New restaurant coming to former Kent’s in Landrum 

By Samuel Robinson 

sam.robinson@tryondailybulletin.com 

 

LANDRUM—On Wednesday April 10th, the Boots & Sonny’s Landrum location will be opening to the public. Clay Clayton and his sister, Libby Carson are the owners of the restaurant and said they are excited to extend the Boots and Sonny’s restaurant family into Landrum. The first Boots’ & Sonny’s location was opened in 1962 by Clayton’s grandfather. 

 

Clayton was already a member of the Landrum community before he purchased the property. Clayton and his family are members of Landrum First Baptist Church and residents of Green Creek. A member and friend from Landrum First Baptist recommended the location to Clayton when it went up for sale. Clayton said he had a vision of what the building could be the first time he saw it.  

 

“I had a vision for what this place could be with some TLC. We came in and got started cleaning and ended up gutting the place. We have replaced 85-90 percent of the kitchen and put in brand new equipment. The bathrooms have been completely remodeled with new fixtures and coverings.” 

 

The Clayton family has been working on remodeling the new location for approximately 7 weeks, putting in roughly 15 hours of work per day. “We have been in here for about 7 weeks but we plan on opening for breakfast Wednesday morning,” Clayton said. 

 

In addition to remodeling the inside of the building new changes have been made to the exterior. The trees and overgrown vegetation on the side and rear of the building has been cleared out to make room for a drive through window and for additional parking. The drive through will be a totally new feature that was not a part of the existing structure.  

 

Clayton and Carson have been in the process of hiring and training new employees for over a month. Clayton also said that the managers and some staff members will rotate between the Spartanburg and Landrum locations.  

 

“We have actually been training people at our other location (Spartanburg)  for almost a month now, preparing for this,” Clayton said. He also expressed his appreciation for how much community involvement and talk is going on about the restaurant. 

 

“There is definitely a buzz going on around town. We had to stop answering the phones because it would ring constantly and we couldn’t get any of the work done.” 

 

One of the most important aspects of the Boots’ & Sonny’s Restaurant is that it is family owned and operated and has been since 1962. Clayton’s daughter, Olivia and his grandchildren will be involved in running and managing the new location. Clayton’s grandchildren will be the 4th generation of the family to be involved with the business.  

 

Boots’ & Sonny’s is a family restaurant that wants to adhere to its core principles no matter what location they are in. Clayton said he wants to keep the essence of what the Boots’ & Sonny’s family is all about and embrace the Landrum community.  

 

“I want a place for a family to come and eat without costing an arm and a leg,” he said. “We want to provide great food, great value, and a great atmosphere. That’s what will bring people back and that’s what we strive to make a living on.”  

 

Boots’ & Sonny’s will be opening at 6 a.m. on Wednesday. The business hours will be 6 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Friday.  Boots’ & Sonny’s is on Facebook and can be viewed on their website, www.bootsandsonnys.com.