South Carolina Vacation Guide - SC 2026
Battle of the Barbecue: Award-Winning “Pit” Stops
2025-12-21 11:05:31
In South Carolina, barbecue is more than a meal—it’s a way of life. Skillful pitmasters combine culinary techniques they’ve picked up through the years to bring communities together and stoke the flames of friendly competition. Explore some of the award-winning joints that make the local barbecue scene mouthwatering.
South Carolina boasts a who's who of elite establishments, where award-winning pitmasters serve up perfection daily. At Charleston's Lewis Barbecue (named a Hidden Gem on the 2025 Tripadvisor Travelers' Choice Awards: Best of the Best Restaurants list), John Lewis slices Texas-style ‘cue to order. Menu anchors include the usual suspects—beef brisket, pulled pork, smoked turkey and ribs— plus green chile cheddar sausage, gooey from the cheese and a spicy kick from the chile, and Texas hot guts sausage (that’s beef with a little pork and a whole lot of snap, thanks to Lewis’ threeday curing process).
Another Charleston institution (just follow the scent of smoked meats down King Street), Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog BBQ is a passion project come to life for Scott, a James Beard Award-winning chef. His method is time-consuming, no doubt—chopping wood, tending the fire, shoveling coals and smoking an entire hog for 12 hours, give or take—but so worth it when that pork melts in your mouth, its smokiness mixing with the tang of Scott’s vinegar-based sauce. You also can’t go wrong with the cornmeal-coated, fried catfish, earthy collard greens and steaming hush puppies on the side.
Beloved for generous portions of hand-pulled pork cooked low and slow over hickory wood, Henry’s Smokehouse stands on sandwiches—pork, of course, but also hash and smoked chicken, all with or without coleslaw on top of your choice of a tomato-based mild or mustardy spicy sauce. The hand-cut fries, golden and piled high, are a top side, and Southern classics like green beans, mac ‘n’ cheese and sweet potato casserole come in a close second. All are served with a healthy helping of Greenville hospitality, so really, it’s no wonder Southern Living recognized it as the state’s best in 2024.
In nearby Spartanburg, pitmaster Todd Smith’s Smoking Butt Heads BBQ boasts the traditional menu items, plus some you see on the competition circuit but not often in restaurants, like pork medallions— smoked tenderloin sliced into rounds and sauced. Smoking Butt Heads has been open only a few years, but in 2024, Southern Living named it one of the South’s Best New Barbecue Joints. City Limits Barbeque has no set menu, is open weekends only and once it’s out of an item, it’s out—but none of that stops barbecue aficionados from lining up outside this smokin’ West Columbia spot, crowned Best Barbecue Joint in the South by Southern Living in 2025. They come for the brisket, peppery bark on the outside of a crimson smoke ring; savory hash and rice drizzled with sweet mustard sauce; and creamy banana pudding topped with soft vanilla wafers. All these delights are courtesy of Robbie Robinson, two-time runner for the James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef.
Want to become a pit boss yourself? Head to Greenville to learn the intricacies of smoking meats, blending rubs and perfecting sauces with Wayne Preston of Bucky’s Bar-B-Q. (Check buckysbbq.com for upcoming classes.)
THE GREAT SAUCE DIVIDE
Across the state, four distinct barbecue sauces define regional tastes.
Mustard: Rooted in the culinary traditions of German immigrants who settled in central South Carolina, “Carolina Gold” delivers a sweet and tangy punch that pairs perfectly with pulled pork.
Heavy Tomato: Like the thick, sweet styles of similar barbecue sauces, heavy tomato includes brown sugar and molasses, forming a glaze that sticks to ribs and chicken.
Light Tomato: A bridge between Eastern and Western styles of barbecue, the light tomato sauce is similar to a ketchup— slightly sweet while retaining the tang of its vinegar base.
Vinegar: This thin, sharp sauce hearkens back to the earliest of colonial barbecue traditions. Its black pepper cuts through the richness of pork with a bright, acidic bite.
GET THE BBQ TRAIL MAP
Bite into the "Birthplace of Barbecue" with this comprehensive guide to some of the state's most legendary barbecue joints.
PIG OUT AT COOK-OFFS
▸SC BBQ SHAG FESTIVAL, MARCH
Dancers and pitmasters gather in Hemingway to smoke meat and do “the swing dance of the South,” the Shag.
▸*HUB CITY HOG FEST, APRIL
Pork, ribs, chicken wings and brisket—plus local bands and family fun—are on the menu in Spartanburg.
▸SOUTH CAROLINA FESTIVAL OF DISCOVERY, JULY
Smoky ribs meet soulful blues in this Greenwood stirring of the senses.
▸UNIQUELY UNION FESTIVAL, SEPTEMBER
A Taster’s Choice cook-off award lets you be the judge of the competition teams.
▸*MAULDIN BBQ COOK-OFF, SEPTEMBER
Seasoned pros to up-and-coming pitmasters from all over the Southeast gather to smoke the competition.
*South Carolina Barbeque Association-sanctioned events
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