account of the spooky experience at Trapped In The Upstate.

Thank you to Trapped In The Upstate Escape Room for providing complimentary admission for the purpose of this review. All opinions are those of the writer.

What is an Escape Room?

An Escape Room is a place where solving puzzles will lead you to clues that will lead to another puzzle until you’ve solved the mystery that creates the theme for the room. There’s usually an attendant watching players through a security camera, to help give you clues if you get stuck. They want you to succeed and are there to gently guide you to the clues you need to continue on and keep the fun going if you become frustrated.

You’re not really trapped, locked, or otherwise restricted to the room. You can leave to use the restroom or for any reason. Just remember, the clock doesn’t stop and you’ll have teammates counting on your help. Escape rooms are the perfect date night, team-building activity for co-workers, and birthday celebration activities for those impossible-to-please teens & tweens! The rooms come in all different themes depending on the venue.

At Trapped In The Upstate, Greer’s only escape room, they currently have six themes, including Saving Santa, The Legend of Lizzie, Asylum, Master Illusionist’s Parlor, and VooDoo Shack. Each room had a varying difficulty level, with most of the rooms lasting 60 minutes.

VooDoo Shack Escape Room at Trapped In The Upstate

“Archeologist Robert Robertson ventured into a Voodoo Shack and was never seen again. His family believes that he has been cursed and his soul is being held by supernatural forces. Can you find Robert’s Relic and set his soul free…or is it too late?” -Trapped In The Upstate

I feel like I have to tread carefully, so as to not give anything away that would spoil for readers that go (and you totally should).

Waking up to the Roberts Relic Escape Room, sets the tone for what you are about to experience. The reclaimed wood panels and flickering gas lamps begin to transport you to the bayou and some undisclosed location where no one would hear your screams. Why are you even there? Budget Basement travel agent? Who knows? That’s not important anymore. Now you just have to figure out how you’re getting back home.

Solving the mystery of what happened to “Uncle Robert” is your only goal. That and doing it in 60 minutes or less, or before that voodoo priestess comes back to claim another victim.

This room was a lot of fun, and I suggest you bring at least two other adults with you. The more eyeballs on things the better.

Clues For The Escape Rooms at Trapped In The Upstate

Without giving anything away, I can offer you these tips for your time in the rooms.

The room is not super scary, but young children won’t be able to help solve the puzzles and may become a hindrance to others trying to solve the room. This is best suited for tween-age and older players. The Magician’s Parlor will be better suited for families and elementary-aged children.

Trapped In The Upstate in Greer, SC

You can book your visit to these six rooms:

Admission to Trapped in the Upstate:

Trapped In The Upstate556D Memorial Drive Extension, Greer | 864.416.1539