Slo' Smokin' Barbeque

April: Like many communities in the United States, the outskirts of Rock Hill in York County, SC are growing. Commercial development, new neighborhoods, road projects, etc. dominate the area between Rock Hill and Charlotte, NC. The small community of Newport, SC is no exception. A new Wal-Mart was naturally added to this area not too long ago. With it comes the requisite Dollar General, large clear cut parking lots, and newly created intersections. Slo' Smokin' Barbecue is mainly a catering outfit run by the Partlow family. It is housed in an 1880's farmhouse on the land that is now the new Wal-Mart. Due to the road construction with the Wal-Mart, the Partlow's were forced to shut down the three day a week restaurant that they ran out of the house. We happened upon this spot and this information a few weeks ago. Mr. Partlow was nice enough to give us a tour of the house and grounds, tell us stories of his years in the BBQ and catering business, and supply us with his call ahead/tailgating menu and encouraged us to order the following week. Needless to say, we did. We picked up a whole rack of ribs, 2lbs of pulled BBQ, sauces, and banana pudding. Mr. Partlow also threw in some of his personal recipe BBQ beans. He also told us that the business would be moving after the first of the year. The leasing company that owns the property and (not surprisingly) the Wal-Mart notified him that the rent for the house would be $3500 as of January 1, 2010. It is an increase of almost three times what he pays now. I do hope that he will relocate the catering and to-go business because he has some of the best BBQ, beans, sauce, and banana pudding around. The barbeque was well smoked and lightly mixed with a vinegar based sauce. While there was not a lot of bark (my favorite part) the smokey flavor was great. His BBQ beans are fantastic. A mix of kidney, limas, and pork and beans along with his favorite spices make these beans darn near perfect. I am not a fan of the super sweet baked beans that most restaurants serve up. These were gourmet quality but a very nice mix with the barbeque. The banana pudding is absolutely some of the best I have ever had. He mentioned that his grandson had a hand in making it. I hope they never stop. My favorite sauce is what he calls the "Growlin' Sauce" in honor of the Carolina Panthers. When the NFL team first came on the scene up here, the Partlow's helped cater their training camp. The players requested a hot BBQ sauce so they developed one and named it after the Panther Growl. What a great story! The one disappointment from this grand meal was the ribs. I am not a huge rib fan anyhow, but these were just not to my liking. They were fresh from the smoker and well sauced with a tomato base, but the meat was very fatty and tough. I liked the sauce and spiciness of the ribs, but the toughness and rubbery quality made them difficult to eat.
Overall, Slo' Smokin' is a great gastronomic experience that I hope will re-open far, far away from any future Wal-Marts.
Lane: I agree with the above to a point, as good as the beans were, they just didn't seem to be that great. The BBQ was amazing and the ribs had a ton of flavor. I do have one issue about the ribs however and its that there seemed to be a line of subcutaneous fat over the meat instead of a marbled layer. To me, this just meant that the meat had an unbalanced texture with most of the flavor in one area of the rib. Sauce wise, they were very good. I enjoyed the mustard sauce more then the "Growlin' Sauce" and I also really, really liked the banana pudding. My advice to anyone thinking of having an event catered. Check out Slo' Smokin'.

Slo' Smokin' Barbeque 4821 Old York, Road Rock Hill, SC 29732
(803) 322-7202
Distance from home: 4.7 miles

Bucko's

April: More than one person in Rock Hill suggested that we give Bucko's a try and review their BBQ. I ate a very good hot dog at their old restaurant location on North Cherry Road a few years ago. I have to admit that the very large pig outside that place might have warned me off the BBQ at the time. Their "new" restaurant is on South Cherry in an old Hardees and is sans the large outdoor pig. We ventured down for a lunch time treat. The Jr BBQ sandwich, fries (or Vidalia onion rings for an extra $1), and coleslaw was $5.69. In this economy, that is a great deal. I opted for the onion rings. The food arrived and I was most impressed with the shear quantity of food. There were easily 10 or more onion rings in the basket. Most places will barely give you more than 4. They were sweet and salty. The BBQ was piled on a buttery bun. I removed the bread and went straight for the meat. It was VERY smokey and savory. This meat held a lot of the oak flavor from the wood used in the smoker. The meat is not sauced, which I prefer, but I did try the sauce which they make themselves. The color is that of light molasses, but it is surprisingly NOT sweet. It was very tangy. I did not use a lot because it gave my tongue serious fatigue after just a few bites. I have to say that this food was very good and we will make Bucko's one of our more regular BBQ haunts in Rock Hill.
Lane: I am quite glad to finally get a chance to enjoy Bucko's after all the build up. The Vidalia Onion rings were very good. They were crisp, warm, and oh so sweet complimenting the tangyness of the cue. The cue was once an excellent cut of pork with plenty of flavor, chopped and pulled to a nice texture and consistency. All together, the next time I have the sandwich I'm putting the onion rings, slaw, and cue together for one big old mama-jama sam-mich! The kind you get messy, drippy, juices flowing down your sleeves. The food was SO good that April and I had already eaten before we even remembered to take any pics. :(

Bucko's
1019 McConnells Highway Rock Hill, SC 29732
(803) 980-2328
Distance from home: 2.0 miles

Daddy Joe's Beach House BBQ & Grill

April: A shopping trip to the Outlet Stores in Gaffney, SC took us to Daddy Joe's Beach House off Exit 92 from I-85. There is a large billboard on the Interstate advertising this restaurant. It lived up to some of the hype. It is a very quirky restaurant with a beach house feel in the middle of the upstate. We started with sweet tea that was very good and a rib appetizer. There were 4 LARGE spare ribs served with a light sauce and heavy dry seasoning. They were perfectly smoked and very good. Our combo plate of smoked chicken and chopped pork was delivered with side of wedge fries and BBQ slaw. The chopped pork was surprisingly more the consistency of pulled pork, which I prefer. It had a good flavor and though it was served sauced, it was light and added to the pork flavor, not covering it up. It did not contain enough bark for my taste and was not otherwise outstanding. The chicken was covered in a thick and sweet sauce that did nothing for my taste buds. It tasted like grocery store bottled sauce and just overpowered the chicken. I was impressed by the fries. Normally not one to sacrifice calories on french fries, I let Lane pick this part of the combo. The wedge fries are crinkle cut and were very tasty. Our side of BBQ slaw was also very good. After my last few attempts at BBQ slaw, I am a little hesitant about ordering it. Too much vinegar can ruin the whole meal (see review for 521 BBQ). This slaw was great. The hushpuppies were nice and gritty with plenty of cornmeal taste and the extra side of smoked/grilled kielbasa was fantastic. I think the same dry rub spices used on the ribs went onto the sausage and made it really pop. We polished off this meal with a bowl of homemade apple cobbler and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I was too full to eat much, but what I did taste was very good. Definitely homemade and definitely enough to share.

One last thing to mention, all of this food and drinks barely came to $30. I was impressed because Lane just kept ordering food and since I had not memorized the prices on the menu, I had no idea what it was going to come to. Good thing about BBQ is that it is affordable!



Lane: Spending much of my childhood on the beaches of Edisto Island and some of my early college years in Spartanburg, I really don’t know what to make of a “beach house” in Gaffney. Maybe something with faux driftwood painted in bright pinks and blues, alluding to some tropical Jimmy Buffet get-a-way coupled with dear heads and license plates paying homage to Gaffney’s land locked state as the city is nestled fundamentally between I-85 and I-26 was what I was expecting. Actually it was exactly what I got. I thought the Kielbasa “smoked sausage” was great. It was seasoned like the ribs were and was served with yellow mustard. It had a crunchy texture aided by the sea salt and crushed black pepper and the crusty bark of roasted casing. The links were very tasty and quite warm in comparison to the cue. I thought the ribs were better than the cue. The recipe described them a “St. Louis style” but truthfully these ribs were good, had a good outer bark a woody savory flavor, and a deep, spicy, smoky aroma that made me oh so hungry. These ribs were very rich and tasty, not too bitter, not too salty, and very, very savory. To me the pulled chicken and chopped BBQ was just ok. The color and texture of the meat was fine but the sauces on both were both overly spicy and sweet, which took away from the meat’s great smoky flavor. Unfortunately the overhead fan was on and a slight breeze cooled the cue and chicken so quickly that I only had a few bites that weren’t cold. I really liked the BBQ slaw and the wedge fries. I agree with April that this was a great place to eat.



Daddy Joe's Beach House BBQ & Grill
1400 West Floyd Baker Blvd Gaffney, SC 29341
(864) 487-RIBS
Distance from home: 45.86 miles