A concept relatively new to the Upstate – the island plate lunch – has opened in Greer.
Legends Pacific Island Grill opened Aug. 28. The restaurant was started by the Senne family, who moved to the Upstate a couple of years ago.
“[We] moved out here a few years ago and my family had the craving for island food,” said Haley Senne. “We were homesick and we wanted food that was our comfort food and really just couldn’t find it anywhere around.”
So the family decided to do it themselves.
The Senne family is of mixed-Filipino descent with mom Jennifer Senne hailing from Bohol in the Central Visayas region of the island chain. But the family was raised in Guam, occasionally visiting Bohol – land of the famous Chocolate Hills – for vacation.
Haley Senne said the move was mostly motivated by being closer to her father, Darrin Senne’s family. She graduated from Liberty University, where her sister currently attends.
The cuisine is indicative of both the Philippines and Guam in the Hawaiian plate lunch format, with a few Hawaiian delicacies thrown in.
Haley’s favorite is the fiesta plate, so named for a dish common to Chamorro cuisine. It is traditionally served with red rice and a mix of proteins. Legends’ fiesta plate comes with island-style short ribs, choice of chicken, red or white medium-grain rice (a little stickier and thicker than long grain), and choice of side.
What is plate lunch?
To make a familiar comparison, a plate lunch is the Pacific’s version of a meat-and-three. It is a rice-based meal commonly eaten for lunch, accompanied by a protein like short rib or huli-huli chicken (Hawaiian barbecue chicken). In the islands, it is almost always served with macaroni salad and maybe a vegetable.
The restaurant also offers loco moco. Loco moco is one of those dishes that must include certain ingredients to be called as such – in the case of Legends, it is a hamburger patty smothered in brown gravy, rice, and a fried egg. Legends ups the ante a little by also serving its gravy with mushroom and onions for the full island experience.
Pro tip: Get it was the macaroni salad.
Legends is located at 217 W. Wade Hampton Blvd, in Greer. It is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Inspirations: The walls of Legends Pacific Island Grill are lined with posters depicting legends from Hawaii, Guam and the Philippines.
