Charleston BBQ

West Ashley · bbq, southern, burgers

South Carolina mustard-sauce barbecue. Destination BBQ says brothers Thomas and Melvin Bessinger opened on Savannah Highway in the early 1960s, that Thomas kept this West Ashley restaurant, and that his sons Tommy and Michael run it today. Pork shoulders are smoked for hours over wood (the guide's summary table says hickory and oak) and served with the family's mustard-based sauces; hash over rice and oversized onion rings are the long-time orders. The venue's own site names its 'signature mustard sauce'. Shoulders, not whole hog.

West Ashley · bbq, southern, wings

Founder Aaron Siegel came from fine dining, per Destination BBQ, and Home Team cooks a multi-regional menu instead of one barbecue tradition: smoked wings, pulled pork, brisket, ribs, turkey. The frozen Gamechanger cocktail is the house drink. The venue lists a kids menu and a sauce list; wood species is not stated on the pages fetched. Charleston-born group, also in Columbia, Greenville and Aspen. The venue describes West Ashley as rustic, with tin paneling and gas lanterns in the spirit of old honky-tonks, two outside porches, Monday team trivia, and says it is home to University of Georgia alumni on game days.

West Ashley · bbq, puerto rican

Wood-cooked whole hog is the center of the menu. Pitmaster Hector Garate was born in Puerto Rico and the venue says he specializes in beef cheeks, brisket, whole hog and house-made sausage, cooks on an offset smoker he built himself, and uses only local meats (it names Brasstown Beef, Creekstone Farms and Peculiar Pig Farms). The name honors his grandmother, who grew up on a cattle ranch. Destination BBQ adds that the hog is seasoned with Puerto Rican influences, that the South Carolina-style hash and rice is made from smoked hog heads, and that Palmira began as a pop-up. Wood species and sauce tradition are not stated on the pages fetched.

West Ashley · bbq, southern

Southern Roots says it works with local meats, produce and beers. It has live music, outdoor seating, a private room called The Edisto Room, and a locals night every Wednesday with half-priced prime brisket smash burgers.

West Ashley · bbq, wings

The original Swig & Swine. Pitmaster and owner Anthony DiBernardo came to the Lowcountry with the US Navy, cooked on the submarine USS Batfish, opened Swig & Swine in 2013 and became sole owner in 2019. The venue says it smokes over 'high-quality hickory, oak, and other hardwoods'. Its menu lists five sauces ... sweet red, vinegar, Carolina mustard, Alabama white and jalapeno ... plus hash and rice. Discover South Carolina says DiBernardo smokes whole hogs for up to 16 hours; Destination BBQ describes whole hog on Thursdays.