HeyDay Sandwiches & Cocktails opens in Greenville, providing space for families, food and fun
HeyDay Sandwiches & Cocktails is a new restaurant in Greenville inside a restored building, where customers can sit inside or outside and have a meal and chat while watching their children play. The hangout owned by Sarah and Paul Klaassen and Michael Olbrantz, of KO Restaurant Group remodeled the former Oak Hill Café space off 2510 Poinsett Highway. The restaurant opened May 24.
The owners created an indoor and outdoor space suitable for live music, lawn games, gourmet sandwiches, salads and cocktails. “It’s the food we like, and we like simple, tasty, and comforting food,” said Olbrantz, co-owner of HeyDay. “From a personal and a business perspective, this is the types of foods and experiences we want to offer.”
The term “HeyDay” comes from the old definition of a prime time of someone’s life, a feeling that ownership is hoping for customers to experience at the new sandwich and cocktail space. The restaurant contains a full kitchen and bar with taps and handmade cocktails. It also offers affordable handheld gourmet sandwiches.
How did the HeyDay idea come about, and what’s on the menu?
Although KO Restaurant Group recently opened Auction House Food Hall in Fletcher, North Carolina, the HeyDay project took about six months to get through construction and open. The idea for a sandwich shop dates back to the beginnings at Gather Greenville restaurant with the addition of Wilbert Sauceda to the ownership group. Their relationship began just before the pandemic when Sauceda ate nearly three meals a day at KO Restaurant Group’s establishments in the West End food hall around 2020.
“When people say, ‘I could really go for a good sandwich,’ I want people to think of HeyDay,” said Sauceda, who is co-owner and director of food & beverage at HeyDay. “We want to be a place that is family and pet-friendly. We want to provide everyone with a tasty and welcoming time.”
Sauceda, a former executive chef at Larkin’s, brings a Cuban and Miami-based culinary style to the new sandwich and cocktail restaurant. His touch can be seen on handhelds such as a prime rib sandwich with horseradish cream and other Sunday specials, beyond what he works on alongside Chef Jean Martinez. Together, Sauceda and Martinez have teamed up to create a menu highlighted by a gourmet Rueben sandwich, falafel sandwich with beet hummus sauce, shrimp burger with kimchi aioli, and a croque madame sandwich. The full bar has tap beers and cocktails, including bestsellers: a tangerine margarita and a gin basil smash.
HeyDay wants approachable space, foods to lure families
In six months, the KO Restaurant Group transformed nearly 2.5 acres of land into a space to host 145 indoor and outdoor seats. The owners hope the restaurant becomes a popular brunch, lunch and evening time gathering space with live music events, an outdoor viewing screen for sporting events and more.
