TRUE 'CUE SOUTH CAROLINA
South Carolinians have good reason to believe that their state is the birthplace of Southern barbecue (a tradition with more than one mother), and the Palmetto State's dedicated pit masters keep the fires burning today. This page is your gateway to finding restaurants independently certified as serving real, old-school South Carolina barbecue.
To learn more about what defines South Carolina barbecue, visit the website of the South Carolina Barbeque Assocation. The SCBA is a "varied and colorful group of people who have come together to have fun and promote South Carolina barbeque" by training BBQ judges, sanctioning cooking competitions, educating the public, and maintaining a list of the Top 100 Barbecue Houses in South Carolina.
To qualify for True ‘Cue SC certification, a restaurant must meet the following criteria:
Be located in South Carolina.
Cook the barbecue using wood coals or charcoal as the sole heat source.
Avoid electricity, gas or any other non-wood heat source for the barbecue other than to ignite the wood, to keep the finished barbecue warm, or to re-heat the finished barbecue.
Serve the barbecue on site at the location where it is cooked (exceptions may exist for food trucks and other mobile purveyors, but a restaurant that serves barbecue cooked by another business does not qualify).
Offer regular business hours, with barbecue available on the menu regularly (at least monthly).
Serve chopped or pulled pork shoulder, Boston butt, hams, or whole hog on the regular menu. Offering additional meats is acceptable--and irrelevant.
Provide a sauce that is regionally appropriate, which in SC means anything from mustard-based to vinegar/pepper to light tomato to thick tomato. Variety is the spice of life--and, it seems, of SC BBQ.
Sadly, we believe there are no more than forty or so restaurants (some with multiple locations) in South Carolina that serve True ‘Cue, out of hundreds of barbecue restaurants across the state. We need your help to change this. Please take THE PLEDGE, steer clear of faux ‘cue when possible, and patronize True ‘Cue SC-certified restaurants.
To the best of our knowledge, these restaurants serve barbecue that meets the True ‘Cue SC criteria (some serve barbecued meats or sauces in addition to those specified above but their menus include traditional SC-style barbecue):
Bar-B-Q House, which has one North Carolina location and two location in South Carolina:
1561 Highway 17 North, North Myrtle Beach, SC 29582. 843.249.6901
1205 Highway 17 North, Surfside Beach, SC 29575. 843.477.1801
Big Bull’s Bang'n BBQ & Southern Comfort Food, 2614 Hardscrabble Road, Columbia, SC 29223. 803.479.4475
Big T Bar-B-Que, with two locations (but our understanding is that the barbecue is cooked in Gadsden*):
2520 Congaree Road, Gadsden, SC 29052. 803.353.0488
*7535 Garners Ferry Road, Columbia, SC 29209. 803.776.7132
Bobby’s BBQ, 1301 N. Main Street, Fountain Inn, SC 29644. 864.409.2379
Boondocks Fish Camp & BBQ, 1955 Trinity Church Road, Gray Court, SC 29645. 864.683.5555
Broke Leg BBQ, 444 Hampton Avenue Suite C, Pickens, SC 29671. 864.263.8581
Bucky’s Bar-B-Q, which has four locations:
1700 Roper Mountain Road, Greenville, SC 29615. 864.329.0054
2010 Perimeter Road, Greenville, SC 29605. 864.277.3005
103 N. Main Street, Fountain Inn, SC 29644. 864.409.3333
Buttermilk’s Barbecue and Catering, 1748 J A Cochran Bypass, Chester, SC 29706. 803.581.6555
Carolina BBQ, 109 Main Street South, New Ellenton, SC 29809. 803.652.2919
Circle M BBQ, 345 Martin Sausage Road, Liberty, SC 29657. 864.375.9133
City Limits Barbeque, 1119 Methodist Park Road, West Columbia, SC 29170. 803.260.7469
Cox Family BBQ, 7709 Saint Andrews Road, Irmo, SC 29063. 803.708.9653
Creekside Bar-be-que, 1115 Salem Church Road, Anderson, SC 29625. 864.260.9093
Doko Smoke Barbeque, 408 Main Street, Blythewood, SC 29016. 803.730.6016
Fork Grove Barbecue, 1721 SC-187, Anderson, SC 29626. 864.225.2425.
Game Day BBQ, 165 W. Main Street, Duncan, SC 29334. 864.485.2271
Francis Campbell Quick Stop, 5685 Dinkins Mill Road, Rembert, SC 29128. 803.499.5872
Freeman’s Bar-B-Que, 1060 Sand Bar Ferry Road, Beech Island, SC 29842. 803.827.1623
Henry’s Smokehouse, 240 Wade Hampton Boulevard, Greenville, SC 29607. 864.232.7774
Hamm’s Hawg Heaven, 11375 CR Koon Highway, Prosperity, SC 29127. 803.364.4294
Hite’s Bar-B-Que, 240 Dreher Road, West Columbia, SC 29169. 803.794.4120
Holmes BBQ, 3160 Ridgeway Road, Great Falls, SC 29055. 803.482.7584
Home Team BBQ, which has five South Carolina locations:
2209 Middle Street, Sullivan's Island, SC 29482. 843.883.3131
1205 Ashley River Road, Charleston, SC 29407. 843.225.7427
126 Williman Street, Charleston, SC 29403. 843.225.7427
700 Harden Street, Columbia, SC 29205. 803.724.3900
815 Laurens Road, Greenville, SC 29607. 864.686.7427
Jo Jo's Backyard BBQ, 1648 N Rocky River Road, Lancaster, SC 29720. 803.283.4844
Jolly Rogers Woodfired BBQ, 3999 Pacolet Highway, Pacolet, SC 29372. No phone (old school flex!)
KennyBo’s Bar-B-Que, 4318 Macedonia Church Road, Prosperity, SC 29127. 803.364.2884
Lancaster’s Big Oak BBQ, 1129 Mudbridge Road, Buffalo, SC 29321. 864.426.6555
Lewis Barbecue, 464 North Nassau Street, Charleston, SC 29403. 843.805.9500
Maurices’ Piggie Park BBQ, with 13 restaurants: see the list of locations here.
Maple’s BBQ, 4060 Patriot's Parkway, Sumter, SC 29154. N/A
McCabe’s Bar-B-Q, 480 N. Brooks Street, Manning, SC 29102. 803.435.2833
Melvin's Legendary Barbecue, with two locations in the Charleston area:
925 Houston Northcutt Boulevard, Mount Pleasant, SC 29464. 843.881.0549
538 Folly Road, James Island, SC 29412. 843.762.0511
Midway BBQ, 811 Main Street, Buffalo, SC 29321. 864.427.4047
Mother Smokin’ Good, a mobile food truck based in Lobeco, SC. 843.575.2376
Palmira Barbecue, 2366 Ashley River Road Building 1, Charleston, SC 29414. 843.225.0436
Price’s BBQ, 408 Ervin Price Road, Gilbert, SC 29054. 803.892.2502
Ricky Scott’s BBQ, 491 F Guerry Road, Kingstree, SC 29556.
Riverside Bar-B-Que, 1590 Oatland Road, Georgetown, SC 28440. 843.527.3442
Rodney Scott's Whole Hog BBQ, 1011 King Street, Charleston, SC 29403. 843.990.9534
Ronnie’s Ribs, 2435 Main Street, Elgin, SC 29045. 803.438.8522
Roy’s Grille, 711 West Main Street, Lexington, SC 29045. 803.359.0994
Scott’s Bar-B-Que, 2734 Hemingway Highway, Hemingway, SC 29554. 843.558.0134
Shelton’s Smoking Butts BBQ & Catering, 155 Lake Place, Greer, SC 29651. 864.849.7740
Shuler’s BBQ, 419 SC-38, Latta, SC 29565. 843.752.4700
Slabs, 438 W. Main Street, Lake City, SC 29560. 843.598.0496
Smitty’s Smokin’ Soul Food, 5284 Calhoun Memorial Highway Suite E, Easley, SC 29640. 864.906.0411
Smoky Dreams Barbecue and Catering, 2131 Woodruff Road A, Greenville, SC 29607. 864.627.4227
Swig & Swine, which has five locations:
1217 Savannah Highway, Charleston, SC 29407. 843.225.3805
547 Reid Hill Road, Moncks Corner, SC 29461. 843.405.4821
2379 Highway 41, Mt. Pleasant, SC 29466. 843.416.7368
525 Broadway Street, Myrtle Beach, SC 29577. 843.405.4987
1990 Old Trolley Road, Summerville, SC 29485. 843.771.9688
True BBQ*, 1237 D Avenue, West Columbia, SC 29169. 803.791.9950
True BBQ*, 4002 Socastee Boulevard, Myrtle Beach, SC 29588. 843.267.1787
The Twisted Pig BBQ & More, with two locations:
694 US Highway 1, Lugoff, SC 29078. 803.572.0221
112 Main Street, Summerton, SC 29148. 803.468.2830
The Warmouth, 1209 Franklin Street, Columbia, SC 29201. 803.569.6144
Wholy Smoke Family Restaurant, 447 W Butler Road, Mauldin, SC 29662. 864.729.8883
*Believe it or not, the two True BBQs appear to not be connected to each other in any way except for having the same name.
Certifications are performed by our volunteer team of True ‘Cue Inspectors. Restaurants may choose to display the True ‘Cue SC Real Barbecue certification on their premises, but it is not required. If you think you know a restaurant that meets the True 'Cue SC criteria, let us know. If you think a place on the list now cooks with gas or electricity, drop us a line at truecue@gmail.com and we’ll check it out (we don’t want to start a flame war, so to speak).
We believe that these restaurants also serve barbecue that satisfies the True ‘Cue SC criteria, and are working to verify it with a site visit:
Burly Bill’s BBQ, Marietta, SC
Choo Choo BBQ Express, Bluffton, SC
Creekside, Greenwood, SC
Forrest Fire BBQ, Hilton Head, SC
Michael D'z BBQ, Florence, SC
S.B.H. BBQ Co., Greenville, SC
Smoke ‘Em Barbecue Joint, Matthews, SC
Smoking Butt Heads, locations in Greenville, Spartanburg and Travelers Rest, SC
Westwood, Hartsville, SC
Woodstone, Florence, SC
We conduct inspections and re-inspections as time, money and cholesterol levels allow.