Ring In The New Year With A Traditional Meal Near Greenville, SC

Posted on | No Comments

Are you looking for restaurants on New Year’s Eve in Greenville, SC? A traditional Southern New Year’s Meal is meant to help you ring in a little luck! So start 2024 with some good fortune and a wonderfully prepared meal from a local restaurant!

We’ll explain where good luck comes into play, and honestly, who couldn’t use some of that?

For New Year’s Eve Fun for the Whole family, check out our guide to finishing off 2023 together – New Year’s Eve in Greenville, SC (with kids)

Complete Restaurant Guide to Greenville, SC

For more great restaurants in the Upstate, check out our Ultimate Guide to Greenville, SC Restaurants.

New Year's Day Restaurants Greenville SC

Ringing In The New Year With Luck

As a “Yankee,” the southern tradition of serving pork, black-eyed peas, greens, and cornbread was foreign to me. So, watching these ingredients get ripped from the grocery store’s shelves in record quantities had me wondering what the deal was. My co-workers laughed that I was blissfully unaware of this tried and true tradition in the south. But, I figured, if a meal had even the slightest chance of bringing good fortune, then it was worth a shot!

The meal, broken down by each item, is said to bring you good fortune in different ways:

  • Pork
    Is thought to be a sign of prosperity because pigs root forward. That spiral cut honey ham you’ve enjoyed before on New Year’s Day, probably owes its popularity to this belief. Eating poultry is said to bring bad luck, because they dig backwards.
  • Legumes
    The beans or peas prepared on New Years day symbolize coins. It’s thought that if you eat legumes, the New Year will bring good fourtune to you in the form of money(coins). I’m not sure how many you’re supposed to eat, but I don’t think I’ve been eating enough.
  • Greens
    If beans bring you wealth, greens bring you the big money kind of wealth. The greens consumed on New Years symbolize the GREEN you want to see in your bank account. Cold hard cash. Again, I’m not sure how much is the right amount – but I need to eat more.
  • Cornbread
    OK. forget the beans and greens. You know how everyone goes on a diet in January? I’m going on a cornbread diet. The cornbread in your holiday meal symbolizes gold. Need I say more? Why mess with the other stuff, I’m just skipping straight to the gold.

Pork, Black Eyed Peas, Greens & Cornbread – Oh My!

As I’m sure most of you can imagine (after seeing the word “Yankee”), I failed royally the first time I tried making this meal on New Year’s Day. However, my best friend took pity on me and brought me a plate of leftovers from her grandmother’s kitchen. Wisdom adds flavor to the food that can’t be store-bought, and a granny’s New Year’s meal will always be superior.

However, there is still hope in the absence of a proper southern granny. You can enjoy a Lucky New Year’s Meal with a bit of help!

Find A Traditional New Year’s Meal in Spartanburg and Greenville, SC

Restaurants Offering a Complete New Year’s Day Meal

Dine in or carry out a traditional Southern New Year’s Day meal at these restaurants.

Photo Credit: Home Team BBQ | Greenville, SC

Hometeam BBQ

2023 plans have not been announced yet
Celebrate the arrival of 2022 with Home Team Catering and order some Collards & Hoppin’ John with the pork and other delicious items you love from Home Team BBQ.

McGee’s Scott Irish Pub

Preorder a traditional New Year’s take-home meal by December 28th for curbside pickup on the 31st between 3:00-5:30 pm.

Putting Together A New Year’s Day Meal At Home With Help

Pulling together a traditional New Year’s meal at home without cooking it yourself is possible! These Upstate restaurants and markets can supply you with the things you need.

pork

Prepared Pork Entrees

black eyed peas

Prepared Black-Eyed Peas

collard greens

Prepared Greens

cornbread

Prepared Cornbread

New Years Meal Traditions In Other Cultures

I figure if doing a little to help inspire lady luck is good, then doing ALL THE THINGS is better, right? If you want to pile on a bunch of lucky traditions to seal the deal with 2023, here are some more tasty traditions.

  • 12 GrapesMexico & Spain
    The Mexican (I’m Mexican) tradition of eating 12 grapes at midnight is said to bring you 12 months of good luck. Now that I mention it, I think I forgot to do that the last two years.
  • Tamales – Mexico
    The tradition of eating tamales isn’t so much of a luck thing, although if you have a tia or abuela that makes them for you – that is already good fortune. For those of you that want to partake of the Mexican holiday tradition, there are Places in the Upstate with Holiday Tamales.
  • Long (Soba) Noodles – Japan
    In the Japanese culture, people eat buckwheat soba noodles at midnight on New Year’s Eve to welcome the new year. The long noodles symbolize longevity and prosperity, and the practice dates back hundreds of years. Sakura Japanese Steakhouse has several Soba Noodle entrees on their menu to ring in the New Year.

parks with swings
About the Author
How does Kidding Around® bring readers high-quality and up-to-date content month after month and season after season? We have a dedicated team of writers and editors who regularly update our fabulous content to keep it current and relevant for our readers. This team combs lists of events, heads out into the community to experience new Upstate offerings, and communicates with local businesses. Many of our updated articles and event lists, like this one, reflect the contributions and hard work of multiple Kidding Around® team members.

Sign up for our email newsletter.

Comments are closed.