BBQ in Myrtle Beach, SC: The Definitive Guide

You’ll want to visit Little Pigs Bar-B-Q because it still feels like the kind of local barbecue joint that could easily disappear from a place as heavily developed as Myrtle Beach.

Little Pigs has been here since 1998. Hickory-smoked pork has always been the heart of the place, and the restaurant has traditionally cooked whole hams for hours before chopping the meat to order. There is brisket, chicken, ribs, and the usual sides, but I’d start with the pork. That’s the food that best explains why Little Pigs is on this list.

The restaurant itself is small and unfussy. You order at the counter, find a seat, and eat. There isn’t much separating you from the work going on behind the counter, which is part of what has always made the place memorable.

In a beach town filled with restaurants built to catch your attention from the road, Little Pigs has survived for decades without becoming that kind of place.

However, you might not choose Little Pigs if you’re after table service, drinks, or a modern smokehouse with a long list of meats. Come here because you want the old-school Myrtle Beach barbecue-joint experience.

You’ll want to visit True BBQ because Joseph and Sheila Evans have built the kind of deeply local barbecue place that can be hard to find in a major tourist area.

They started True as a roadside stand in 2013 and eventually moved the business into its Socastee location. Joseph has described cooking with hickory, oak, and applewood, and the menu includes pork, ribs, brisket, and chicken.

But the part that makes True feel especially South Carolinian is what comes with the meat. Hash and rice is here, along with family recipes and sides that make the meal feel less like a generic smokehouse platter.

True also has the cooking credentials to back up the name. The restaurant is currently recognized by True ’Cue SC, which means its qualifying barbecue is cooked onsite with wood coals or charcoal rather than gas or electric heat.

There is nothing elaborate about the experience, and I don’t think there needs to be. You’re eating barbecue made by the family that built the restaurant.

However, you might not choose True BBQ if your schedule is tight. The limited operating days and hours mean this is one to check before you head over.

You’ll want to visit Swig & Swine if you want traditional wood-cooked barbecue but would rather have it in a full-service restaurant than a bare-bones barbecue joint.

Anthony DiBernardo built Swig & Swine around cooking low and slow over hardwood. Brisket, pulled pork, turkey, pork belly, sausage, chicken, and ribs give you plenty to work through, especially if you’re sharing a platter.

The Myrtle Beach location also qualifies as True ’Cue, so the polished dining room shouldn’t fool you into thinking the barbecue itself is taking shortcuts. Wood and charcoal provide the cooking heat for its qualifying barbecue.

There are plenty of South Carolina touches on the plate, too. Hash and rice sits among the sides, which helps keep the menu from feeling like a Texas smokehouse transplanted to the beach.

Swig & Swine is also one of the easiest choices here for a group. There’s a bar, table service, and enough on the menu that dinner can feel like a night out instead of a quick barbecue stop.

However, you might not choose Swig & Swine if the little independent joint is part of what you’re looking for. Swig & Swine has grown into a regional restaurant group, and it looks and feels like one.

You’ll want to visit Fullbelly BBQ because there’s no confusion about what the restaurant is trying to be: barbecue is the main event.

Fullbelly opened in Carolina Forest in 2023 and cooks its meats onsite in a Southern Pride smoker. The menu is one of the deeper barbecue menus around Myrtle Beach, with sliced and chopped Certified Angus Beef brisket, pork, chicken, sausage, ribs, pork belly, and burnt ends.

Brisket shows up all over the menu. You can order it sliced, chopped, piled onto a sandwich, added to a platter, or served over the restaurant’s mac and cheese.

The sides and sauces bring things back toward the Carolinas. You’ll find Eastern North Carolina-style vinegar sauce and Carolina Gold, along with collards, smoked beans, deviled egg potato salad, and chicken bog. That last one is particularly at home in Horry County.

Fullbelly makes sense when everyone wants barbecue but not necessarily the same barbecue. There’s enough variety to build very different plates from the same menu.

However, you might not choose Fullbelly if cooking entirely over hardwood is important to you. True BBQ, Swig & Swine, and Bar-B-Que House are better documented choices for that particular tradition.

You’ll want to visit Brisket because the name tells you exactly what makes this North Myrtle Beach restaurant different from most South Carolina barbecue joints.

Jeff and Laney Vallancey created the restaurant around Jeff’s Texas roots. The approach is simple: dry rubs, smoke, and sauce left on the side instead of used to define the meat.

The centerpiece of the operation is hard to miss—a custom Texas-built rotisserie smoker weighing about 4,200 pounds. Brisket and pork get the long cooks, while ribs, turkey, chicken, sausage, and other meats fill out the menu.

Jeff died unexpectedly in 2018. Laney kept the restaurant going and remains the owner/operator, working with their grown children and longtime staff.

If it were my first visit, I wouldn’t overthink the order. Get the sliced brisket. It’s the meat the restaurant put in its name, and it gives you the clearest look at the Texas barbecue tradition the Vallanceys brought to North Myrtle Beach.

However, you might not choose Brisket if you came to South Carolina specifically for pork, hash, mustard sauce, or whole hog. This is the place on the list to go in another direction.

You’ll want to visit Gracious Pig Smokehouse if you’re staying around Surfside Beach and want real smokehouse barbecue without giving up the comforts of a sit-down restaurant.

The menu covers brisket, pork, turkey, sausage, ribs, wings, and other smoked meats, and Gracious Pig says its smoker burns cherry wood throughout the day.

Cherry is worth noting because hickory shows up so often elsewhere along the Grand Strand. You’re not simply looking at another restaurant serving the same meats from the same sort of pit.

Gracious Pig also looks more like a beach-town restaurant than an old barbecue shack. There’s table service, a full bar, and a comfortable dining room just off the oceanfront. For plenty of people on vacation, that will be exactly what they want.

The restaurant is part of the locally based Dining & Design group, and the setting reflects that restaurant-company polish.

However, you might not choose Gracious Pig if the atmosphere of an old, rough-edged barbecue joint is part of the fun for you. Gracious Pig is a smokehouse dressed for the beach.

You’ll want to visit Fire To Table when half the table wants barbecue and the other half is not so sure.

That sounds like a small distinction, but it can matter in Murrells Inlet, especially with a family or a vacation group trying to agree on dinner.

Raymond and Jenny Clark operate Fire To Table with their family, and sons Aiden and Colin work as pitmasters. On the barbecue side, hickory-smoked brisket, ribs, and pulled pork are joined by sausage, pastrami, turkey, rib tips, burnt ends, and other smoked meats. This isn’t a general restaurant keeping one pulled-pork sandwich around so it can claim barbecue on the menu.

At the same time, Fire To Table has seafood, burgers, drinks, and plenty of other choices. Someone can come with you, never look at the brisket, and still have a reason to be there.

That makes it one of the more useful recommendations on this list for a mixed group.

However, you might not choose Fire To Table if everybody at the table wants the full barbecue-joint experience. There are more narrowly focused smokehouses on the Grand Strand.

You’ll want to visit Bar-B-Que House because it gives North Myrtle Beach a Carolina-style counterpoint to the Texas barbecue at Brisket.

The two restaurants are not far apart, but they’re not trying to serve the same meal.

Bar-B-Que House smokes its barbecue daily over hickory. Pulled pork is the natural place to begin, though brisket, ribs, wings, and other barbecue standards are also on the menu.

It is another current True ’Cue restaurant, meaning the qualifying barbecue is cooked onsite with wood coals or charcoal rather than gas or electric heat.

I also like Bar-B-Que House as a stop for someone trying to sort out Carolina sauces. Instead of handing you a single house style and calling it done, the restaurant offers Eastern vinegar, Lexington-style, mustard, and other sauces. You can taste some of the regional differences without driving all over the state.

The room and the menu are both pretty straightforward, which suits the food.

However, you might not choose Bar-B-Que House if you want a restaurant that feels like a special night out. This is the casual North Myrtle Beach choice for pork, hickory smoke, and Carolina sauces.