Mark and Larkin Hammond started Larkin’s Restaurants in the late 1990s with Larkin’s on the Lake. Since then, the business has grown to three restaurants in Greenville: Larkin’s, Limoncello and Grill Marks, and a catering company, Larkin’s Catering & Events.
In September 2023, the Hammonds passed their business on to Adam Hayes and Kristina Murphy.
“We both ran these restaurants for the last five years,” Hayes said. “And then they wanted to retire, and it was well communicated to us a couple years ago. We expressed interest in taking over and that finally came to fruition after we rebounded off the COVID years.”
Hayes and Murphy both have chef backgrounds. As Hayes explained, the staff at the Larkin’s Group knows no work is below them. Hayes said they hope to pay the opportunity forward, eventually.
“It’s more than wonderful,” Hayes said. “It’s really like a kind of fairy tale.”
Sitting with Hayes outside of Grill Marks on Main Street in downtown Greenville on one of the rainiest days of the year, he stopped mid-conversation to say hello to a member of the staff and thank him for his work.
“I’ve said it every chance I get, but there’ll be an opportunity for Kristina and I. We’ll pay this forward,” Hayes said. “We’ll do something very similar for for people who stick with us and work hard with us. Just like the owners did for us.”
The new team plans to meet with their distributor and work on new menu items.
