Guys, I love shrimp and grits. No, let me say this again, so you hear me really, really clearly on this one: I. Love. Shrimp. And. Grits.
Shrimp and grits was the first truly Southern dish that I made in college. I lived in South Carolina nearly my entire life and didn’t even realize that shrimp and grits were a Lowcountry South Carolina thing. I thought people everywhere ate grits, and surely nothing could make more sense than to have shrimp on top of them. Of course, variations of shrimp and grits abound. My favorite back in college were a creamy, slighty-spiced tomato sauce version made by The Bookstore Cafe in Charleston, which closed years ago. I think one of the former owners now runs Charleston’s Cafe in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.