{"id":365201,"date":"2026-07-08T10:58:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T10:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/365201\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T10:58:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T10:58:08","slug":"south-carolina-has-one-of-best-cheap-bbq-restaurants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/365201\/","title":{"rendered":"South Carolina has one of best cheap BBQ restaurants"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"responsive-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/lewis BBQ.png\"   width=\"1200\" height=\"674\" title=\"John Lewis opened Lewis BBQ in 2016 after moving to Charleston from Texas.\" alt=\"John Lewis opened Lewis BBQ in 2016 after moving to Charleston from Texas.\"\/><\/p>\n<p>        John Lewis opened Lewis BBQ in 2016 after moving to Charleston from Texas.<\/p>\n<p>                Lewis BBQ<\/p>\n<p>            Provided<\/p>\n<p>Add one more accolade for Lewis Barbecue.<\/p>\n<p>This one from <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"Follow nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cheapism.com\/spots-in-each-state-you-can-get-good-cheap-bbq\/\">Cheapism<\/a>, as South Carolina\u2019s entry for the list of Good, Cheap BBQ in each state.<\/p>\n<p>Pitmaster John Lewis opened <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"Follow nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lewisbarbecue.com\/\">Lewis Barbecue<\/a> in 2016 after moving to Charleston from Austin, Texas.<\/p>\n<p>Cheapism said Lewis Barbecue has \u201cbecome one of South Carolina\u2019s premier destinations for Central Texas-style smoked meats. Brisket is the undisputed star of the menu, while hot guts sausage, pork ribs, smoked turkey, and green chile corn pudding have all developed devoted followings among locals and visitors alike.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Customers like the combination trays so they can try several meats and reviewers \u201cpraise the generous portions, consistently high quality, and standout side dishes,\u201d Cheapism said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWeekend waits are common, but many guests say Lewis Barbecue is well worth planning your Charleston itinerary around,\u201d Cheapism said.<\/p>\n<p>Lewis grew up in El Paso, moved to Austin at 18 and started smoking meat in the backyard on a smoker his parents bought him for his birthday.<\/p>\n<p>He moved to Denver to compete in the competition barbecue circuit, then back to Austin to work with a friend before partnering with another to open La Barbecue.<\/p>\n<p>He is known to use smokers he designed himself and waking up at 4 a.m. to tend to the fire.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe takes his meat seriously,\u201d the Lewis website says.<\/p>\n<p>He smokes pork beef brisket, spare ribs, beef ribs and what he calls Texas hot guts \u2014 sausage, oxtail.<\/p>\n<p>Lewis Barbecue also received a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"Follow nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/guide.michelin.com\/us\/en\/south-carolina\/charleston_2952029\/restaurant\/lewis-barbecue\">2025 Michelin Bib Gourmand.<\/a> The award recognizes restaurants that serve exceptional, high-quality food at moderate prices and is named for Bibendum, the iconic Michelin Man.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve always believed in superior quality and great value, and it means so much to Pitmaster John Lewis and our entire team to be acknowledged for those same values,\u201d a post on the restaurant\u2019s Instagram page said.<\/p>\n<p>Lewis Barbecue was listed as No. 12 on Tripadvisor\u2019s best of the best hidden gems, based on the number of above and beyond reviews on Tripadvisor over a 12-month period, an achievement of 1% of restaurants, Tripadvisor said.<\/p>\n<p>With 1,024 reviews, Lewis scored a 4.7.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLewis Barbecue Charleston has a relaxed, family-friendly vibe with a fun mix of quirky decor,\u201d the website said.<\/p>\n<p>Lewis Barbecue has also been featured in Southern Living, Conde Nast Traveler and Garden &amp; Gun.<\/p>\n<p>Lewis also owns Rancho Lewis, a Tex-Mex restaurant in Charleston, and opened a Greenville location in 2022 and a location in Atlanta in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Lewis Barbecue also ships smoked meats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"John Lewis opened Lewis BBQ in 2016 after moving to Charleston from Texas. Lewis BBQ Provided Add one&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":365202,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-365201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365201\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/365202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}