STREET MEET
A Taste of Americana BY RISA WILLIAMS MCMILLAN • PHOTOS BY ROB KAUFMAN
After prohibition was repealed in the 1930’s, taverns started popping up and became the places where the locals stopped after work for conversation and beer. They were not places for fancy cocktails or the subtleties of single malt scotch. They were the places where people found solace and formed friendships and the walls absorbed the stories of the people who drank there. On the streets outside the taverns could be found a smattering of street vendors, hawking their homemade delicacies, many of whom were immigrants that brought their culture in the form of food to the United States. Combine this tavern setting and the Americanized homemade street food and welcome to Street Meet, where you can find Hilton Head’s own Taste of Americana. Walking into Street Meet is like walking into a postprohibition tavern. Take stock of your surroundings as the cash registers and bar stools are old-timers and the distressed pine flooring gives the aura of age while manhole covers add authenticity. Under the auspices of antique lighting, the walls are decorated with old Ohio Steel Mill photos and antique memorabilia. And by the way, Pretty Boy Floyd, who met his demise in Ohio, is watching your every move. Look through the window into the newly added, family-friendly addition, and you will time warp from a1930’s tavern to a 1970’s alleyway surrounded by walls of graffiti and starlit skies. Carey Basciano opened Street Meet in 2005 with his wife Shelby and his sister Nicole. He grew up in Youngstown, OH and attended Kent University as a Journalism major. He always knew he wanted to get into the restaurant business and that his degree could help him with his marketing. After a few valuable learning stints with restaurant chains up north, Carey moved to Hilton Head. He surveyed the Island restaurant market and observed that there was a catering component missing that would serve the more casual diner. “There was plenty of high-end out there, but not a lot that would do church hall type catering like up north,” said Carey. “Caterers typically have a deli and the deli varies on volume, so I thought we could open up a bar and do a street vendor menu,” he added. Perhaps it was his creativity as a writer that pulled together the story behind his restaurant because it is quite a story to be told. “I wanted to create a homemade, healthy version of 12
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