I enjoy good BBQ food. It’s an affinity I gather while studying at Clemson University. When I first got here to study in the upstate around four years ago, my aunt told me of this wonderful BBQ place called Ole Country Smokehouse and it’s the best BBQ food I ever had… til today.
My wife and I were on our way to Greenville when we noticed a sign on I-85 that had the same logo as Ole Country Smokehouse except now it said Ole Carolina Smokehouse. We decided to stop and eat there to find out what it was. I already told her all about how awesome Ole Country Smokehouse was, so she was excited.
After a quick word with the people behind the counter, who happened to be the owners, it turned out that this place is actually owned by the same people who owned that last BBQ place that I liked so much! What a small world! They opened up this new BBQ smokehouse because of some issues with the last one.
The new place looks nice. Very homey with a hint of country love in terms of design.
Anyways we went ahead and ordered. They had lunch specials so it was $7.75 for a choice of main dish and two sides with a drink. I ordered the chicken fingers with hush puppies (fried sweet potato balls) and macaroni and cheese, of which the owners very proudly mentioned that it was home made. My wife got the BBQ pulled chicken with the same sides because she loves hush puppies and mac n cheese!
As soon as I took a bite of my chicken fingers I was just amazed. It had a rich smokey flavor and was cooked perfectly; crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside. I also tried out my wife’s pulled BBQ chicken sandwich and WOW! It just burst with flavor. Such a sweet and original BBQ flavor and the chicken just melts in your mouth.
The home made macaroni and cheese was a delight and very tasty. You don’t find many places around that make that home made. The hush puppies were so good that my wife ate all of them up before eating her sandwich! She even was telling me let’s order a bunch for home lol.
While we were eating, Dale, one of the owners, came up to me and asked me if I was a reporter because I had a camera! He was a very kind and sweet to the both of us and even offered us free home made banana pudding because he liked us so much.
It was really smooth, sweet, and had a bunch of fresh banana slices in with it which made it so good. I ate the whole thing even after I ate all my food!
We’ve been to handful of BBQ places around upstate South Carolina but none have wowed me enough to make a blog post about it; except this place. Ole Carolina easily tops out as best BBQ I’ve had in upstate South Carolina. Smiling service, incredibly tasty food, and a great place to sit down and have a good time. What’s also great about this place was our bill was right around $16! I felt like I was stealing because the food was so good and so cheap!
If you’re ever in the upstate of South Carolina, I suggest you stop on by at Ole Carolina Smokehouse.
5/5
Ole Carolina Smokehouse
1712 Highway 86, Piedmont, SC 29673
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ole-Carolina-Smokehouse/340719739304022
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