9 South Carolina Restaurants Among The South's 50 Best BBQ Joints In 2023

The South is known for its culinary impact, including serving up some of the most delectable, flavorful barbecue you could ask for. While many states are famous for their own regional style of bbq, South Carolina manages to hold its own. Southern Living recently released its picks for the 50 best barbecue joints in the South, and several restaurants in South Carolina made the cut:

• No. 5: Scott's Bar-B-Q (Hemingway)
• No. 8: Lewis Barbecue (Charleston)
• No. 28: Rodney Scott's Whole Hog BBQ (Charleston)
• No. 30: Big T Bar-B-Q (Gadsden)
• No. 33: McCabe's Bar-B-Q (Manning)
• No. 35: Hite's Bar-B-Que (West Columbia)
• No. 39 (TIE): Melvin's BBQ (Mount Pleasant)
• No. 39 (TIE): Bessinger's BBQ (Charleston)
• No. 42: Home Team BBQ (Charleston)

According to Southern Living, all nine restaurants serve up some of the best barbecue around, and in a state known for its barbecue, that's really saying something. Scott's Bar-B-Q in Hemingway snagged the highest spot on the list, which states:

"If I had to declare the single best barbecue bite in the South, it would be the long strands of whole hog from Scott's in Hemingway. Plenty of other restaurants have fancier decor, a broader selection of meats, and more upscale side dishes, but none has such succulent pork, with a fiery red pepper bit up front followed by a sweet surge of hardware smoke that lingers on the tongue."

These are the Top 10 BBQ joints in the South:

1. Snow's BBQ (Lexington, Texas)
2. Fresh Air Bar-B-Que (Jackson, Georgia)
3. Dreamland Bar-B-Que (Tuscaloosa, Alabama)
4. Louie Mueller Barbecue (Taylor, Texas)
5. Scott's Bar-B-Q (Hemingway, South Carolina)
6. Skylight Inn BBQ (Ayden, North Carolina)
7. Lexington Barbecue (Lexington, North Carolina)
8. Lewis Barbecue (Charleston, South Carolina)
9. Goldees (Fort Worth, Texas)
10. B.E. Scott's BBQ (Lexington, Tennessee)

Check out the full list at Southern Living to read up on more of the best barbecue joints around the South.