Victors

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

A Downtown Florence Institution

Victors sits at 126 W. Evans Street in the heart of downtown Florence, South Carolina, offering a menu that draws equally from the Southern American pantry and the steakhouse tradition. The Wine Spectator Award of Excellence recognizes not only the depth of the wine list but the kind of kitchen that gives a wine program something worth pairing with.

The Menu: Southern Roots, Steakhouse Backbone

The cooking here is grounded in the Carolina lowcountry without being limited by it. Starters signal the kitchen's sensibility: a Coastal She Crab Soup arrives with blue crab, crab roe, and aged sherry, while the Chicken Bog Hand Pie — stewed chicken and rice with tasso sausage and a kickin' buttermilk dressing — reads as a love letter to South Carolina's most underappreciated comfort food. The Crispy Pork Belly comes with greens sourced from Ellerbe Farm, a detail that speaks to local relationships.

The grill section is where the steakhouse side of Victors steps forward. A bone-in New York strip and a prime ribeye — both finished with roasted garlic butter — anchor the offerings, joined by a rack of lamb with black cherry marsala and a bone-in pork chop with whole fig preserves. All grill items are sold à la carte, allowing guests to build their plate from a roster of sides that leans unmistakably Southern: sweet tea braised collards, hog jowl whipped potatoes, fried green tomato with pimento cheese and sweet pepper relish, and broccoli with pimento cheese.

Among the entrees, the Shrimp & "Grits" swaps traditional grits for Carolina rice grits, adding bacon, blistered tomato, fennel, and shrimp gravy — a small reinterpretation that carries real conviction. The Duck Fat Chicken, a half bird served with Southern mac and cheese, bacon, Brussels sprouts, and hot honey, has the kind of straightforward confidence that earns regulars.

Wine, Recognition, and the Bigger Picture

The Wine Spectator Award of Excellence, maintained since 2015, reflects a wine list curated to complement both the Southern American cooking and the more classic steakhouse cuts. It positions Victors as a destination for those who take the full dining experience seriously — food, wine, and the particular warmth of a restaurant that knows its own identity.

Lunch and dinner service, delivery, and takeaway are all available, making Victors as practical as it is polished.