This Upstate South Carolina institution, founded in 1947, represents the meat-and-three tradition at its best.
Courtesy of Wade’s Restaurant
At Wade’s, chicken is fried slowly and macaroni and cheese is classed as a vegetable.
As the dough for yeast rolls rises, it must go over the lip of the muffin pan, a lesson every baker at Wade’s Restaurant in Spartanburg, South Carolina, must learn on the first day of employment.
And it’s a daily ritual. Wade’s sells, on average, 3,500 yeast rolls every day.
Courtesy of Wade's Restaurant
Two generations of Wade’s ownership: Wade Lindsey III and Wade Jr.
Yeast rolls are a direct connection to the restaurant’s co-founder, the late Betty Lindsey. When Betty died at a young age in 1970, only Lou Brown knew how to make those rolls. Betty had sworn her to secrecy. The Lindsey family had to engage in some clandestine observation to replicate the recipe.
“They had to stand around corners and watch, then go home and try until they finally matched it up,” says third generation co-owner Wade Lindsey III.
Early on, at the Lindsey family’s grocery store that doubled as a restaurant, there were no choices. Millworkers on their lunch break picked up a plate of whatever Betty chose to make that day. Not only were there no choices, there were no complaints.
Betty’s name is on the pecan pie served at Wade’s today, but her influence is far deeper. The menu, full of Southern classics like field peas and fried okra, is largely based on Betty’s recipes.
She had come to Spartanburg from Rutherfordton, North Carolina. Her future husband Wade Lindsey’s path was longer, all the way from Alabama as a hitchhiker. In post-World War II South Carolina, he and Betty built a life centered around the simple glories of the Southern table. Wade wanted to name their business Betty’s, but he was afraid of linking his wife’s good name to potential failure.
But through years of plate lunches, hickory-smoked barbecue, hot dogs and curb hops, their business thrived.
“We’re not some flashy restaurant. We’re a 77-year-old institution,” says Wade Lindsey III, who runs the restaurant today with his sister Anna and their father, Wade Jr. “It’s a landmark in our community.”
Still, when an email came through from the James Beard Foundation in New York this year, “We paid it no mind,” Wade III told us. “Then another one came and we thought, ‘There might be something to this,’ and we returned the telephone call and recorded it.”
Wade’s had been chosen as the 2024 recipient of the America’s Classic award by the James Beard Foundation. The entire Lindsey family made the trip to Chicago to receive the prestigious award, and they were accompanied by lead cooks Sonya Hunter and Ray Pearson, whose pictures are on the restaurant’s Wall of Honor, a tribute to their longevity as employees of Wade’s for more than 25 years each.
Courtesy of Wade's Restaurant
On average, Wade’s sells 3,500 yeast rolls a day.
For inspiration, Wade III has preserved an article published in the Harvard Business Review. “That article said that the third generation is where most family-owned businesses fail.”
Until his junior year at nearby Wofford College, Wade had no intention of becoming a third-generation restaurant owner. His college major was chemistry, and his goal was to work at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Then one summer, he needed a job. And he has worked at the restaurant ever since, some 17 years.
“I realized, my junior year, that there’s this golden opportunity right here that my family has created that I can be a part of.” While working at Wade’s, he completed an MBA at Clemson University at night.
At the same time, he studied fried chicken.
“There’s no secret blend,” Wade declares. “It’s flour, salt, and pepper. We brine our chicken overnight for tenderness, then hand-bread it—a single breading for breasts and a double breading for legs.”
Courtesy of Wade's Restaurant
Sonya Hunter and Ray Pearson, each with over 25 years of service at Wade’s, made the trip to Chicago to receive the James Beard award.
Wade explains that the chicken is fried at a lower temperature, 275 degrees, compared to many kitchens that fry at 300 degrees or above.
“And, we cook it longer,” he adds. “We’re going for juiciness.”
Another top-seller is turkey and dressing. Turkeys are cooked overnight, and gravy is made from the resulting broth. The dressing is made from the restaurant’s own cornbread.
Positioned at the uppermost reaches of what we call the Rice and Gravy Belt, that Southern side is on the menu every day. The gravy is a frugal by-product of the beef used in making hash. For takeout, Wade says customers buy the cooked rice by the quart.
Wade’s is one of those cherished Southern spots where macaroni and cheese is classified as a vegetable. According to Wade, so was Jello when it was on the menu.
Green beans and sweet potato soufflé are two popular selections as customers decide on what will constitute their “meat-and-three” plate, a term Wade’s started using as the business evolved in the 1970s. When Wade Jr. and his sister Carole took over the restaurant in 1977, they refocused it on family dining.
For Sunday dinner, the midday meal at Wade’s, customers line up around the building. Ministers in Upstate South Carolina have been known to end their sermons early, so members of their congregations can beat the crowd.
With its country-style steak, meatloaf, turnip greens, broccoli casserole and other beloved Southern dishes, Wade’s is indeed an American classic.
Fred and Jill Sauceman study and celebrate the foodways of Appalachia and the South from their home base in Johnson City, Tennessee.
The story above first appeared in our September / October 2024 issue. For more like it subscribe today or log in with your active BRC+ Membership. Thank you for your support!