Personal Injury Attorney in Simpsonville, SC

SIMPSONVILLE — Some well-known Upstate restaurateurs will take on a venture to add new energy to an established restaurant concept.

Ana and Hector Batista have signed on as operating partners at Vaughn’s Food Hall in Simpsonville. As part of the new partnership, the Batistas, best known for their Sofrito Latin Restaurant Bar, Sofrito’s Rotisserie and The G.O.A.T. Sports Bar, will oversee five of the nine dining concepts at Vaughn’s.

These include Bourbon St. Burgers, Taphouse, Afters, Tackle Box Pub & Grub and the Tiki bar outside.

The partnership comes as Vaughn’s owner, Innovative Hospitality and Development Group (IHD), seeks a chance to improve the food hall's existing offerings, CEO Bryan Beal said.

The Innovative Hospitality and Development Group has operated all of Vaughn’s concepts since purchasing the food hall last year.

But Beal met the Batistas when IHD was seeking tenants for the food hall at The Mill in Fountain Inn. He was impressed.

“Like we do with every project, we are always assessing what’s best for the community,” Beal said. “With everything that they’ve done from a food and beverage standpoint in this area, it was a really unique opportunity for us to work with somebody of that caliber.”

For the Batistas, working in a food hall was never something they wanted, Hector said, but they liked the energy and layout of Vaughn’s. In considering the partnership, the Batistas spent ample time there, observing the flow of traffic, the systems for ordering and delivering food and the way people used the food hall.

They learned a lot.

“It’s a really cool gathering place,” Hector said of the feeling at Vaughn’s. “It’s got a unique feel to it. If it felt like a food hall I probably would not want to be a part of it to be honest.”

Plans call for keeping most things the same but just with a few tweaks to improve efficiency and offerings, but there are plans to change Tackle Box. The seafood concept will evolve into a Mediterranean-inspired one. The menu will lean into a range of flavors and will feature a menu of shareable items, bowls and fresh-made pasta.

Pasta is a passion for Hector, who spent much of his culinary career cooking in finer dining spaces including a long time at a finer dining Italian restaurant.

The Batistas opened Tacos & Mas, a taco-focused restaurant in Greer in 2017. A second location followed in 2018, but responding to customer demand, the owners transitioned the restaurant to Sofrito Latin Restaurant & Bar in 2020 with a more robust menu of classic Latin cuisine, including specialties from their native Dominican Republic.

Fans of Sofrito will also recognize some additions. Plans call for adding some of Sofrito’s signature margaritas and mojitos to Tiki Bar’s menu.

And while some things are changing, more is staying the same. While Tackle Box will become something new, some of the favorite menu items like the wings and the fish and chips, will migrate to Bourbon St. Burgers.

Additions to the dessert-focused Afters will include adding a few more coffee beverages and some new desserts like slices of cake, tiramisu, creme brulee, tres leches cake and banana pudding.

But, the goal is not to overhaul things, but to update and add where it makes sense.

“Vaughn’s is a landmark of Simpsonville,” Hector said. “It’s a great place for families to come together and a great place to share food and to spend time. We wanted to be part of that.”

The Batistas are also still working on their Food Truck Park in Greer. Things are moving along, Hector said, and the goal is to have permitting in place come spring.

To keep up with changes at Vaughn's Food Hall and the latest news, visit vaughnsfoodhall.com and follow @vaughnsfoodhall

Follow Lillia Callum-Penso on Instagram @lpenso

SIMPSONVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - On Wednesday, the Board of Zoning Appeals voted to put a hold on a charter school development project.

The request for a hold came from the developers saying that they’ve made changes to the plan and now need to conduct a new traffic study.

The developers are proposing a new school along one of the busiest roadways in Greenville County. But Simpsonville residents say they’ve gathered more than 700 signatures for a petition against the project.

“I just think this is a dangerous area to put a school,” said Mary Ann Coleman who lives in the Stonehaven neighborhood adjacent to the project site.

Woodruff Road is almost synonymous for traffic and congestion. It’s become the norm for residents like Coleman, but they don’t want it to get worse.

“It’s kind of scary. And we don’t want to add a lot of little kids here, parents that don’t know the area, pulling out into traffic,” she said.

Advent United Methodist Church on Woodruff is partnering with Charter Schools USA to build ‘Discovery School at Simpsonville’ beside the church. Currently the land is zoned for residential development—but developers are requesting a special exemption to build the school.

Residents say the development team estimates the school will have 900 students.

“I think it’s a little irresponsible the way that it’s being built. I don’t think it’s taking into consideration the Five Forks area plan,” said Jenny Trump, another Stonehaven resident.

The county area plan maintains the land should be for residential development. It also notes neighbors' top concern for the area is traffic congestion—which they say this project will only worsen.

“Really, the traffic on Woodruff Road is already horrendous,” said Trump.

Outside of traffic, Trump says she’s also worried about the proximity of the school to their backyards. The plan includes 4 lanes for parent pickup, yards away from residential property lines. And there’s little trees left as a buffer between the school and neighborhood.

“People are going to look out their backyard and see four lanes of traffic going around this school. They don’t want that. They don’t want the noise. They don’t want the soccer games later in the day with the lights up shining into their homes,” said Coleman.

We asked, but the church did not provide comment on the concerns.

The Board of Zoning Appeals will vote to approve the special exception at their next meeting in April.

Copyright 2025 WHNS. All rights reserved.

An awesome arcade that has the best games from the 80s and 90s is located in Simpsonville, SC and we just had to try it out! Thanks to the Upstate Pinball and Arcade Museum for having us come by to do this review.

When I see an old-school Pac-Man machine, I immediately think of my mom and how much fun we used to have to play it (and constantly getting eaten by ghosts). Super Mario Brothers bring back memories I had of my friends and me playing it together in middle school. Yes, I’m dating myself but I don’t even care because there’s a place in Simpsonville where I can now go and play all these retro games and share my own great memories with my kids and make new ones as well.

About the Upstate Pinball and Arcade Museum

The Upstate Pinball and Arcade Museum, located at the Warehouse at Vaughn’s and near the Ice Cream Station, has more than 50 games for guests to play, including classics like pinball, Pac-Man, Paper Boy, tons of Nintendo video games, ice hockey foosball, and even Frogger.

This isn’t a regular museum; it’s a cool museum. It does have vintage games on display at the counter and you can read about the history of many of the games, but you can play nearly every game at the arcade. The place started because the owner, Mike, really loved pinball and had quite the collection. So, what do you do with a collection? Play with them, of course! Mike, being the cool guy he is, decided to share his passion and hence, opened the Upstate Pinball and Arcade Museum.

We found the place to be super clean and the games in great working order. I can’t wait to go back honestly.

Birthday Parties & Special Events

One of my first questions to Mike was if people could have birthday parties there and the answer was a resounding “yes!” When we posted to our Facebook page about the museum, a reader commented that she recently had a birthday party there for her son and it was awesome. I was actually thinking it could be really fun for an adult birthday party – think of all the great memories you could reminisce about!

The Upstate Pinball and Arcade Museum also hosts special events and corporate parties. So, if you want to do something nice for your employees, bring them here and let them challenge each other to play Super Mario Brothers 3 and make it through the castle without dying.

The cost for two hours of free play for up to 15 guests is $225 plus tax. Extra guests are $10 each and parties must be booked during non-operating hours. Tables and chairs can be set up per request.

Food is Right Next Door

The Upstate Pinball and Arcade Museum is located adjacent to the Warehouse at Vaughn’s, where there are multiple dining options and areas to eat both indoors and out. There’s also an ice cream place right next door to the arcade or you can walk across the street to the Ice Cream Station next to the train tracks.

If you want a fun date night with food and arcade entertainment, this is it. And the arcade is really for any age. I went with my two kids (ages 11 and 7) and their grandmother and all of us had a blast.

Play Time and Hours

No coins are needed at the Upstate Pinball and Arcade Museum! The cost for unlimited play is $10/person and that includes all day. So if you want to play for a bit, go have dinner next door and then come back, your admission includes all of that time.

Operating hours are Wednesday – Thursday from 4-9 pm, Friday 4-11 pm, and Saturday from Noon – 11 pm. They are closed on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.

Upstate Pinball and Arcade Museum109A West Trade Street, Simpsonville, SC 864.881.1876

SIMPSONVILLE, S.C. —

Discovery School at Simpsonville, a charter school, could go up on Woodruff Road between Advent United Methodist Church and the Stonehaven community, pending a slew of approvals.

Neighbors in the Stonehaven community said they received this news in February through a text message that went out to a select few homeowners alerting them about an informational meeting about the project. Those homeowners then shared it with the rest of the community.

Residents said they left the meeting with lots of unanswered questions.

"It was the most poorly planned meeting. They didn't have the statistics that we wanted. They didn't know whether they were going to build a berm or put a wall up or put a wall of greenery up between their area and our homes on English Oak Road and Spring Haven Court," Stonehaven homeowner Mary Ann Coleman said.

Coleman also said she felt this development would bring the community further away from its goal to reduce traffic on Woodruff Road, which was part of the Five Forks Area Plan that the county agreed on back in 2021.

We reached out to the development company Red Apple Development about this, which said it is way too early on in the process to provide finalized renderings or details.

It gave us this statement:

"We are very excited to bring another high-quality educational option for the growing population in Simpsonville. The Greenville-Spartanburg region is one of the fastest growing areas in the United States and as new families continue to settle in this beautiful area, we look forward to fulfilling our mission, a relentless commitment to student greatness in school and in life. We will collaborate with the community to ensure our school enhances the experience of living here while we work toward our promise of building strong minds and good hearts," Colleen Reynolds, spokesperson for Red Apple Education, said.

On Wednesday, March 12, 2025, there is a zoning public hearing for the project in front of the Greenville County Board of Zoning Appeals.

That meeting will take place at 3 p.m. at Greenville County Square.

Coleman and other residents said they plan on attending that meeting to voice their concerns.

Reynolds also said Red Apple will provide other opportunities in the future for public comment and input.

We will update you as we learn more.

A Greenville restaurant voluntarily closed in February after inspectors found numerous health violations, including live and dead roaches, black growth, food at improper temperature and too much trash on the floor where garbage cans are located.

Epic Buffet of East Bank on Grandview Drive in Simpsonville scored 59. Anything lower than 70 is to be closed.

The inspection report says the restaurant can reopen upon a satisfactory review.

Among the deficiencies were numerous employee closed drinks in the kitchen, personal belongings stored above food contact surfaces, employee foods stored intermingled in multiple cold holding units and employee medications stored in the kitchen.

A food handler did not take off gloves to wash hands.

Multiple cutting boards were soiled with food debris and were in disrepair. The ice machine had black microbial growth.

The sushi station temperature was too low as was the case that held honey baked ham, chicken nuggets, popcorn shrimp and fried fish. The food was thrown out and the violation cited as consecutive.

A cold holding and Hibatchi area had noodles, garlic in oil, chicken, egg roll at improper temperatures.

Multiple buckets of food contained sauces and beef stew in the walk-in cooler without dates. Chicken was thawing on a countertop. Containers of various sauces and marinades were stored on floors and in the walk-in cooler. Cardboard boxes of food stored on the floor in the freezer.

Chemicals and cleaners were not labeled with their common names, a screen door had large gaps.

Roaches were seen on the floor of food prep areas and dead roaches were on floors, shelving and light fixtures throughout the kitchen.

Wet wiping cloths were not stored in sanitizer throughout the kitchen, and utensils were in too-cool standing water.

A chest freezer in a walk-in freezer was in severe disrepair and held together with duct tape.

Sewage and wastewater was improperly disposed of, oil/grease was on ground outside of an oil recycling container, Dumpster lids did not function properly.

A large drill used for outdoor repairs was inside the food prep area.

The soda room had heavily soiled syrup residue and the ceiling air vents throughout the kitchen customer was soiled with dust and debris as were ventilation hoods and floors in the main cook line.

Other Greenville County restaurants inspected in February included:

Miyabi Japanese Steakhouse on Congaree Road in Greenville scored 70.

Among the concerns were no vomit/diarrhea clean up procedure and a food handler touched raw meat, dish machine and raw meat without changing gloves.

A pitcher was submerged in ready-to-eat sauce, with a soiled paper towel wrapped around the handle. The sushi kitchen did not have shell stock tags for shucked oysters and raw shelled eggs over ready-to-eat sauces.

Cutlery and dishes, rice cooker and soup dispenser stored as clean had food debris and microbial growth, debris, and rust in the ice machine.

Raid pest spray was in the kitchen / sushi area, and multiple live and dead roaches throughout the facility with dead roaches inside microwave time display.

Grease was pooled on floors and by the receiving door.

Tiles were in disrepair under a high-temperature dish machine and a large hole was seen under a three-compartment sink where plumbing exits the wall.

Walls/ceilings throughout the kitchen were soiled with grease and dust, floors sticky and the sides of the ice machine were dirty.

There were also multiple bottles of employee medications in the sushi area.

Ingles #74 Deli Bakery on White Horse Road in Greenville scored 73 based on incorrect employee handwashing, cleaning of pans and meat slicer, and deli sandwich bar at too-low temperatures that included fried chicken and rotisserie chicken.

Date markings were not indicated on various foods. A can of pesticide was in the bakery.

A large piece of broken glass was in the cold display case and excessive ice build up was on the floor and ceiling in a walk-in freezer.

Organic buildup was seen on floors and surrounding each walk-in freezer.

OJ’S Diner on Pendleton Street in Greenville scored 72.

It was cited for employee drinks being stored on food contact surfaces during food prep, an employee eating when coming into the kitchen and not washing hands before touching dishes and no paper towels.

Large cans were dented and food was stored at improper temperature. The inspector called it a “danger zone.”

Dates were not marked properly and a large container of cooked pasta measuring was cooling at ambient temperature. Rodent droppings were scattered across dry storage, on shelving and paper goods. A wooden pallet in a walk-in cooler stored eggs.

The dish machine had food debris, and shelving in a walk-in cooler was heavily soiled with dust and debris. Also, painted walls in the main cook line were distressed and not smooth/easily cleanable.

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