Tag: Charleston Food

A Day at the Amazing Lewis BBQ in Charlestion Visiting the Trailblazer and Legend John Lewis

Trey Chapman Chow

 

Howdy Chow Hounds and Barbeque Lovers,

World-Famous Lewis Barbeque Tray

Today, we’re at the world-famous LEWIS BARBECUE in Charleston, South Carolina, to research the meaty deliciousness we’ve heard so much about. This is where pitmaster and barbeque legend John Lewis has created a world of his own in the vast field of freshly prepared barbeque and eats. If you know me and my addiction to creative chefs, pitmasters, and culinary pioneers, you know why we had to make the trip. 

When you make the corner and pull up to LEWIS BARBECUE, you notice the massive modern restaurant that bears his name. To be honest, it’s breathtakingly beautiful and totally unexpected. Set up with a beautiful Charleston landscape encompassing large southern trees, it’s inviting, cozy, and warm. You feel right at home or in someone’s backyard enjoying BBQ. But you’re not! You’re at the world-famous LEWIS BARBECUE fixing to slang back some of the BEST BBQ in the United States. 

I live for telling back stories because anything tastes better with a little story-ness behind it. A trailblazer in the neo-traditional style of Central Texas barbecue, Pitmaster John Lewis uses his custom-made smokers to produce expertly smoked pork spareribs, beef ribs, “Texas hot guts“ sausage, and his legendary world-famous beef brisket.

Lewis Bark-O-Licious Brisket Deliciousness

John was born in Brooklyn, NY; when he was a kid, he moved to El Paso, TX. At 18, he packed up and moved to Austin to start his culinary career. Around this time, John’s parents gave him a New Braunfels smoker for his birthday, and he started dabbling in Austin’s longstanding tradition of backyard barbecue. He was soon getting creative with his smokers and meats, taking liberties with the design and construction to yield a better result. To this day, John has never purchased a premade barbecue pit or smoker, preferring to forge his own by hand. Through many years of trial and error, he’s achieved his desired results—a signature “John Lewis barbecue“ flavor and texture.

The rest, they say, is history! Moving to Charleston and opening LEWIS BARBECUE, which offers a wide variety of fresh BBQ deliciousness and more. Meats, sides, sandwiches, desserts, nachos, chips and queso, beef tallow fries, the creations seem to be endless. Anything you order and bite into will be a TRIP STRAIGHT to DELICIOUSVILLE. You won’t stop at FLAVORTOWN because DELICIOUSVILLE is one stop past FLAVORTOWN and the end of the line. It doesn’t get any better than DELICIOUSVILLE! 

We enjoyed a big tray of food: Flavor-loaded Hot Guts Sausage, Appetizing Green Chili Sausage, Juicy Smoked turkey, Succulent Pulled Pork, Bark-O-Licious Smoked Brisket, Pork-O-Licious Pork Ribs, Tasty Corn Pudding, Cheesy Mac-N-Cheese, creamy tator salad, Sweet and Savory Banana Pudding that tasted like perfection. 

I’m just going to say this: The entire meal simply tasted like MORE because MORE is all I wanted. John’s new name is MORE, that’s right, MORE JOHN! 

If you love freshly prepared deliciousness, then LEWIS BARBEQUE has what you need. I don’t think you should BLAME ME when you become addicted and have NAUGHTY BBQ DREAMS after you leave because it’s going to happen. 

Before you leave, tell Ol’ MORE JOHN that Trey said HELLO! 

Don’t forget LEWIS BBQ famous sauces and rubs take some home or order them on line. https://www.lewisbarbecue.com

Trey ( Chow Down ) Chapman Follow us for more delicious destinations and great travel locations. 

Palmira BBQ – Where South Carolina, Texas, and Puerto Rico, Collide Creating Unforgettable Flavor Explosions

Trey Chapman Chow

Barbeque lovers unite! We discovered a NEW delicious barbeque destination that every meat lover should visit.  Welcome to Palmira Barbeque in Charleston, South Carolina. When we heard about this now famous little BBQ joint you know we had to make the trip. We wanted to meet pitmaster Hector who is masterfully combining South Carolina, Texas, and Puerto Rico flavors to create award-winning and famous meaty deliciousness. 

Palmira Beef Cheek Perfection

When I say famous and award-winning it’s a FACT! They’ve been featured in Forbes, Southern Living, The Local Palate, EATER Carolinas, Charleston Magazine, The Post and Courier, RESY, and Texas Monthly and I’m sure there’s more to come.  We’ve been traveling coast-to-coast, from Los Angeles to Miami and every in-between, on the hunt for America’s BEST BBQ. We’ve visited thirty-one states on our BEST BBQ mission. It was only fitting after I read, researched, and viewed all the delicious social media posts Palmira was a must-visit for us.

If you follow our foodie and travel adventures, you know I love to tell the backstories. I’m a firm believer that anything tastes better with a good story. This is why the Palmira story was so intriguing to me because pitmaster and owner Hector Garate has an interesting family history. Buckle up it’s story time! 

When we visited, I was honored to spend some time with Hector walking around his smokehouse area and discussing the finer details of his success. We also discussed his passion for designing and creating custom smokers. He showed me his latest whole hog smoker and it was beautiful. After speaking with Hector, I noticed that his passion for creating BBQ perfection was only matched by his love for serving people and seeing them smile with the satisfaction of deliciousness. 

Hector’s passion for BBQ started at an early age and has not stopped him from perfecting his craft since. Born in Puerto Rico, he was exposed to whole animal cooking pra early on. Hector specializes in smoking beef cheeks, brisket, whole hog, and house-made sausages. In the pursuit of creating the best product, Garate devoted their free time to building his custom cooking appliances, in particular an offset smoker. Hector has partnered with Brasstown Beef, Creekstone Farms, and Peculiar Pig Farms to source the most sustainable farm-to-table smoked meats for Charleston, SC through Palmira Barbecue. Palmira Barbecue’s name is an homage to Hector’s grandmother, who grew up on a sustainable cattle ranch. 

The menu is loaded with a BIG variety of smoked meats like beef cheeks, barbacoa,  brisket, phat beef rib, whole hog, pork ribs, BBQ chicken, chuleta kan and so much more. He also has rotating specials and fresh house-prepared sides like Puerto Rican beans, hash and rice, mac-n-cheese, and more. The sides complement his succulent meats. They’re so fresh, savory, and delicious that it’s a must that you pair with any BBQ when you enjoy your meal. 

We chowed down on a beautifully presented tray of meaty deliciousness that was loaded with those South Carolina, Texas, and Puerto Rico flavors. It was packed with barbacoa, pork ribs, beef cheeks, whole hog, sausage, Puerto Rican beans, mac-n-cheese, hash and rice, and phat half chicken. We enjoyed it all but I did have some unforgettable favorites. The BEEF CHEEK, WHOLE HOG, and BARBACOA were smoked meat perfection and STUPID DELICIOUS. I discovered one important aspect after each bite I took. ” Hector and his culinary team do a masterful job with creative flavor explosions that are unforgettable.”  

We enjoyed our visit to Palmira! It was well worth the trip from Texas to chow down on Hector’s creative and explosive flavors. If you LOVE BBQ, I would highly recommend you make plans to visit Palmira BBQ to enjoy some unforgettable flavors with a unique BBQ experience. You will love it and thank me later!  

” Thank you and please follow us for more delicious destinations and perfect travel locations around the USA. “

Trey ( Chow Down ) Chapman 

The Man! The Myth! The Pitmaster Legend Hector Garate Holding a Phat Beef Rib