Scott's BBQ - Charleston, SC

Maybe some of you already know Rodney Scott from a Netflix series about BBQ. Growing up in Hemmingway, about 2 hours west of Charleston, he initially took over his parents' BBQ restaurant. However, after it burned down, he relocated to Charleston. In the meantime, I found out that he had already opened 4 more restaurants, the latest in Nashville. Since the episode on Netflix, as the employees explained to me, there has been a real boom in the restaurant. Now we were a small part of this boom.

Upon our arrival in Charleston, we paid our first visit to Scott's BBQ. We parked in the parking lot of a supermarket across the street, about 50 meters away from the restaurant. We got out of the car and couldn't believe our noses: we had never smelled such intense smoke from such a distance before, simply amazing! We arrived one hour before closing time (9pm) when we received the message 'We're out of smoked meat'... Well, time to rethink the order. Steffi opted for fried catfish with coleslaw and hush puppies, a typical side dish in the Carolinas. These are small, fried cornmeal balls, slightly sweet. It was the first time Steffi had ordered fish in a BBQ restaurant (out of necessity), but she was completely satisfied. The ratio of fish to breading was wonderful. I chose a prime rib sandwich and coleslaw. The sandwich was really delicious, the meat was juicy. The coleslaw, which was based on light mayonnaise, was seasoned quite strongly with black pepper, in my opinion. However, Steffi didn't feel that way. She liked the side dish. There were 3 sauces to choose from, which, as is typical in the region, were prepared with a vinegar base. Scott's BBQ is known for seasoning them quite spicy. The sauces are completely different in consistency from those in, for example, Memphis. They are much more liquid. By the way, the drinks could be refilled free of charge. All in all, it was a pleasant first evening at Scott's BBQ, but we knew we had to come back again.

The next day, we were there at 7pm and lo and behold, there was still plenty of meat left. Steffi ordered a half rack of spare ribs (not baby backs), along with cornbread and coleslaw. The portion was huge and tasted really great. The meat was easy to remove from the bone without being overcooked. It was also very juicy and well smoked. I ordered Rod's original whole hog plate with coleslaw and baked beans. It was the first time I had ever had this type of prepared pork. It was a bit of a shame that there wasn't any crispy pork skin mixed in as well. It's better to sell this popular part separately for a few dollars. Too bad, really. The meat tasted really good, although it was a bit dry for my taste. However, in combination with the sauce and coleslaw, it was perfect. By the way, the coleslaw that evening wasn't seasoned as spicy as the day before.

At the end, I was initially offered the opportunity to see and take photos of the pit room. However, it turned out that there were construction works going on, so unfortunately I couldn't visit there. Instead, they offered to take photos for me. Said and done. Super friendly! Overall, the staff was very accommodating and helpful. In the end, I had a little chat with the pitmaster. He told me that the pigs are initially placed with the meat side towards the fire. About 4 hours later, they are turned to the skin side, where they are smoked for about 12 more hours at about 120 degrees with a mixture of hickory and oak. In between, they are mopped once with a mixture of apple cider vinegar, red pepper, chili flakes, and brown/white sugar.

All in all, it was two very pleasant stops at Scott's BBQ. I would definitely come back, even though we heard voices beforehand that with the start of the restaurant's popularity, the quality had decreased a bit. I'm already looking forward to whole hog BBQ in North Carolina, especially at the Skylight Inn in Ayden, but I'm not done with Charleston yet...