Coffee Underground interior
Coffee Underground was one of Greenville’s first modern-era coffee shops and remains the longest-running one in the city. Photo courtesy of the author, John Nolan

The first documented plan to create a coffee shop in Greenville came in late 1881 in an effort by the local Woman’s Christian Temperance Union to combat the influence and use of saloons. The Greenville News article stated, “The ‘coffee house’ is a time-honored institution, and has met with almost invariable success in other cities, and Greenville is sadly in need of an establishment of this description.”

There seems to be no record of one opening at that time, nor any others opening up until the 1920s. With the rise of Greenville’s textile-driven economic prosperity, building and population growth, coffee shops start to show up in places like the Imperial Hotel and Poinsett Hotel. Even though the description “coffee shop” starts to be used in this pre-Great Depression period, the actual meaning of them — similar to their diner counterpart — was to offer a convenient and relatively quick place to get a drink and affordable meal. Prohibition also made the coffee shop a viable alternative to the previous alcoholic-serving establishments (something the local WCTU ladies didn’t have yet in their 1881 efforts).

In the wake of World War II when soldiers were given a steady diet of coffee rations, the caffeinated drink (mostly instant, percolated, low quality and bitter tasting) was a fixture in American society. The advent of the modern coffee culture came in the 1960s and 1970s when companies such as Peet’s and Starbucks created cafes that brought not only a higher level of freshly roasted beans but also a new, social coffee-shop experience. Cities like Berkeley, California; Los Angeles, New York City and Seattle were among the first to see the trend explode in the next decades. Coffee chains slowly spread around the country in both large and medium-sized cities.

Coffee mugs during coffee tour
On the Greenville Coffee Tour, guests enjoy both freshly roasted coffee drinks and scratch-made food along with more insights into coffee history and production. Photo courtesy of the author, John Nolan

Greenville’s first modern coffee shop, Barnie’s Coffee & Tea Co. (complete with specialty drinks, bagged coffee, brewers, gifts and more) appeared in Haywood Mall in 1989. The next one, Table of Contents coffee shop, was not a national chain and was found within the popular local bookstore The Open Book.

After these first two, 1994 saw an explosion of new shops opening up around town including The Flatiron Coffee Shop, Coffee House at Little Stores of the West End, Hungs Coffee Shop, Metro Coffeehouse and a few more bookstore cafes: Chaucer’s Cup at Books-A-Million, Starbucks at Barnes & Noble and The Village Café at Wittershins Bookstore. New restaurants like Bistro Europa and Brick Street Café and Coffee House also provided the coffee café experience. Espresso carts popped up that year to serve the on-the-go crowd: Café Espresso at Haywood Mall and Pony Espresso at the Coffee Street Mall. Succeeding years saw continued growth with such favorites as Beano Bros, Coffee Beanery, Joe Muggs, Coffee & Crema and Coffee to a Tea. The one that has endured since the beginning and remains the longest-running coffee shop is Coffee Underground, appropriately located on Coffee Street, which opened in 1995 as a brick-and-mortar outgrowth of the Pony Espresso cart. Dana Lowie was an original owner and remains in charge, recently overseeing a renovation of the nostalgic and cozy café. It’s no coincidence that Greenville’s explosion of coffee shops coincided with the first airing of the TV show “Friends” with its Central Perk Café as the social hangout for the young crowd. Visitors to Coffee Underground can still get a taste of that familiar type of setting. I highly recommend the mocha cheesecake and French press Ethiopian coffee.

Our coffee scene has grown to the point where Fodor’s Travel ranked Greenville in the top 22 American coffee destination cities. Also in 2022, the Greenville Coffee Tour was created to feature choices of Greenville coffee shops, currently including Coffee Underground, Unlocked Coffee Roasters and Mountain Goat Coffee.

John M. Nolan is owner of Greenville History Tours (greenvillehistorytours.com) and author of “A Guide to Historic Greenville, SC” and “Lost Restaurants of Greenville, SC.”

Related Topics
  • Coffee
  • greenville

Subscribe

Subscribe now to our newsletter