South Carolina has 11 of the South’s top barbecue restaurants in Southern Living magazine’s new list of 50 Top BBQ Joints in the South. Only Texas, with 17 of 50 barbecue eateries, has more as a state. But remember, the Lone Star State has six times as many people as the Palmetto State.
What’s more amazing is the Lowcountry is home to seven of those top 50 places, according to the list compiled by Robert Moss, the magazine’s contributing barbecue editor and one-time City Paper food writer.
On the local list: Lewis Barbecue, Charleston (#7); Scott’s Bar-B-Que, Hemingway (#12); Palmira BBQ, West Ashley (#16); Home Team BBQ, several locations (#34); Melvin’s BBQ, Mount Pleasant and James Island (#39); Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog BBQ, Charleston (#41); and King BBQ, North Charleston (#44).
“To visit Lewis Barbecue in downtown Charleston is to witness a well-oiled barbecue machine in motion,” Moss wrote, adding its “thick sliced brisket is as good as any you’ll find in the Lone Star State, too, with rich marbling and a flawlessly smoky bark.” It is also worth mentioning that Lewis Barbecue was named the best barbeque joint in South Carolina by Southern Living readers in March 2025.
Moss wrote that Rodney Scott’s “whole hog barbecue is a must, but the tender pulled chicken and the pit-smoked prime rib sandwich are worth attention, too.” He highlights the process where Scott burns oak down to coals, cooks whole hogs for 12 hours and mops them with a peppery vinegar.
Moss called Hector Garate’s Palmira’s a “must-visit barbecue destination” and highlights his “unique blend of Carolina and Texas styles [that] is accented by the flavors of his native Puerto Rico, and it delivers a never-ending parade of treats.”
The best barbecue in the South, Moss writes in a story published Sept. 17, is City Limits Barbecue in Columbia. Others on the list are Hite’s Bar-B-Que, West Columbia (#22); McCabe’s Bar-B-Q, Manning (#33); and Elliott’s BBQ Lounge, Florence (#36).
“What really pushes City Limits to the front of the pack are the Saturday spareribs, which are cooked directly over hardwood coals,” Moss writes. This weekend-only spot serves Texas-inspired bites on Saturdays and South Carolina-style whole hog once a month. Moss also calls “contemporary fusions” — think brisket corndogs and char siu (Cantonese-style barbecued) pork belly burnt ends — “dizzying.”
Moss said his picks for the list, updated for the first time since 2023, emerged from each restaurant’s overall impression from his dining experience.
“That starts with the quality and flavor of the meats, of course, and of the side dishes, too,” he wrote. “It extends to the overall ambience of the setting, the ‘wow’ factor of something new and unexpected, and all the little finishing touches.
“I’m not saying that hanging a taxidermied cow’s head on the dining room wall is enough to put a restaurant in the Top 50, but if that cow is wearing a stars-and-stripes top hat and has a toothpick in its mouth … well, that surely counts for something.”
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