Monk: Palmira Barbecue’s West Ashley location in Charleston opened its doors early last month. In my latest for The Smoke Sheet published a few weeks back, I recap my experience on the Sunday of opening weekend.
While my experience was fairly smooth (minus a few hiccups at the cash register), it sounds like there have been mixed reviews of Palmira since it opened. Or at least that’s how it appears based on feedback I’ve received on my Best Barbecue Joints in Charleston post.
Have you tried Palmira Barbecue yet? How was your experience?
That article is exclusive to The Smoke Sheet. Want to read the full article? Subscribe over at The Smoke Sheet.
Previous coverage of Palmira, both here as well as from friends of the blog:
Monk: I’m no local, but I’ve spent my fair share of time in Charleston over the years. As Charleston’s barbecue reputation has risen, I’ve always felt like Charlotte could learn some lessons from the Holy City. From homegrown restaurants to luring big names and regional chains, it could be argued that the overall quality of barbecue in Charleston has skyrocketed beyond Charlotte in the past 5 years.
In alphabetical order, here are the ten best barbecue restaurants in Charleston along with my tiers of the rest of them. Thoughts? What should I hit on my next time in town later this spring?
Tier 1
Lewis Barbecue John Lewis brought legitimate Texas barbecue to Charleston in 2016 and instantly became a must visit for any serious barbecue fans visiting the city. Between this restaurant, another on this list, and his annual Hatch Chile Fest in October, Lewis has certainly put his imprint on the city. 464 N Nassau St, Charleston, SC 29403lewisbarbecue.com/
Palmira Barbecue Palmira’s the new kid on the block in this top tier. Hector Garate started with popups before moving to a stall at the now shuttered Port of Call food hall. His long-awaited brick and mortar finally opened up earlier this month and is a must stop now. 2366 Ashley River Rd Building 1, Charleston, SC 29414palmirabbq.com/
Rancho Lewis John Lewis’ other restaurant is not a barbecue restaurant per se, but the mesquite smoked beef back ribs is one of the top barbecue bites in the city. 1503 King St, Charleston, SC 29403rancholewischs.com/
Rodney Scott’s Barbecue Every day is a good day when you get to try the whole hog and ribs from Rodney Scott at his flagship restaurant. 1011 King St, Charleston, SC 29403rodneyscottsbbq.com/
Tier 2
Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint The Martin’s Bar-B-Que restaurant group has nine restaurants located in Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, and South Carolina, and is one of the better (if not best) regional chains for barbecue in the southeast. Their Charleston location on James Island opened in 2019 and gave a great option for locals as well as folks on their way to Folly Beach. 1622 Highland Ave, Charleston, SC 29412 martinsbbqjoint.com/charleston
Melvin’s Barbecue Melvin’s should be applauded for seeing the light and moving back to wood from gas back in 2015, and my first visit just last year vindicated that decision for the 80 year old restaurant. 538 Folly Rd, Charleston, SC 29412melvinsbbq.com/
Sweatman’s Bar-b-que A few years back, Sweatman’s would have be firmly in the top level, but after switching to gas they are moved down a tier. 1427 Eutaw Rd, Holly Hill, SC 29059 sweatmansbbq.com/
Tier 3
Home Team BBQ Home Team has above average barbecue in their restaurants primarily located in South Carolina (with one in Aspen!) but based on my experience they are more of a sports bar that happens to serve barbecue. Not a bad option, but there are certainly better if your focus is barbecue versus drinks and catching the game. Multiple locations hometeambbq.com/
Swig & Swine Swig & Swine has a Thursday whole hog special across their 3 restaurants in the Charleston area, and I loved their hash and rice the last time I visited while finding the pulled pork to be average. multiple locations swigandswinebbq.com/
Tier 4
Poogan’s Smokehouse Poogan’s is a pricey barbecue option off East Bay Street aimed at prying money from Charleston visitors. I found the meat to be average but the sides amazing. 188 E Bay St, Charleston, SC 29401pooganssmokehouse.com/
What is your favorite Charleston barbecue restaurant? Is there any place that I missed?
Monk: Our thoughts are with the Wooden Robot Brewery family in Charlotte as news of co-owner Dan Wade’s passing spread Tuesday afternoon. Wade passed away due to an accident at the brewery.
Monk: Daniel Vaughn, BBQ Editor of Texas Monthly, made an epic barbecue road trip through South Carolina and Georgia for the past two weeks. Here are some highlights:
First off, Daniel doesn’t appear to be a huge fan of mustard sauce
Mostly too sweet, and too much of it. Liked it best (flavor and amount) at Hite’s BBQ in West Columbia
Besides Slow Fire in Savannah, here are the other places he hit in Georgia:
Wood’s Chapel, Rodney Scott’s, Fox Bros, Heirloom, DAS BBQ in ATL, Sock’s Love in Cumming, Southern Soul in St. Simons island, and Slow Fire in Savannah
And finally, in case you had any illusions to the glamorous realities of being a BBQ editor:
I get this a lot. You would not enjoy it. I drove almost 700 miles in SC in 2 days because of various opening days and times. That whole state is half that wide. I eat like it’s my job. I sometimes bring my kids on trips just so I’ll focus less on just BBQ https://t.co/Kn8duJ0C9U
The 39th Lexington Barbecue Festival will be on Saturday, October 28, 2023
As of early July, Hickory has a new wood-smoked barbecue joint named Hughes Q
The restaurant’s menu is limited to barbecue staples: pulled pork, chicken, turkey, brisket and ribs alongside traditional sides such as fries, potato salad, slaw and https://t.co/edR2CpWOnA said the smoking times https://t.co/Y7PurRBjz0
— Hickory Daily Record (@Hickoryrecord) July 26, 2023
Prime Barbecue is in the middle of taking a well deserved week off
We use cookies to optimize our website and our service.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
