Monk: True BBQ is home to some truly world-class hash and I was recently alerted to the existence of this song named after the West Columbia, SC restaurant from a recent John Tanner post. Opening with a piano riff followed by a searing blues solo, it enumerates all the reasons to come on down to True BBQ including:
Check it out – both the song and the hash and rice.
Header photo credit to John Tanner
Monk: An all-Carolinas linkdown this week
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”
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”
Going into Monday night’s NCAA Championship game, Governor Roy Cooper made a bet with Kansas Governor Laura Kelly as governors tend to do in these types of situations. The wager? Kansas City steaks vs Wilber’s BBQ. You may be aware that UNC lost to Kansas 69 to 72 after leading by 15 at the half, surrendering the largest lead in NCAA championship game history. You absolutely hate to see it.
John Tanner blames UNC’s NCAA Championship loss Monday night on said barbecue bet. Wilber’s gave Kansas players too much motivation!
Meanwhile, a few days earlier, the Duke-UNC Final Four matchup on Saturday night inspired a barbecue bet of its own between Durham County and Orange County sheriffs. No word or photos have surfaced yet of Durham County sheriffs ordering barbecue in UNC gear, but I look forward to that update.
The latest from the parking lot dispute between Noble Smoke and The Good Life
Sweet Old Bill’s and Biscuit Brisket & Beer are food options when visiting High Point
Seoul Food Meat Co has opened a fast casual Korean wing concept in SouthPark: Bit by Seoul
Tales from the Pits gives the lowdown on the “rib cut” from Hite’s BBQ in West Columbia
Last week’s Smoke Sheet featured a story from Bryan Suddith on whole hog and Rodney Scott’s BBQ
The State Line Celebration at Carowinds will run on select dates April 9-May 8 and will feature both NC and SC barbecue
Duke’s Barbecue of Beaufort is one of four options to get barbecue in Beaufort County, SC
Houston’s newest barbecue restaurant J-Bar-M BBQ impresses
Ever wonder why barbecue joints are covered in stickers?
Name: Hite’s BBQ
Date: 5/20/17
Address: 240 Dreher Rd, West Columbia, SC 29169
Order: Barbecue plate with hash and rice, slaw, and roll (link to menu)
Price: $8
Monk: Back in early 2015, John T. Edge’s article about Hite’s BBQ in Garden & Gun Magazine initially put the joint on my radar. Due to the fact that I don’t make it down to Columbia all that often plus the fact that Hite’s is only open Fridays and Saturdays meant that it would still be over 2+ years before I would be able to finally check it out. Not that I hadn’t tried before unsuccessfully, making the trek down the day before this past New Year’s Eve specifically to check out Hite’s only to find out they were closed. Hite’s is a family operation so I definitely couldn’t begrudge them for not being open before a holiday, but it meant that I would have to wait another 6 months before eventually checking them out.
Hite’s is a takeout only joint run out of a simple cinder block building but does have a few picnic tables overlooking a small lake on the property which apparently has 3 generations of Hite’s living on it.
The menu is very simple, with choice of sandwiches, plates or takeaway pounds of either whole hog, ribs, or chicken. The pork was a tad dry on this day and though mustard will never be my favorite style of barbecue sauce with pork it was still quite good.
Hash and rice comes standard with each plate and was my favorite part of the meal. Not that it’s quite as good as the hash a mile and a half down the road at True BBQ, but it’s still pretty dang good nonetheless.
There was nothing special about the slaw, which I didn’t feel the need to finish. The rolls that came standard with each plate were fine but in the interest of saving my stomach from the carbs, I saved them for my daughter to have at the beach later that week.
After my meal, I snapped a few photos around the property, including the Hite St sign and the huge stacks of split logs behind the joint before current owner David Hite (grandson of original owner John D. Hite) was kind enough to invite me to check out the pit room. At that point, all of the hogs were off the pits so it was just chicken, so I quickly snapped a few shots when he revealed the pit. I spoke with him for just a few minutes about the family operation behind Hite’s and the requests he sometimes gets from various news outlets (which he isn’t always to accommodate due to the joint’s limited schedule). I certainly appreciated David taking some time to chat with me.
Hite’s BBQ wasn’t necessarily my favorite barbecue of the vacation week (more on that in the coming weeks) but I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it for folks passing through Columbia looking for a taste of true midlands SC-style barbecue.
For more reviews of Hite’s BBQ, check out:
Marie, Let’s Eat!
Ratings:
Atmosphere – 3 hogs
Pork – 3.5 hogs
Sides – 3.5 hogs
Overall – 3.5 hogs