Classic southern food, simply and beautifully prepared. Wonderful service. Wonderful atmosphere. Country ham, fried chicken, green beans stewed with ham hock, stewed apples, macaroni salad, slaw. Veterans know that keeping the slaw and mac salad separate is a mistake--magic happens in your mouth when the two run together. read more

If you like Southern, think you might like Southern, or want to find out what old time Southern cookin' even IS, this is the restaurant for you. I cannot remember the last time I saw red eye gravy on a menu - they have it. Veggies served family style - have it. Mountain Trout - check. Fried Chicken - none of that white meat/dark meat stuff, you get a full, nicely sized half chicken. When I get a craving for the food my Grandmother served, I head to Caro-Mi. Do not confuse this with some kind of new Southern Cuisine , it is not! You get more than you can eat, in a casual setting, where (chances are) the owners are sitting by the fireplace (winter) or the rocking chair front porch in the summer. If you want to see what mountain restaurants "used to be", park the car, cross the river, and enjoy. read more

DWANE M. Where did you eat?I have never responded to another persons review but I just can't sit back back and not comment. Being born in Asheville and living all of my early years in Saluda, I have eaten at Caro-Mi, I believe, since I was 4 or 5 years old and I'm 62 now. Now I'll admit, they are a little quirky, and the food is not New York gourmet speclity food and its not meant to be. It is, however, a local flavored restaurant. It serves local favorites such as, trout, fried chicken, chicken livers, sauerkraut, macaroni, steak, country ham and red eye gravy. The locals and most tourist have enjoyed Caro-Mi for years. The Stafford family has always been, as I stated, a little quirky, but by no means have I ever seen them be rude or condesending to anyone eating in their restaurant and they have always pleasant. Extreme negative reviews such as this are damaging to a small business. For those of you who go to Caro-Mi, you know how Caro-Mi is, for those of you who have not been here, please do try it, its really great and the sauerkraut n pasta are friggin crazy good. Caro-Mi is a restaurant within a time capsule and might not bd for everyone but please don't pay attention to negative reviews. If Caromi's family style, Southern menu, creekside dining, is not for you, just chalk it up to another experience, dont slam a hardworking small business family with extreamily negative reviews its just not right. read more

Great place to eat. Like I said in another review, if there is a long line to get in, it must be good. Car o mi in no exception to this fact. The country ham, fried chicken, and trout are all amazing. Yes it is not a sophisticated place to eat, and the menu only has a few selections on it, but so what. What they do prepare, they do right. read more

Great southern hospitality experience with delicious ayce sides of biscuits, cole slaw, macaroni salad, green beans, and hot apples. Trout w almond butter good as is their own cured country ham and grits w red eye gravy. But you must try the chicken livers! Very family friendly and great service. Beautiful location. read more

We used to go to Caro Mi years ago quite a bit and it was great. Went back last night: * made reservation for 6 pm. Got there at 5;45. Large crowd waiting to get in. They put me on the "reserved" waiting list - we were #10. Finally got in at 6:50 pm. So if you are going and make a reservation, do not assume that means you will be seated then. *service was very good considering they were packed and our server was running around like crazy. *Food was the problem. Cole slaw/macaroni salad/biscuits were great. But I had the chicken livers - worst I have ever had - they were soggy and had absolutely no taste. Wife had fried flounder which was similar to buying frozen fish from grocery store. Another in our group had fried chicken that was so dry could not be eaten. 4th member had the trout which was good. The place was packed so obviously others like it. But we will never go back however. Food was not good. read more

We entered Caro-Mi walking across a covered bridge with a sign that said"cross bridge slowly " to help you start to unwind. We were greeted by the most friendly owner. Lord have mercy the food is exceptional! Family style is heaven in your mouth. When we were seated the friendly waitress brought bowls of garlic slaw that was so tangy and a great pasta salad with saltine crackers. We ordered the chicken liver app. A received a plate that could eat easily have been the entree breaded, sautéed with finely chopped onions, Gosh they were good. Our entrees were delivered with bowls of luscious fried apples, an prefect green beans. My husband had country ham so plentiful that you could hardly see the plate and unlike other restaurants it was tender as could be served with grits and red eyed gravy. Have mercy! I ordered the Almond Trout covered in clarified butter w/ slivered almonds superbly deboned at our table! Listen going to Caro-Mi is such a relaxing event. Everyone deserves to unwind as the creek flows by. read more

Fucking gross! My grandparents took me here and the view is lovely and breathtaking. They love the place. The food is bland and very subpar to Cracker Barrel. Nothing special and the service is what really pissed me off. The power was out and they said that they could not serve us. I felt very disenfranchised and my grandmother pushed the issue we stayed and we paid. Just did not like the servers. Trust me, you can make better shit at home. Just come for the sights and dine elsewhere. Quaint, I guess. read more

Dinner hosted by special friends for family and friends prior to our wedding - 49 years ago! Great memories! A great Mother's Day dinner tonight! Had been quite some time since last at Caro-Mi - just as special as I remember. Beautiful setting -food delicious - service friendly and courteous - a totally wonderful evening! A dining jewel on the Pacolet! Another memory! read more

A gem tucked away at the base of Saluda Mountain! Prompt service! Hot fresh food! Polite service! The steaks are grilled to perfection and so tender! The country ham is succulent and wonderful with a fresh made biscuit! The macaroni salad and Caro-Mi special slaw is to die for! I always save the cooked apples for dessert and use a biscuit to mop up the juices! Thank you to the Staffords, Chef David,and our waitress for making my dads birthday dinner special! We will return AGAIN and soon! read more

Walking in here feels like a time warp back to the 50's. And that's a good thing. The menu is short, the food is old school and the service is great. If you've never been you need to give it a try. We did and plan to be back soon even though it's a bit of a drive for us. read more

Caro-Mi is a wonderful place to meet and eat. Our family is spread out over Forest City, NC, Spartanburg, Anderson, and Inman, SC. We occasionlly meet at Caro-Mi to eat. A lovely rustic setting that serves great southern cooking. We especially love the rocking chairs by the river and join other guests seeking to snag a seat. So peaceful and beautiful. We especially love the country ham, grits and red eye gravy. But, I can't leave off the slaw and macaroni salad served as an appetizer while you wait for your meal. Food is served family style with continuous helpings brought out as needed. There is also steak and other entrees, something to suit every taste. We highly recommend Caro-Mi. Try it, you'll be glad you did. Cathy, Spartanburg, SC read more

It's too bad you can't give a place 0 stars. I paid $14 for a pretty river to walk across. The canned green beans, cabbage in white vinegar they call "slaw", school cafeteria macaroni salad, baked potato, applesauce, and biscuits they call sides where not worth $5 on any planet. My guests had broiled trout w/ butter and almonds on top. No seasoning and no presentation. No air conditioning either. I wouldn't be so negative if there was a possibility I ordered poorly. These are the only sides available and nothing comes with the meat. read more

Yuk. Just yuk. The staff is nice but the food isn't very good, portion sizes are small. You can have all the veggies you want, as long as they are either green beans, cabbage, or apple sauce. Nothing else. VERY overpriced as well. read more

Had our first trip to Caro-Mi, based on numerous good reviews from people in our area. Turns out the food was terrible and very over priced. We traveled with a group of 20 and were given the special group dinner/price. For $22.50 per person we got to pick from trout, fired chicken, ham, shrimp, scallops and chicken livers, but no dessert included. The sides tasted like they came out of a can, my fried chicken was dry and tasted like rubber, The scallops were over cooked, as was the ham and livers. The shrimp and trout were good but not any better than you could get at Denny's. The only upside to our visit was the front porch and rocking chairs that over looked the Pacolet River. So we wasted $45.00 on a mediocre to terrible meal. Would have been better of going to Cracker Barrel for a good meal at half the price. read more

The decor and atmosphere with the bridge and then sitting on the porch overlooking the babbling river with a glass of wine was amazing. I had my doubts about the food from reading some of the reviews but was quite surprised. The noodle salad and vinegar cold slaw was great, I think I could have made a meal of that. We were there with a group of 8 and everyone seemed to enjoy their meals. Some had the fried chicken, the trout and steak. My wife and I only eat vegetables and seafood so we ordered the shrimp and the Mahi Mahi. Both were good. The sides were also good, grits with red eye gravy, green beans and baked apples went well with the biscuits. My disappoints were that the price did not include desert, but I ordered the brownie with ice cream. Over all it was a pleasent and very enjoyable dining experience. read more

Beautiful, peaceful, setting - Unique and delicous food! We've been going to Caro-Mi for many years and have never been disappointed with the quality of food or the service. It's a beautiful and short ride from Greenville, SC. There's usually a wait here, (you can call and get reservations), but there are also lots of rocking chairs overlooking a gorgeous mountain stream that will entertain you with its own music. Not sure what's up with "Roger S." review...there is a nice mix of older & younger people each time we've been. I've never gotten "errie feelings" from dining with any group of people, regardless of age, so I think some counseling may be in order for Mr. Roger S. to get over that. There are clean, restrooms located in the lobby, so the outhouse comment was totally imaginary too. It is a very unique, step back in time place to have a nice dinner and is definitely not for those who like run of the mill/same old/same old restaurants. The desserts are all made from scatch, so be sure to try one of those too, if you have room. ~ Enjoy! read more