About Us

Who We Are and What We Do

Destination BBQ was founded in the summer of 2012 by James A. “Jim” Roller and his wife, Heather. What began as a simple family blog documenting our “Summer BBQ Tour” has grown into the site you see today. You can still read the original post that started it all below.

We remain a family-run publication based in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Heather and I are still the primary voices behind Destination BBQ. Christian, Chelsea, and Camden, yes, all Cs, have moved out on their own, but they still join us from time to time.

Since 2012, we have grown from writing about our family’s dining experiences to covering South Carolina barbecue in all its forms. Our goal remains simple: help people find great South Carolina barbecue and help South Carolina barbecue find great people.

Along the way, Destination BBQ has also expanded beyond restaurant coverage. We publish recipes, barbecue history, interviews, event information, practical smoking and grilling guides, time and temperature charts, a plainspoken barbecue glossary, and calculators that help cooks plan successful meals.

For media, author, book, or other inquiries, contact James at jim@destination-bbq.com.

What You’ll Find on Destination BBQ

Whether you are looking for a barbecue restaurant, planning a road trip, learning about South Carolina’s barbecue traditions, or trying to get dinner on the table at the right time, the site is designed to help.

• South Carolina barbecue restaurants: Use our SC BBQ Locator Map to find barbecue restaurants across the state, explore individual restaurant profiles, and filter results by features such as sauce style and payment options.
• Barbecue road trips: Our Interstate Road Guide highlights barbecue restaurants located near South Carolina’s major interstate exits.
• Festivals and competitions: The events calendar tracks barbecue festivals, cook-offs, and competitions around the state.
• Recipes: Browse our collection of South Carolina barbecue recipes, from sauces and sides to smoked meats and traditional dishes.
• Cooking guides and tools: Our practical guides, charts, planners, glossary, and calculators help readers plan quantities, estimate cooking times, understand barbecue terms, and work through common cooking questions.
• History, people, and traditions: We share the stories behind South Carolina barbecue, including the restaurants, pitmasters, families, communities, and regional traditions that have shaped it.

Going Whole Hog

Destination BBQ is also home to SCBBQ Recipes: Going Whole Hog, written by James A. Roller. The book brings together recipes and stories that explore South Carolina’s barbecue traditions and the foods served alongside them.

The cookbook grew out of years spent visiting restaurants, talking with people in the barbecue community, researching recipes, and documenting the food traditions found across the state.

Our Work in the Barbecue Community

Over the years, Destination BBQ has been featured by South Carolina media and other publications interested in barbecue, food, and regional culture. Heather and I have also taken part in restaurant visits, festivals, competitions, interviews, recipe research, and other efforts to document and support South Carolina barbecue.

We do not pretend that one family can speak for every restaurant, pitmaster, cook, or barbecue tradition in the state. Our role is to keep learning, ask questions, share what we find, and help readers connect with the people and places carrying those traditions forward.

Help Us Keep Destination BBQ Useful

Readers have always played an important part in helping us keep the site useful and accurate.

If you know of a barbecue restaurant that has opened, closed, moved, or changed its hours, menu, or other details, please send the information to me. You can also use the SC BBQ Locator Map to check the restaurants in your area and let me know what needs attention.

Have a South Carolina barbecue recipe or family food tradition you would like to share? You are welcome to submit your recipe for consideration.

Those who would like to help support the continued growth and maintenance of the site can learn more on our Support Destination BBQ page.

Ownership

Destination BBQ is owned and operated by H & J Enterprises of Charleston, LLC, doing business as Destination BBQ.

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The Post That Started It All

The following is the original Destination BBQ post from June 2012, preserved here with its original wording.

Hello world and welcome to our summer tour.

Our family has decided to embark on a tour of notable BBQ joints in and around the Lowcountry of South Carolina. Destination BBQ is our simple blog designed to capture our experiences during each our of stops.

Who are we?

We are the Rollers from Mt. Pleasant, SC: Jim, Heather, Christian, Chelsea, and Camden (and Dixie, too). We don't pretend to be connoisseurs or experts in the field. We simply enjoy good food, and really like good BBQ.

Simply put, it is our intention to provide our subjective opinions of what we experience. Good, bad, or just ok. We're not food critics, we're not expert pitmasters. We are who we are: just an average family.

But if you want a true, honest, unbiased opinion of what we experienced on a given day, that we can provide.

Therefore, tomorrow we begin.

Recently, Heather read an article in Southern Living about Scott's BBQ in Hemingway, SC. (Supposedly, it is one of the best in the South. We shall see.) And this is what sparked us to begin our journey.

So Friday, June 8, 2012, we set out for Hemingway on the first steps of a trip that will lead us we know not where.

Come along for the ride...