Rick Erwin’s hits 20 years in the West End: Weekly Dish

On May 11, Rick Erwin’s West End Grille along Greenville’s Main Street celebrated its 20th anniversary.

In recognition of the accomplishment, Greenville Journal sat down with founder and owner Rick Erwin and corporate chef Jason McCarthy to reflect on the last two decades.

It makes sense to begin with the guy who started it all. Erwin has spent nearly his whole life in the Upstate with a quintessential beginning in Fountain Inn. His father worked in a textile mill that eventually led him to Greenville in the fifth grade. It gives Erwin perspective on the growth Greenville has undergone.

The West End in 2005 was a far cry from what it is today. The pool of food-related entrepreneurs that have stayed in business over the years is relatively small, with Erwin and neighbor Ben Dixon of Chicora Alley among them. It took vision. Did they know the area would boom like it has?

“I did, and I’ll tell you why,” Erwin said on May 15. “One of the biggest things that happened to this market as far as business goes is the opening of BMW. BMW brought so much to this market and then at the same time you had Michelin, and then you had GE, and then you had this incredible growth. I knew that Greenville, South Carolina, was going to be on the map for a long, long time.”

The growth has prompted a culinary explosion. It eventually prompted McCarthy to move back home after graduation from Johnson & Wales and a departure to England. McCarthy has been with the restaurant since October 2005, shortly after it opened.

Over the years, the two have traversed the business as it shifted into a dining group and ballooned into seven restaurants. They recall pivotal moments, like the night the Eagles came to dine in June 2007 the day before the band played the Bi-Lo Center for their “Farewell 1 Tour.” The two remembered it as an average night until “the whole world walked through the door.”

“There’s nothing worse than having people get up and leave and not being fed,” McCarthy said. “So it was very humbling.”

The disastrous experience has proven to be a day McCarthy is most proud of because of the systems the staff put in place to streamline the guest experience and accommodate volume. The changes paid off. In 2014, Rick Erwin’s West End Grille was named a top 100 steakhouse in America in the OpenTable Diners’ Choice Awards.

“Another incredible part of satisfaction is being part of this community, being part of Greenville,” Erwin said.

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Greenville-based fuel stop and convenience store Spinx was ranked among the Top 10 Best Gas Stations for Food by USA Today. The list was announced May 14. Spinx has more than 100 locations in North and South Carolina and last year opened downtown bodega Spinx Market and Eatery in Greenville’s West End at 659 Main St.