BBQ in Spartanburg, SC: The Definitive Guide

Spartanburg barbecue makes more sense once you stop looking for one restaurant that does everything best.

You can get an old-school plate of chopped pork, hash, and Brunswick stew, make ribs the priority somewhere else, or go for smoked wings with Alabama white sauce. You can even pair barbecue with calabash chicken and a table full of Southern sides.

So the better question isn’t which restaurant is No. 1. It’s what you're really in the mood for?

For this guide, Spartanburg means the city and its immediate urban area, including Drayton. Some of the Upstate’s most interesting barbecue sits farther out, so those places have their own Worth the Drive section instead of being stretched into the definition of “Spartanburg.”

Start with the quick picks below, then dig into the individual restaurants to see which one sounds right for you.

Spartanburg BBQ Quick Picks

Not sure where to start? Pick the experience that sounds most like what you’re looking for.

The Best BBQ in Spartanburg, SC

Southern Barbecue

You’ll want to visit Southern Barbecue because it still serves the kind of old-school Spartanburg barbecue people have been coming back for: chopped pork, ribs, and Brunswick stew.

Southern sits just off I-85 on Fairview Church Road, and there’s nothing especially fancy about it. You’re here for barbecue, slaw, hush puppies, beans, onion rings, and sauce on the table.

The Brunswick stew is worth adding to your order. Southern’s connection to the dish goes back decades: Robert E. Lee’s recipe appeared in the Spartanburg Herald-Journal’s 1994 Stroller Cookbook and later in Going Whole Hog. Made with barbecue along with chicken or turkey, it’s one of the things that makes a meal here feel particularly local.

I’d start with the pork and add a cup of Brunswick stew.

However, you might not choose Southern if you’re after sliced brisket, thick bark, and a big tray of modern smokehouse meats. Southern’s appeal is simpler than that, and that’s exactly why it belongs here.

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Pig Out BBQ #2 in Drayton

You’ll want to visit Pig Out BBQ #2 because the Drayton restaurant is one of the better bets around Spartanburg for ribs, pork, and Upstate-style hash.

Joe Crook opened the original Pig Out in Inman in 1999, with the Drayton restaurant following in 2013. The formula has stayed pretty straightforward: pork, ribs, chicken, hash, sauces, and familiar barbecue sides.

The ribs are the thing I’d look at first. Pork is another good bet, and the hash gives you something distinctly Upstate. Around this part of South Carolina, hash isn’t always limited to a scoop over rice. Pig Out will even put it on a sandwich, which is about as Upstate as it gets.

Pig Out also has its original location in Inman, a little farther north. If that one is more convenient, it’s a good alternative; we’re focusing on Drayton here because it falls within the immediate Spartanburg area covered by this guide.

You’ll find several sauces on the table, but I wouldn’t make sauce the reason to come. Order the ribs or pork and let the meat do the work.

However, you might not choose Pig Out if brisket is what sent you looking for barbecue in the first place. Stick to the ribs, pork, chicken, and hash, and you’ll be in much better shape.

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Moe's Original Bar B Que - Spartanburg

You’ll want to visit Moe’s Original BBQ because the pork, ribs, chicken, and wings are good enough that I’d send someone there even though Moe’s is a regional chain.

The Spartanburg restaurant sits on North Church Street in the Hub development. Moe’s comes out of Alabama barbecue traditions, and you can see that most clearly in the smoked chicken, wings, and creamy white sauce.

The menu centers on slow-smoked pork shoulder, St. Louis-style ribs, smoked chicken and turkey, and wings that are smoked and then fried before serving. Pork comes with a tangy sop sauce and sweeter red sauce, while the sides rotate alongside regulars such as baked beans, marinated slaw, potato salad, and banana pudding.

If you’re wondering why a multi-state brand made this list, the answer is pretty simple: the pork and ribs are good, the wings are worth ordering, and Moe’s does those things consistently well. I’d start with the pork or ribs, then add wings if you have somebody to split them with.

However, you might not choose Moe’s if you want a place that feels unmistakably Spartanburg. Southern and Pig Out tell you more about where you are. Moe’s is here because the barbecue itself is good.

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Bubba’s BBQ & Bash

You’ll want to visit Bubba’s BBQ & Bash because it’s a good choice when part of the table wants barbecue and somebody else would rather have fried chicken, macaroni pie, country-style steak, or something else entirely.

For barbecue, look first at the pork and ribs. Bubba’s also serves smoked-and-fried wings and beef hash over rice, so there’s still plenty here that fits squarely into the Upstate barbecue picture.

But barbecue is only half the story. The “Bash” in the name points to the restaurant’s calabash-style chicken, and the menu keeps going from there: fried okra, hush puppies, burgers, pimento cheese, country-style steak, and plenty of Southern sides.

The B&B combo — barbecue with calabash chicken — probably explains Bubba’s better than anything else on the menu. If I were ordering strictly for barbecue, though, I’d lean toward the pork and ribs.

However, you might not choose Bubba’s if you want a restaurant where everything revolves around the smoker. Bubba’s is the better choice when somebody at the table wants barbecue and somebody else doesn’t.

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Looking for more options? Browse all Spartanburg-area barbecue restaurants in our complete directory.

Worth the Drive from Spartanburg

Some of the Upstate’s most interesting barbecue sits outside the immediate Spartanburg area. These four are worth getting in the car for.

Midway BBQ — Buffalo

Midway BBQ is worth the drive to Buffalo for the hash as much as the pork.

Midway has been serving barbecue since 1941, and the beef hash is still one of the big reasons to go. Its hash is cooked in a 100-gallon cast-iron pot, carrying on the beef-heavy hash tradition that has long been part of barbecue in this corner of the Upstate.

Order the beef hash, then add barbecue. Midway serves both chopped pork mixed with its original tomato-based sauce and pulled pork without sauce, and the rest of the menu feels as much like an old Upstate country restaurant as a barbecue joint.

If you want to understand why hash matters around Spartanburg instead of simply checking off another barbecue stop, Midway is worth the trip.

Jolly Rogers Woodfired BBQ — Pacolet

If you want to smell wood smoke before you walk through the door, Jolly Rogers Woodfired BBQ is the one.

Josh and Jennifer Rogers opened the family-run Pacolet restaurant in 2024 after Josh spent years working on his barbecue, including during his time as a firefighter. Everything is cooked over wood, and the menu covers pork, brisket, ribs, and chicken.

Jolly Rogers feels like the kind of small-town barbecue place you go looking for rather than somewhere you happen to stumble across. That’s part of the appeal.

Brisket also gives you something the older Spartanburg restaurants don’t tend to emphasize. If you’ve already had your fill of chopped pork in town, this is a good place to change things up.

Southside Smokehouse and Grille — Landrum

Southside Smokehouse and Grille is worth heading north to Landrum when you want barbecue but don’t necessarily want everyone at the table ordering barbecue.

You can get smoked pork, ribs, chicken, wings, and hash, but chef-driven specials and Cajun and Creole dishes take the menu well beyond the standard barbecue plate.

The pork is pulled and lightly chopped, with sauce on the side, and the restaurant uses a Southern Pride smoker with wood and gas. So if your priority is an all-wood pit, Jolly Rogers or Game Day is the better fit.

Southside makes more sense when you want a full-service restaurant with a bigger menu — especially if you’re already headed toward Landrum, the foothills, or the North Carolina line.

Game Day BBQ — Duncan

Game Day BBQ is where I’d head if I wanted brisket, ribs, or burnt ends instead of another plate built mostly around pork.

Bruce and Joshua Clark opened Game Day after building a barbecue catering business. After Bruce died in 2021, the family sold the restaurant to Ryan Muller, who ran it for several years. Game Day changed hands again in 2026, when Cristy Biles took over.

The current menu still gives you plenty of reasons to look beyond pulled pork: brisket, St. Louis ribs, chopped chicken, pork belly burnt ends, smoked meatloaf, and sausage all show up alongside the more traditional barbecue. You’ll also find a scratch-made lineup of sides and desserts.

If your Spartanburg stops have already covered chopped pork, ribs, and traditional hash, Game Day gives you a good reason to head toward Duncan and order something different.

Spartanburg Barbecue: Pork, Hash, and the Upstate

Spartanburg sits in a part of South Carolina where barbecue has traditionally meant more than pork and sauce. Hash belongs in the conversation, too.

Across the Upstate, one of the old styles is sometimes called white hash: beef cooked down with plenty of onion into a thick, stew-like mixture. That’s different from the liver-heavy hash you’ll encounter in parts of the Pee Dee or the mustard-based pork hashes more closely associated with the Midlands.

Going Whole Hog points to the I-26 corridor, including the Greenville-Spartanburg area, as one of the clearest concentrations of hash restaurants in the state.

You can still see that tradition in this guide. Pig Out serves the kind of Upstate hash that can wind up on a sandwich. Bubba’s puts beef hash over rice. Drive out to Buffalo and Midway takes you even closer to the old beef-hash tradition of this part of the Upstate.

Sauce is a little harder to pin down. Light tomato sauce has historically been associated with the upper part of South Carolina, but today you’ll find tomato sauce, vinegar-pepper sauce, mustard sauce, and even Moe’s Alabama-style white sauce around Spartanburg.

Spartanburg doesn’t have a deep bench of headline-grabbing modern smokehouses, and there’s no reason to pretend it does. What it does have is barbecue that still feels local: chopped pork, ribs, hash, Brunswick stew, and restaurants people have been eating at for years.

Drive a little farther and the choices open up: Midway for beef hash, Jolly Rogers for all-wood cooking, Southside for barbecue alongside a broader Southern and Cajun menu, and Game Day for brisket and burnt ends.

You don’t need every barbecue restaurant in town to be a destination. You just need to know which one is good at the thing you’re hungry for.