Melvin’s Barbecue

The Best Barbecue Joints in Charleston – February 2024

/ Barbecue Bros / 12 Comments

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 29403 lewisbarbecue.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 29414 palmirabbq.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 29403 rancholewischs.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 29403 rodneyscottsbbq.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 29412 melvinsbbq.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 29401 pooganssmokehouse.com/

What is your favorite Charleston barbecue restaurant? Is there any place that I missed?

Melvin’s BBQ Switched (Back) to Wood Smokers in 2015 and Hasn’t Looked Back

/ Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Name: Melvin’s BBQ
Date: 4/13/23
Address: 538 Folly Rd, Charleston, SC 29412
Order: Two meat combo platter with pork, turkey, slaw, and hash and rice (link)
Pricing: $$

Monk: Back in 2015, Melvin’s BBQ owner David Bessinger saw the light. As Robert Moss notes at the time in his piece for Southern Living, he saw the writing on the wall and made some changes to his two Charleston-area restaurants that had been smoking on Southern Pride gas-assisted smokers since the early 80’s. He switched to offset wood burners from Georgia-based Lang BBQ Smokers and hasn’t yet looked back. I had overlooked Melvin’s on several Charleston trips since 2015, which turned out to be a mistake after sampling their fare on a rainy Charleston weekday. Melvin’s has two Charleston-area restaurants: one in Mount Pleasant and this location I visited on James Island just a mile from the Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint that opened roughly 4 years back.

Melvin’s now has brisket on the menu, one of the big changes from 2015, but I stuck with pork and turkey with a side of hash and rice and slaw for my order. Cornbread is included with the combos and a pickle bar has an assortment of pickles and onions. All served on a Texas-style platter with butcher paper, a couple more of the changes from 8 years prior.

The pork was piled in a generous serving in the shape of a take out container, and on its own it was fresh and plenty smokey with chunks of bark chopped in. One of the non-Texas-influenced changes from 2015 was switching back to pastured pork, and while I didn’t taste their prior pork I have to assume it makes a difference. I sampled the spicy mustard barbecue sauce and while I’ll never be a huge mustard fan, I did enjoy this spicy version both with the pork and the turkey.

Opting for the lighter option of turkey instead of brisket, I was really pleased with Melvin’s version. It was perfectly moist and tender, with a nice peppery crust. Would definitely order again.

I was not getting out of Charleston with some hash, but was a bit let down by what Melvin’s served. It was a bit thinner in consistency than what I’ve tried (and enjoyed), and not as flavorful. Definitely a let down, and I had a better version of it a few days later at Swig & Swine (more on that soon). The slaw, too was also on the runny side.

Melvin’s has been family-owned by a branch of the famed Bessinger family for well over 80 years, since 1939. Had owner David Bessinger not had the foresight to switch back to all wood cooking, I wonder if they would have made it to the 80 year mark. In any case, I’m glad he did and that I finally took a chance on a joint I had wrongly be skipping over for the past few years. Give them a try if you’re in Charleston.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3 hogs
Pork – 4 hogs
Turkey – 4 hogs
Sides – 3 hogs
Overall – 4 hogs

Linkdown: 4/5/23 – The Carolinas Edition

/ Barbecue Bros / 1 Comment

Monk: An all-Carolinas linkdown this week

Native News

Shepard Barbecue is heading to the Flavortown Festival after getting a boost from Triple D

Laurinburg will host the “Suds and Swine” whole hog competition in mid-April

Green River BBQ in Saluda has recently changed ownership, with the new owners stating they have “big plans”

Non-Native News

Beautiful South will be popping-up every Thursday at Lewis Barbecue in Charleston serving southern Chinese food

Fork Grove BBQ in Anderson, SC will soon be a brick and mortar

Palmira BBQ shares an update

John Tanner hits a quartet of barbecue restaurants in SC, starting with Melvin’s BBQ in Mount Pleasant

…at Swig & Swine, the pork belly was even better than the pork, which was “worthy of a ‘wow'”

…at Bessinger’s Barbecue, the hash has a “deep and satisfying flavor”

…finally, the hash and rice at True BBQ in West Columbia is “flat good”

Linkdown: 10/7/15

/ Barbecue Bros / 1 Comment

-Buxton Hall is now open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner

– Wilmington’s got a new eastern, whole hog barbecue food cart that hopes to turn into a brick and mortar place

– Queen City Q remains busy – in addition to their Matthews location opening up in the summer and announcing a partnership for the Hornets, they are eyeing a third location in Concord

– An article on food trucks in Gaston County features Ranucci’s Big Butt BBQ

– John Mueller’s barbecue pit was stolen

– In what I hope becomes a new trend, Melvin’s Barbecue in Charleston returns to all wood smoking

– The Simpsons did it: a barbecue episode (they apparently did their homework too)