When you look at the yellow cottage overlooking Falls Park in my hometown of Greenville, South Carolina, words like charming, quaint, or cute immediately come to mind.

For a lovely lunch experience, Mary’s at Falls Cottage is definitely the place. If you’re really lucky you get to sit out in the garden on a beautiful day like my mom and I did on our last visit.  I also love to sit out on the second story balcony on the backside of the cottage.

I’m a huge fan of their Hot Chicken Salad. It’s white meat chicken with diced celery and onions, and water chestnuts then topped with crunchy fried onions.  It’s served with broccoli salad. To counter the bitterness of the broccoli, there’s a little sugar in the salad.  In my southern drawl, “little pinch of suga makes everything betta.”  Since it’s the South, it’s also served with a biscuit and a little fruit.

Honestly, I’ve never had anything else at Mary’s. The Hot Chicken Salad is that good. Pair it with a glass of sweet tea and you’ve got a true Southern delight for lunch.

Mary’s is in a historic building and a protected landmark on the Historic Register.  The two story stucco covered brick house was built by W.E. Touchstone in 1894-1896.  Overlooking the Reedy Falls, It was located in Greenville’s “West End.” In the late 1800s it was a rapidly growing residential and commercial area across the river from Greenville’s earliest development. Ironically, the “West End” has gone through another revitalization and is a bustling part of downtown Greenville today.

The cottage was used as a rental property, gas station, home of the Carolina Foothills Garden Club, and home of the Metropolitan Arts Council, Greenville Artists Guild Gallery, Tours Around Greenville, and fundraising office for the Peace Center for the Performing Arts.  Since 2004, the yellow cottage has been home to Mary’s Restaurant.