A new concept that includes two of Greenvillians’ favorite things — coffee and local beer — has opened on the south side of town.
A coffee shop by morning and a tap room by night, Grateful Brew offers guests high-end coffee beverages that are “crafted one at a time by trained baristas,” as well as local craft beer, said co-founder Bob Linn.
Linn, whose background lays in project management and business operations, came up with the idea with a silent partner who lives outside of the state. “I’ve always been a fan of craft beer, so that part was kind of easy,” he said. “But I didn’t want to sell people beer at seven in the morning.”
Located on Pleasantburg Drive, Grateful Brew is somewhat outside the coffee and craft beer hub that is quickly growing in the downtown area. Linn, who lives downtown, said he felt the area was becoming saturated. He wanted to make filling growlers a key component of the business, letting guests fill their growlers without having to walk with them all the way to a parking garage.
“We were looking for a piece of property that had adequate parking and where we could do what we wanted to do,” he said.
The coffee shop and taproom’s ambience can be described as a ’70s bohemian style, Linn said. “We feel like people are getting kind of tired of the industrial feel.”
Grateful Brew, which can hold up to 80 people, includes two bars, indoor/outdoor lounge areas with seating made out of 100-year-old church pews salvaged from a church in Athens, Ga., and tables carefully created from a butcher’s block.
“We want it to be local, neighborhood-centric, an extension of people’s home where people can invite their friends and family,” Linn said. “Where they can have a good cup of coffee or a beer.”
Future plans for the location include developing the outside café seating that can be seen from Pleasantburg Drive and potentially bringing in live acoustic music.
Grateful Brew officially opened on July 4 at 501 S. Pleasantburg Drive, Greenville, and will be open Monday through Saturday from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. For more information, visit gratefulbrewgvl.com.
