Former SmokeShak moves to Cobbs Glen in Anderson
Formerly The SmokeShak, father and son open Grits n' Gravy at Cobbs Glen Country Club in Anderson
Former SmokeShak moves to Cobbs Glen in Anderson Formerly The SmokeShak, father and son open Grits n' Gravy at Cobbs Glen Country Club in Anderson Check out this story on independentmail.com: https://www.independentmail.com/story/life/current/2018/02/07/grits-and-gravy-coming-cobbs-glen-country-club/1061584001/
Jake Grove, Anderson Independent Mail Published 8:30 a.m. ET Feb. 7, 2018
Kiara Johnson, right, serves a barbecue plate to Phil Gibisch of Anderson at Grits and Gravy restaurant, in the clubhouse of Cobbs Glen Country Club in Anderson on Thursday.(Photo: Ken Ruinard/Independent Mail)
Few things will get restaurateurs to move their business, but Melvin and Stormy Mattison found three: location, location, location.
Two weeks ago, the father/son team that was running The SmokeShak at Cinema Center off the East West Parkway in Anderson came to the tough decision to close the barbecue restaurant and move down the parkway and off Old Williamston Road and lush greens of Cobbs Glen Country Club.
Now known as Grits n' Gravy, this new Southern cuisine will include some of the mainstays that made The SmokeShak so popular with a few of Melvin's own "down home" recipes that were missing from the day-to-day menu.
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"It's a Southern progressive kitchen," said Stormy, a co-owner of the new Grits n' Gravy. "We will have some favorites like smoked pork, chicken and beef, but we can also do some stuffed flounder with a lobster cream sauce or a fried half-chicken and shrimp and grits."
Melvin Mattison stirs Brunswick Stew at Grits and Gravy restaurant, in the clubhouse of Cobbs Glen Country Club in Anderson on Thursday. (Photo: Ken Ruinard/Independent Mail)
Melvin had run the Earle Street Kitchen and Bar for several years before opening the SmokeShak back in 2016. Since opening that restaurant, the Mattisons built the business to include live music, special events and a Sunday brunch buffet. And in the future, they expect to bring all that to Grits n' Gravy. But that's in the future. For now, it's all about getting customers accustomed to the new location and some of the new food coming out of the kitchen.
A barbecue plate with chips at Grits and Gravy restaurant, in the clubhouse of Cobbs Glen Country Club in Anderson on Thursday. (Photo: Ken Ruinard/Independent Mail)
Stormy said that Grits n' Gravy will be a five-day-a-week, full-service restaurant above the clubhouse at Cobbs Glen. The restaurant seats 50-60 people with a large, outside deck for when the weather gets nice. And it's all overlooking the golf course and beautiful scenery surrounding it.
"It's great scenery, great people and it's not stuffy like some people think of a golf course being," Stormy said. "It's a real homey, real down-to-earth feel and that fits right into our wheelhouse."
As for how it all came to pass, Stormy said that Cobbs Glen approached his father, Melvin, who had worked at the country club years ago. They wanted him to return and "liven up the place" a bit.
Greg Henning of Salem, left, orders a lunch with Andres Johnson, middle, near Stormy Mattison, middle right, and Kiara Johnson, right, at Grits and Gravy restaurant, in the clubhouse of Cobbs Glen Country Club in Anderson on Thursday. (Photo: Ken Ruinard/Independent Mail)
"We weren't looking for it, but it found us," Stormy said. "Now we aren't limited in what we can do from barbecue to southern progressive to whatever comes to mind."
The restaurant will be open for lunch Tuesday through Saturday starting at 11 a.m. and for dinner on Thursdays and Fridays only. In the future, they plan to introduce some live music to the space as well as the possibility of a Sunday brunch down the line, but that will have to wait for the moment.
Grits n' Gravy is located at 2201 Cobbs Way in Anderson. For more information, call 864.226.0458.
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