Southern Living today released its list of the South’s Top 50 Barbecue Joints, with six Charleston-area restaurants earning spots. In total, South Carolina had 11 entries, including City Limits Barbeque in West Columbia, which was ranked the South’s best.
Charleston area restaurants on Top 50 List:
- # 7 - Lewis Barbecue, Charleston
- # 16 - Palmira BBQ, Charleston
- # 34 - Home Team BBQ, Charleston
- # 39 - Melvin’s BBQ, Mt. Pleasant
- # 41 - Rodney Scott's Whole Hog BBQ, Charleston
- # 44 - King BBQ, North Charleston
Other South Carolina restaurants on the list:
- # 1 - City Limits Barbeque, West Columbia
- # 12 - Scott's Bar-B-Que, Hemingway
- # 22 - Hite’s Bar-B-Que, West Columbia
- # 33 - McCabe’s Bar-B-Q, Manning
- # 36 - Elliott’s BBQ Lounge, Florence
This list was compiled and ranked by Southern Living’s Contributing Barbecue Editor, Robert F. Moss. He has dined at each and every restaurant on this list in person and has visited almost all of them multiple times. When compiling each year's list, he revisits as many previous honorees and as many potential new contenders as time will allow.
There are no score sheets or empirical grading systems employed. Instead, it is a qualitative ranking based upon the enjoyment of the meal and the overall experience of the visit.
You can find the full list of winners here.