Even as Main Street Greenville gussied up all around it, City Tavern remained, well, let’s call it unadorned with its aqua colored metal facade covering the two upper floors and a gray nondescript entrance.
The only thing that seemed to change in 20 years was the outside became a bit dingier as business grew every year, attracting an eclectic crowd, from downtown workers to college students looking for slushy alcoholic drinks. Cajun cheesesteaks are a staple.
Owner Steve Woods likes to call it arrogantly shabby, a nod to Pawleys Island, near Myrtle Beach where he grew up.
“I never knew that my building was ugly until I was told it was ugly, it was just my building,” Woods said in a city-produced video.
The city called it one of the boldest buildings on Main.
Greenville Mayor Knox White has encouraged Woods to improve the look of things for years.
The time has come.
City Tavern closed Monday while the facade undergoes a dramatic $700,000 upgrade and the interior gets some improvements as well, including raising the ceiling to 10 feet from 8. It will reopen in May.
One of the unusual details of the current building besides the color are the three square windows on the second floor and one on the third. The new look will have floor-to-ceiling windows on all floors and gray siding.
In the city’s video, White said the location at Main and North streets could not be more conspicuous and is a throw back to what Greenville used to look like before the massive renovations and new building swept through downtown, making Greenville a staple on ‘best of’ lists.
“There were probably 20 buildings that looked like this,” White said in a video as he stood in front of the restaurant.
Owens said in an interview he had been hesitant to make “vanity upgrades,” despite nudges from the city for change. He said White first contacted him about it when he bought the building 20 years ago.
The building was once the Ritz Theater, which burned down and then rebuilt was a stamping and engraving operation. The aqua panels were installed when the building was rebuilt in 1960.
“I didn’t hate it,” Owens said.
He said interior work needed before the facade could be taken down was completed this week with the actual removal expected to begin Monday.
Owens intends to step back a bit from the day-to-day operations now that he has partnered with Jeremy Krauze and Chris Rosensteel in City Tavern. The three own Society Sandwich Bar and Social Club, also in downtown Greenville.
As part of the renovation, the three-story building will house two other restaurant concepts on the upper floors. They are not saying specifically what yet but it will be a year for work to begin on the second floor and two years for the third.
One idea they are considering is a cocktail lounge that serves tapas for the second floor, Rosensteel said.
The project is getting some buy-in from the city’s Facade Improvement Program with a $250,000 grant to redo the exterior.
The bar was formerly Tassie’s Tavern, which Woods renamed City Tavern when it opened in 2005.
Slush drinks were there from the start. And will remain as will the Cajun cheesesteak even as some new items are added.
The restaurant will also begin serving lunch, Owens said.
This story was originally published March 20, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
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