An Eatin' Adventure

(Holly Hill, SC: 27 Feb 2010) One important criteria to check off on a state as having been "Hatched" is to experience a local eatery. I wanted to make this very specific and say, experience local barbecue, but decided to keep it open. Although Jestine's Kitchen in Charleston certainly filled that quota and we could have called it quits, I found another candidate on chowhound.com that was a bit more adventurous and fit the barbecue category. Sweatman's BBQ in Holly Hill, SC was the target.
It was adventurous because it is way off the beaten path (about 30 miles off the interstate) and because one of the reviews made compared the building and location to Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Mississippi Burning. We expected good food, but we weren't sure what we were getting ourselves into. In the end the food was very good...not the best BBQ I (we) have ever had, but very good, and the reviewer was a little over dramatic in his description. It certainly is out in the middle of nowhere and it is a very non-descript building, but the people were nice and the setting fit the down home taste of the food. There was dark and white pulled pork with a "hash" sauce. Also ribs, rice, skin, coleslaw and pickles served buffet style with all the sweet tea you can drink. The sauces were very basic; a mustard based sauce and a ketchup based sauce. The hash sauce was also mustard based.
On the way back home (to the RV!) Joy and I compared notes on what makes good BBQ. We realize that the cooking process of smoking the meat so the juices cook into and don't dry out the meat is the real key. But for both of us, we really like the sauce and we tend to like the more western, Texas style ketchup based sauces. So the food at Sweatman's gets high marks for the quality, flavor and texture of the meat, but low for the sauces. (I admit I am a self-proclaimed BBQ connoisseur and sometimes snob)
We'll keep you posted as to how this ranks in our Roady eating experiences, but it was worth the trip.