‘Perfect fit’: Sweet Tea Café opens in Rock Hill at an iconic location
There’s a new eatery in Rock Hill aiming to live up to its name.
Sweet Tea Café opened Tuesday in downtown Rock Hill at a historic site.
The cafe is on Elk Avenue in a building that has been an army and navy supply store and a paint store. The new eatery took over the former Kinch’s site, a local favorite that was known for its fried chicken. For 18 years, Kinch’s served breakfast, meat and vegetable plates and burgers.
That restaurant closed in December 2017.
“We wanted something with kind of a historic feel, it feels welcoming, it feels homey,” Sweet Tea Cafe co-owner Rodney Redmon said. “It’s right downtown, it’s convenient walking distance.
“It just seemed like a perfect place, a perfect fit .... It’s exactly what we were looking for.”
The café incorporates southern and northern themes — southern sweet tea and cuisine and New York subs and bagels. Redmon is a Charlotte native. Co-owner José Morales is from New York City.
“I love putting smiles on people’s faces and their stomachs,” Morales said after a recent lunch rush.
Construction on the restaurant stalled for six months because of the pandemic outbreak.
“It was kind of unexpected,” Redmon said. “We kind of rolled with it.”
One of the restaurant’s signature dishes is waffle tacos, which includes two waffles filled with scrambled eggs, cheese, bacon and maple syrup. Also on the breakfast menu there is a loaded bagel, fried chicken cheddar biscuits and shrimp and grits.
And yes, Sweet Tea Café serves sweet tea — more than one flavor. This week, along with traditional sweet tea, the restaurant is serving pineapple peach and strawberry tea. Other offerings will include apricot, raspberry and blackberry. Flavors will rotate weekly.
“We’re going to get creative,” Redmon said.
There’s plenty of options for vegan diners as well, he said.
On the lunch menu, customers can choose options such as a Philly cheesesteak sandwich, wings, burgers, pasta or seafood. The average meal costs $11 to $12.
“It’s something quick, something easy, something that’s cheap and affordable for everybody,” Redmon said.
The idea for Sweet Tea Café came whe Redmon took a trip out West, “where you cannot find sweet tea anywhere,” he said.
Rock Hill, at the time the co-owners were looking for a site, seemed to lack a brunch and lunch option, Redmon said.
Redmon owns two other establishments in Charlotte — Fire House Bar & Lounge and Recess — and hopes to turn Sweet Tea Café into a franchise with six locations in South Carolina, he said.
While he’s the “face” of the business, Rock Hill resident Morales “knows how to cook,” Redmon said. Morales owns a food truck and decided to take it a step further, Redmon said.
“He has a passion for food,” Redmon said. “He has a passion for making people smile with this food.”
At Tuesday’s opening, Morales was buzzing between the kitchen’s pickup window and cash register, placing to-go orders and taking orders from a long line of customers.
“This is our first rush,” an excited food server said, buzzing by with orders.
Diner Bernie Lipka already knew he liked his reuben after one bite.
“The first bite is good,” he said as his wife Rose Lipka sized up her tuna salad sandwich and roasted corn on the cob.
“I think they’re going to have a good go here,” Rose Lipka said.
Redmon said he and Morales hope to open a second location in the Rock Hill area. They would also like to expand a potential franchise out West, he said.
“I just hope to see y’all in here,” Redmon said. “We hope to serve you for years to come.”
Sweet Tea Café is at 125 Elk Avenue. The hours are 6 a.m. - 6 p.m., Monday-Friday; 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. Saturday; and 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday. Visit the restaurant’s Facebook page for more information or call 980-255-2684.
This story was originally published November 18, 2020 at 1:40 PM with the headline "‘Perfect fit’: Sweet Tea Café opens in Rock Hill at an iconic location."
