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Not just for dinner, for decades
Forty years is a long time for a restaurant to stick around. But at Winston’s Grille, which just hit that milestone in October, perhaps the more remarkable number isn’t 40.
It might be 30—the roughly three decades General Manager Roger Carter has spent there. Or 20: the number of years busser Philip has been part of the team. Or even 10—the average tenure of a Winston’s employee. And apparently the staff aren’t the only ones with impressive tenure: The prime rib clocks in at 40 as well, a menu staple and crowd favorite since day one.
In an industry known for turnover, Winston’s has made something of an art out of staying. For four decades, its Sutton Square home has been the kind of place where you walk through the doors and there’s an immediate sense they’ve been expecting you. The large space unfolds into smaller gathering spots, a sunroom and an award-winning outdoor patio. Families gather around tables. Birthdays are celebrated. First dates become anniversaries. It’s where regulars request the same favorite table for years.
The menu has the same pull-up-a-chair energy. The lump crab-loaded Carolina crab dip rivals anything you’d get at the coast. The velvety shrimp and grits, piled with tomatoes, shallots, shiitake mushrooms and bacon, is a must-try—and chef Jamar Bryson’s go-to dish.
You really can’t go wrong with the menu… unless of course, you leave without having the homemade ice cream. And “homemade” isn’t used loosely. Founders Charles Winston and Wil O’Neal went all the way to Penn State’s famed Ice Cream Short Course to learn to make it themselves. Forty years later, it’s still spun from scratch right in Winston’s kitchen. Have it over bananas Foster, atop a warm brownie or simply in a pint to take home.
When you spend four decades welcoming people to the table, dinner becomes tradition, familiar faces become family, and somewhere along the way, a restaurant starts to feel a little like home.
So, swing on by, they’ve saved you a seat—and something tells me you might just stay awhile.
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