One of Greenville’s longest-running establishments is making strides that will give restaurant patrons an even more satisfying dining experience from the moment they park their car.
Sherman’s Restaurant is in the process of expanding its parking lot to not only ensure patron convenience, but their safety as well.
Owners Peter and Allison Nimrod, both long time residents of Greenville, saw a vision for the restaurant when they purchased it from Charles Sherman Jr. nearly seven years ago.
Allison started out in the food industry at the age of 15 and knew that it was where her passion lied. Naturally, she and her husband wanted to make sure that Sherman’s remained a name that represented great quality, atmosphere, and customer service.
Part of the Nimrods’ vision for Sherman’s was expanding their parking lot, as they received a consistent flow of patronage.
“Ever since day one, we’ve been looking to do it,” Peter said. “When the parking lot gets full, people just drive on to somewhere else, but others will actually park across the street. They’re willing to do that, but a lot of people aren’t.”
Sherman’s, which is located on the southwest corner of Reed and Main streets, represented a safety issue with some of their customers needing to walk across a busy, four-lane street.
In order for expansion to take place, the buildings adjacent to the restaurant would have to be approved for demolition, which was an arduous, but successful, process.
Since the Nimrods took over Sherman’s, they had hoped to expand the parking lot and receive the permits for demolition, and they finally did.
Peter said they hadn’t been successful in working out a deal with the former property owner, but were able to work out a deal to acquire the property from the owner’s nephew, who had later inherited the property.
“(The former property owner) ended up passing away and gave the property to his nephew. He wasn’t interested in keeping the property and my wife started talking to him back in March about it and we were actually able to work out a deal,” Peter said.
In addition to the buildings on the property being mostly vacant and relatively undesirable for leasing, Peter said that the buildings were smaller and not in good shape, which made them viable for demolition and all parties involved were satisfied.
“Our goal was not to buy a building and rent it out, our goal was to expand the parking lot,”Nimrod said. “It gives our customers a safe place to park and walk to the restaurant and not be in danger because of traffic.”
LeSure’s Excavating & Demolition started the demolition process last week and the slab could potentially be ready for parking as soon as next week.
This isn’t the only change Sherman’s has seen since the Nimrods took over.
In November 2017, Sherman’s Restaurant was slated to be featured in “24 Hours To Hell and Back,” a renovation TV show hosted by world-renowned chef, Gordon Ramsay, which aired later in July 2018.
Peter said the show was a great experience for the restaurant and everything that took place made the establishment look and feel nicer.
“We got a lot of things corrected now, we’re a little more efficient and just better all the way around,” he said.
