Garate: Barbecue is changing

A craft built on community knowledge, sharing

Food tells a story and in Charleston, that story is changing. Barbecue has always been one of the South’s favorite traditions, but today, new voices and perspectives are adding to it. My path into barbecue, and what we’re building at Palmira Barbecue, is part of that change.

I grew up in Puerto Rico where food was a way of life. My mom’s recipes, my grandmother’s table, the way we cooked outside over fire: all of that shaped how I see food today. Puerto Rican food is bold, flavorful and always meant for sharing. Everyone had their own spin on cooking with smoke and fire, whether it was lechón roasting all day, ribs over charcoal or beans bubbling on the stove. That way of cooking stuck with me.

When we moved to the United States, I lived in North Carolina, then New York, and eventually Charleston. During the pandemic, my wife gave me an offset smoker and that gift changed everything.

I started out in the backyard and then taught myself how to weld so I could build my own smokers. I studied central Texas traditions, where fire management and technique are everything. In Charleston, Lewis Barbecue showed me how Texas-style could work here and Rodney Scott’s whole hog barbecue has always been something I respect deeply. Along the way, I found support and encouragement from the barbecue community, which reminded me that barbecue is a craft built on sharing knowledge.

Palmira is where all of that comes together. Our menu mixes Southern barbecue traditions with the flavors I grew up with. Smoked beef cheeks, sausages inspired by my mom’s cooking and collards made with sofrito. I’ve lived in the South just as long as I lived in Puerto Rico so both are part of me. Even our logo, with the Puerto Rican and South Carolina flags side-by-side, shows the connection between the two places I call home.

At first, I wasn’t sure how people in Charleston would respond. This city knows barbecue. But I wanted to stay true to myself, bringing in Texas techniques and Puerto Rican flavors while still honoring Southern traditions. Guests were open to it, and that gave me confidence to keep going.

What’s happening now is also part of a bigger conversation about the third wave of barbecue. The first wave was about regional traditions. The second gave national attention to Texas brisket and pitmaster culture. This third wave is about diversity, heritage and creativity.
Across the country, pitmasters are cooking from their own backgrounds and expanding what barbecue can be. Palmira is my version of that, blending where I come from with where I’ve made my home.

For me, barbecue is about good food and hard work, but it’s also about people. It’s about the friends, mentors and the community that helped me along the way. And it’s about putting a plate in front of someone that represents who I am.

Charleston is changing, and so is barbecue. Palmira is just one way those changes come together, and I’m proud to be part of that story.

Hector Garate is pitmaster and owner of Palmira Barbecue in West Ashley.