Meet pit crew member Jamie from Sam Jones BBQ’s Winterville location
After launching their barbecue program last year, Resident Culture is now offering a barbecue class with pitmaster Edmar Simoes. Classes will start on July 14 and run every second Sunday of the month from 6 a.m.-4 p.m. at Resident Culture’s South End location.
.@ResidentCulture is launching a new barbecue class that will help Charlotteans get more comfortable behind the grill this summer. Executive chef Edmar Simoes will teach participants how to cook Carolina-style barbecue and styles from around the world. https://t.co/uzR5Acmbnt
Ronald Simmons may be coming to a city near you in July
Special announcement! Join the Master Blend Gang as we hit the road on a 3 city Grilling Tour with Got to Be NC! On July 11th, 12th, and 14th cooking, demos will take place from 11:30 am til 1:00 pm at three of NC's Farmers Markets. Raleigh – July 11th Greensboro – July 12th… pic.twitter.com/8yIOLfWGEt
Lewis Barbecue‘s Charleston location has been closed since last week due to termite damage but will reopen tomorrow but temporarily shifting to outdoor dining with the full menu available from the trailer
Chef Angel Jimenez’s La Piraña Lechonera will continue this year in the South Bronx
For 23 years, chef Angel Jimenez has drawn barbecue pork devotees to the South Bronx. This summer, the party is heating up again. https://t.co/UVDcjYWqjP
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: Robert Moss dropped his annual top barbecue joint list for Southern Living, and of the 50, eight were North Carolina barbecue joints while another nine were from South Carolina. The North Carolina joints were:
Prime Barbecue, Knightdale
Barbecue Center, Lexington
Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge
Sam Jones BBQ, Winterville
Stamey’s Barbecue, Greensboro
Grady’s Barbecue, Dudley
Lexington Barbecue, Lexington
Skylight Inn, Ayden
Even with some decent representation from the Carolinas, there were a few I felt could’ve made the list based on what Robert Moss had written previously; Jon G’s Barbecue and Lawrence Barbecue in particular.
Contributing barbecue editor Robert Moss spent much of the past year buzzing down Interstate highways and navigating winding back roads as he revisited old favorites and checked out new contenders for this list. https://t.co/7MWbjBZxug
A Texas barbecue joint made the #1 spot on the list, and while I won’t spoil just who it was just know it is a very familiar joint to most. You just know that Texas Monthly Barbecue Editor Daniel Vaughn would have to gloat:
Name: Rancho Lewis Date: 4/14/23 Address: 1503 King St, Charleston, SC 29403 Order: Beef Back Ribs “Half The Cow!” with cowboy slaw, charro beans, and a green chile baked potato (link to menu) Pricing: $$$
Monk: John Lewis established his barbecue restaurant Lewis Barbecue in 2016 after having made the move as the well-regarded pitmaster at La Barbecue in Austin. As the story goes, John had received rapturous feedback from his food festival stops in Charleston over the years and finally made the leap east in 2015. Since opening his first restaurant in 2016, he has opened a second Lewis Barbecue location in Greenville in August 2022. This capped off a busy year that started with the opening of his upscale Tex-Mex Rancho Lewis in Charleston in April 2022. I think it’s fair to say that it’s worked out well for Lewis in the Holy City.
Rancho Lewis didn’t start out of nothing, however. What was then known as Juan Luis occupied a food stall in the Workshop food hall at the location where Rancho Lewis sits today. While I never made it to Workshop, I did force my family to make a quick detour a few years back to the Juan Luis food trailer that sat outside Lewis Barbecue and served some amazing breakfast tacos.
As soon as I opened the menu, I knew there was one item on the menu that was a must order as soon as I saw it. Behold: the beef back ribs, “half the cow!”
As stated on the menu, this item is a “whole full rack, slow cooked overnight in our mesquite pit.” According to our waitress that night, the $48.95 order comes with somewhere between 6-12 ribs. Thankfully I got on the lower end of that spectrum with 7 since I was the main eater of the dish at our table and was going to be at a music festival for the next two days without access to an over to reheat. The ribs themselves were fantastically tender, more so than my previous experience with beef back ribs. Perfectly smoked, the mesquite wood did not overpower the meat or the tangy sauce. I would for sure order these again with a large group next. The sides themselves were worth sharing as well.
Its pretty well established that green chiles are part of the larger pet project of John Lewis spreading the cuisine from his West Texas upbringing in El Paso. For the past 5 falls he’s even hosted an annual Hatch Chile Festival, with the 6th planned for sometime in October 2023. To that end, I was told by our waitress not to sleep on the green chile baked potato, and I can report back that she did not steer me wrong.
The other sides of cowboy slaw and charro beans were also executed to a high level, and I do have to mention their version of the paloma called “So Far So Bueno” which is a “big clay bowl filled with tequila, citrus juices, sparkling grapefruit.” Not the easiest to drink without spilling, but it added some fun to the meal. And while Rancho Lewis (and its pricing) certainly reflects an upscale Tex-Mex restaurant, we did get to enjoy the half-priced happy hour drink specials available on the patio shared with Edmund’s Oast before being seated.
Rancho Lewis takes the Juan Luis concept to another level and while its certainly more Tex-Mex than Texas barbecue, I can’t recommend it more highly. If you’ve got a Tex-Mex fan in your life (as I do with Mrs. Monk), you owe it to check out a different kind of cuisine at Rancho Lewis in Charleston.
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