The Islander

The local watering hole. Every small town has one...and in Pendleton, SC the watering hole is most certainly The Lazy Islander (unless you are a biker babe...in that case The Twisted Spoke is your go-to). More commonly known as simply, "The Islander", this place has it all. Cheap booze, karaoke on weekends, and a heck of a good time. As mentioned in my previous post I LOVE karaoke, so if the ranch is good then I might as well move in because I'd never want to leave! On a recent visit home some friends and I decide to go fetch some drinks and sing a little karaoke. All of them know about Ranch Out and insisted that I get a plate of fries with some ranch so that I could make a new post. Little did I know, the fries Brittany ordered were no ordinary fries. The potatoes were jazzed up by being fried once, then covered in hot sauce and fried again for that extra crunch. BINGO! These paired with some homeade ranch could arguably be called "The Holy Duo". The cooling effect of the ranch compliments these spicy french fries perfectly. Add a Coors Light to the mix...Woah! I thought the ranch was great...thin consistency, cold temperature, nice coloring. Only complaints I have is the 1)the minuscule serving, and 2)a slightly sour aftertaste (let me stress the slight, only someone with my acute ranch tasting skills would even notice. I would highly recommend this place to anyone visiting the upstate, and the ranch too. 4.1 out of 5 stars. 

Sweetgrass Diner

I went home this past weekend, and one thing you guys can be sure of is that upstate South Carolina doesn't have a shortage of homemade ranch. After ruining any chance of a diet earlier in the day with 4 Krispy Kreme doughnuts, I didn't hesitate to join my Mom and her boyfriend to the new diner in downtown Clemson, SC. You know how every town has a restaurant location where a business can't seem to make it? That's where Sweetgrass Diner decided to open shop. We walked in and the smell from the gas stove was so overwhelming that Ryan commented, "Good thing Clemson outlawed smoking downtown, because if someone struck a match this whole place would explode" haha. Our waitress looked to be about 15, and she had lackluster serving skills to say the least. Okay so back to the ranch. I ordered a burger ("best in town" supposedly) with fries, and of course a side of ranch. The waitress assured me that the dressing was in fact homemade. My expectations weren't very high (due to the interesting pre-meal experience) and I was even more concerned when I was handed a container of blue cheese dressing. Thank goodness for my dressing expertise, because I knew that she had made a mistake and didn't waste a fry on "the other white dressing" (not a fan). Despite the awful service, the ranch was pretty darn good. In my opinion, it was the best part of the meal. Not too thick and held a nice shade of white. The taste was good, but had an after bite that was a little off. Although I probably would never eat at this establishment again, I would recommend that you folks try the ranch. Sorry for the less than aesthetically pleasing photo, I had accidentally taken a bite before I took the picture. 3.9 out of 5 stars.