Carolina Bar-B-Que, New Ellenton, South Carolina

Well fed from my Lizard Thicket breakfast and a fine lunch at the original Maurice’s Piggy Park in Cayce, I headed to Carolina Bar-B-Que in New Ellenton, a small town a bit south of Aiken and close to the Georgia line. Carolina has been around for over 50 years, and has changed little since it first opened. It’s been praised far and wide, and won a spot on Southern Living’s The South’s Top 50 Barbecue Joints in 2016. That’s the Robert Moss list, not the readers’ choices. And the SC BBQ Association put Carolina on its 100-Mile list — the barbecue places worth driving 100 miles to try. My kind of place.

I drove up to what looked like was going to be a great barbecue place.

Carolina is a tiny place, with the buffet set in a small main room and a small overflow room.

I arrived just at noon and walked up to the buffet and got in line. The first thing I noticed was that the people in front of me were loading up with the hash and rice. I reminded myself that this trip was all about pork and hash and rice. Following the wisdom of crowds, I helped myself to a good portion of rice and barbecue, and then added some health foods — pork, collards, slaw, a single hushpuppy, and one pork skin. Sometimes I astound myself with my restraint.

The main room was pretty full, and I didn’t want to take a table for four with some families behind me in line, so I moved to a two seater in the overflow room. I sat and had at my food. The pork was very smoky, moist, and flavorful. This is great wood-cooked barbecue. It arrived unsauced, which is dangerous with finely chopped pork as it can dry out quickly. That was not an issue here, not at all. Carolina has several sauces, and I dabbed some of the Smoky Hot Sauce on the meat.  It had a slightly tart mustard sauce similar to what I’d just had at the Piggie Park, but with a reddish tinge, which I guess comes from ketchup.  

The hash was similar to but slightly thicker than Maurice’s, and just a little less tart. And it was very, very good. With the first taste I could see why the local citizens had been heaping hash onto their plates. I didn’t catch any liver notes, so this is a very accessible hash for people who’ve never tried hash.

I also enjoyed the rest of the meal. That was an excellent hushpuppy, and the pork skin was good by fried pork skin standards. I prefer crispy whole hog skin that’s either mixed in with the chopped pork, or that comes by itself as at Sid’s Catering. But I digress, as I often do when pork skin comes up.

I talked a bit to the family at the large table. They had just returned from a mission trip to Nicaragua, and I mentioned that Nancy had been there on an Operation Smile mission. When Nancy returned, she reported, “We worked 15 hours a day, the temperature was 95, there was no air conditioning, everyone got food poisoning, there was an earthquake, and I can’t wait to go again.”  The New Ellenton group had an issue with customs officials, who confiscated some suitcases of simple gifts of basic supplies for the locals that are lacking in Nicaragua. I remember that Nancy used to take an extra suitcase full of toys on every mission for the children. This wasn’t the first rodeo for the New Ellenton group, however, and they complained to higher officials and got the suitcases back two days later. It was a rewarding trip for them, too, and they were getting ready to plan another trip.

And it was a rewarding lunch for me, well worth the absurdly low $11.90 they charged me. Carolina BBQ is a warm and friendly place, and the food is first rate. If you’re within 100 miles of Carolina BBQ, stop in and have a great meal.

***

And while you’re at it, click “follow” on our front page to receive blog posts in your email box. Or bookmark us and check in from time to time. We’re on Instagram (johntannerbbq) and Twitter (johntannerbbq1) pages, and if you’re planning a trip, you can “Search” the name of the destination city, state, or country for good restaurants (in Europe, often close to sites, like the Louvre, Prague Castle, Vienna’s Old City, or the Van Gogh Museum, that you’ll want to visit in any event.  We welcome comments and questions, and eagerly seek suggestions of places to eat and stories to cover.