Hominy Grill

In 1996, Chef Stehling and his wife, Nunally, opened the restaurant with the idea that they could attract a lunch crowd from the nearby Medical University of South Carolina. The building is a historic single house that was once a barbershop. Soon Hominy began serving breakfast, lunch and dinner service. Chef Stehling combined his aptitude for innovation from his fine dining background, access to fresh and local ingredients and his customers' fondest food memories of growing up in the South to pioneer a new food scene in Charleston. This balance of nuance and fresh perspective, as well as respect for tradition, brought Southern cuisine to the forefront of the epicurean eye and made Charleston the up-and-coming, popular tourist destination that it is today. == Cuisines ==

The cuisine at Hominy Grill takes traditional dishes that true Southerners know and love and approaches them from a unique perspective that does not stray too far from the comfort food that is so indicative of Southern cooking. Some dishes the restaurant is famous for include such South Carolina staples as shrimp & grits and she-crab soup, along with some classic fried green tomatoes. The respect for tradition and exploration of culture through food was always the goal, according to Stehling, and to many visitors the Holy City and Hominy Grill are synonymous with each other. Originally intended to be a temporary menu special, Chef Stehling hesitated to serve it because the dish centers around fried chicken, a Southern staple so cliché that he felt it was a recipe for comparison and criticism. The restaurants sells approximately 150 of these indulgent undertakings each day, with around 400 biscuits churned out to accompany that and other dishes on the menu. On April 8, 2019, Hominy Grill announced via their Instagram account that they would be closing for good on April 28, just twenty days after the posting. Although there was speculation about trouble due to rent costs and employee scarcity, in subsequent interviews Stehling has commented that he is simply "ready for a break" and would like to be "open to new experiences." On April 28, 2019, the last day of service for Hominy Grill, the long lines of mourning fans gathered to wait over an hour to have one last meal from Chef Stehling's kitchen. Many loyal customers are wondering what will become of it. According to Chef Stehling, who will remain owner of the property, deciding whether to leave it, paint over it or commission a new mural will lie with whoever takes over the lease. David Boatwright, a Charleston-based artist who painted the mural back in 2003, speculates that the new tenant will want something different in its place. Both agree that the commercial appeal is undeniable, but Boatwright hopes that the original mural will be uncovered years from now. ==References==