Tell Me Where: A Locals’ Guide to Greenville, South Carolina
Vault & Vator
While strolling down Main Street, you’ll walk right by Vault & Vator without ever seeing it. But when you reach West End Dental, go around to the back alley where you’ll find this dimly-lit basement bar, housed in an old Dr. Pepper bottling facility. V&V boasts a menu of creative libations, all served in a mishmash of glassware foraged from thrift shops.
You can order Purple Reign, a twist on a Piña Colada with ube-infused pisco, or a Breakfast Club, an Old Fashioned-like cocktail with Honey Nut Cheerios-infused bourbon. Or you can leave it up to the bartender. I said “smoky and boozy,” and bartender Andrea Vilaivanh shook up a concoction of muddled cherries, rye, sweet vermouth, Cynar and black walnut bitters with a smoke top to give me something that perfect embodied what I wanted: a smoky drink with deep, luscious, umami flavors.
Andrea often goes to Coffee Underground, appropriately enough on Coffee Street in downtown Greenville, before her shift at the bar. When I asked for a recommendation for excellent java in the morning, she said to definitely hit this spot.