Bessinger's BBQ...thoughts? (Columbia, Charleston, North Charleston: legal, food, best)

[OrangeCountyGirl]

Cape...

Do you live in Chas? Or are you moving here with plans to open up your own joint?

[cape_fisherman]

Soon to be moving from North Carolina

[meks]

Melvins, Bessingers, Maurices, Joes, are all the same meat/prep/family

Joe Bessinger the dad ran Joe's in N.Chas back in the 50's... one of his sons, Melvin, actually kept it running later on and then opened more

Melvin changed the name to Piggy Park and opened the one on Savannah Hwy now known as Thomas Bessingers, he changed the name to just Bessingers later on and opened one on Orange Grove Rd also...

in the 80's he opened his first Melvins in Mt.Pleasant, then S'Ville, then JamesIs but kept the main Bessingers on Hwy17S to do all the cooking for the other stores...

big pits are in the back where they wood cook all the meats overnight and distributed them to the other stores, old southern ladies made all the other stuff also to distribute around, tato salad, hash, rice, cole slaw all home made...

S'Ville and Orange Grove Rd have since closed...

the main store he pretty much gave to his brother and his brother's son Thomas Jr now runs it, the one that got robbed at gun point by a disgruntled ex-employee not too long ago

JoeJr opened his own on College Pk Rd, Maurice headed to the high land in Columbia and has been there for at least 3 or 4 decades now

it's all the same place with the same recipes... only big difference is that Maurice up in Columbia cooks smaller o-rings unless you ask for the larger ones

you can ask for either the original mustard based sauce or the original red sauce at either places and they will give it to you... also have their other new variations

it is excellent BBQ and their hamburgers have been rated in the top ten in the nation...

other BBQ places not mentioned... Smoke Signals in S'Ville, excellent food too

Music Man in Moncks Corner, not as good IMHO but have ribs on the buffet

The Hog Doc in Bonneau, excellent BBQ and well worth the drive IMHO

of course Sticky Fingers where the President ate, and many more

to answer your question, there are plenty of BBQ places to choose from so get a good location and advertise alot if you wish to compete

there's a BBQ competition event every year at the fair grounds in Ladson where you'll see dozens of BBQ places presenting their goods, you should hit it if you can

and if you really want to compete you have to send me free BBQ samples of every type of BBQ you have and I'll let you know where you stand, enough to feed two horses of course... lol

btw Home Teams BBQ is excellent as well

[Luvsdabeach]

I remember the ole Piggy Park. The old Bessinger's at Remount/Rivers had the best cheeseburgers.

DH also likes the ribs at Music Man.

Have you eaten at Brown's in Moncks Corner? I like their BBQ and the Mac and cheese.

[Geechie North]

Piggy Park.... the place to be on Sat night in the 60's.

Wasn't there a drive-in called 'Everetts' over by Bee St, downtown?

I seem to remember watching seagulls scavenge french fries there when I was in Jr. High.

[elvislives]

The best thing about BBQ is each region and state does if diffrent .my 3 favorites are S.C .GA and TX sorry i didn't care for the N.C BBQ but diffrent strokes ...

[Luvsdabeach]

Originally Posted by Geechie North

Piggy Park.... the place to be on Sat night in the 60's.

Wasn't there a drive-in called 'Everetts' over by Bee St, downtown?

I seem to remember watching seagulls scavenge french fries there when I was in Jr. High.

Bessinger's drive in was the place to go in the 80's.

Not sure about Everett's.

[Geechie North]

I go back to SC to:

1. Visit family, both above and below ground.

2. Go surfing at Folly despite advancing age.

3. Go to Bessingers.

4. Get chicken and red rice from the Pig.

5. Get boiled peanuts.

Note where Bessingers is on the list.

[bepeaceinsc]

Firey Ron's BBQ in West Ashley has excellent barbecued brisket. They also support local agriculture, buying from local farmers.

Melvin's has the best fried okra and ribs - and the Mt. Pleasant location has it's own smoker. They don't bring it in from James Island.

[Rggr]

Originally Posted by Geechie North

I go back to SC to:

1. Visit family, both above and below ground.

2. Go surfing at Folly despite advancing age.

3. Go to Bessingers.

4. Get chicken and red rice from the Pig.

5. Get boiled peanuts.

Note where Bessingers is on the list.

This captures some of the great points about life in Chas. I concur with each of these. I used to travel a lot for work and used to stop at Bessingers on my way to the airport if it was going to be a long trip.