Rigsby's Smoked Burgers, Wings & Grill opens in Spartanburg; owner plans Upstate expansion

Jeff Rigsby, CEO and owner of Rigsby's Smoked Burgers, Wings & Grill, has brought his smoked burgers to downtown Spartanburg, but he's not stopping there.

The restaurant group’s newest location in the former Hub City Co-op at 176 N. Liberty St. in downtown Spartanburg opened Dec. 1.

‘We had a lot of people in here over the weekend at lunch and dinner time. Game time was huge,” Rigsby said Wednesday.

The downtown Spartanburg Rigsby’s is the brand’s largest location at about 8,000 square feet and features several flatscreen TVs including a nine-panel television, a full bar, and a stage where bands will perform starting later this month.

The size of the property also allowed for a heated outdoor seating area with fire pits that is surprisingly high-tech — a television and sound system linked to a camera indoors will let outdoor diners enjoy performances on the stage indoors.

"We didn't want it to be just a regular burger and wings place or a sports bar, we wanted it to be something that appeals to a diverse group of business people in the downtown area, or families, or guys that want to go have a night out or ladies who want to come out on a date," Rigsby said.

Rigsby, a Boiling Springs resident, was drawn to the growth in downtown Spartanburg and the location's proximity to downtown businesses, apartments, and colleges.

"Spartanburg has come a long way, especially in the last five years, and there's a lot happening down here. The city is very committed to the economics of Spartanburg and I think from a development standpoint, downtown is kind of the place you want to plug into," Rigsby said. "This is where people are starting to gravitate to; Greenville has an amazing downtown area that really thrives, now Spartanburg is starting to get that direction too."

A handcrafted menu

In addition to a prime location — the restaurant is one of a handful of downtown restaurants that has its own parking lot — the new downtown restaurant is also committed to offering a menu of top-notch dishes. The stars of the menu are the restaurant's namesake smoked burgers and wings.

"We take the meat and we do a cold smoke to it. It's spread out on a pan and we smoke it raw in a smoker, then we hand-patty it and cook it off on the grill," Rigsby said. "Our (burgers) go through a particular process so that when you get it you say that's the best burger you've ever had."

The burgers have fun names like Asian Twist Turkey Burger and the Old School and all are piled high with toppings. One burger, The Pitmaster, is topped with pulled pork, smoked gouda, hickory-smoked bacon and Cheerwine BBQ sauce. The wings come in a variety of flavors including Honey Buffalo, Teriyaki BBQ, Thai Sweet Chili, Jamaican Jerk, Nashville HOT, and Carolina Reaper.

Other popular items include fish and chips, the chipotle salad, the Nashville hot chicken sandwich and baby back ribs as well as some unique items like brisket fries and parmesan tater tots. The restaurant also offers veggie burger swaps on any of their burgers.

Dessert at Rigsby's looks like a hand-spun milkshake made with frozen custard. The restaurant serves alcoholic milkshakes in flavors like White Russian, strawberry shortcake, and cherry bomb and non-alcoholic salted caramel, chocolate, and creamsicle milkshakes.

"We have fresh-made custard that we make in-house every day for the milkshakes," Rigsby said.

Rigsby's Smoked Burgers, Wings & Grill is open from 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Monday and from 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturdays. The restaurant serves lunch, dinner, and Sunday brunch from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

Bringing smoked burgers to the Upstate

The first Rigsby’s Smoked Burgers, Wings & Grill opened in Greer in 2018 and Rigsby has quickly expanded the brand.

There are currently three Rigsby’s locations, their new downtown Spartanburg location, the original Greer location at 441 The Parkway, and their Boiling Springs location at 3072 Boiling Springs Road. By the end of 2022, Rigsby hopes to have opened two more locations - an expanded entertainment-focused concept across from the current Boiling Springs location and an Anderson location in the former J Peters Grill and Bar at 115 Interstate Blvd.

"Our expansion has been somewhat aggressive. I mean we've built two restaurants this year and then we've got a third one that'll come on sometime before April in Anderson and then we're looking at a new prototype that we're working on that will add bowling (in Boiling Springs)," Rigsby said.

The Boiling Springs concept will bring in some of the new entertainment aspects from the Spartanburg location and expand on them. Rigsby said the new location would include a bowling alley and will make dining part of the entertainment with a section for brick-oven pizzas and ultimate milkshakes.

Rigsby anticipated that the Anderson location would be open in the spring, and the Boiling Springs location would begin construction in the summer and open by end of the year. He is also looking for a location to open a Rigsby’s in Greenville. He intends to maintain the same high standards of service at each location.

"The target is we want people to come out and have a good time, eat good food, and feel good about it," Rigsby said.

Samantha Swann covers food and restaurants in Spartanburg County. She is a University of South Carolina Upstate and Greenville Technical College alumna. Contact her with your burning restaurant questions, recipes, and new dinner specials at sswann@shj.com or on Instagram at @sameatsspartanburg.

This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: Rigsby's Smoked Burgers, Wings 7 Grill owner plans Upstate expansion