“Old Southern Kitchen recipes mixed with traditional southern BBQ. This is your grandma’s cooking!”
That’s how Granny & Papaw’s Southern Kitchen & BBQ in Lexington describes itself on Facebook, and that line does a good job setting the table. Granny & Papaw’s is not trying to be only a smokehouse or only a meat-and-three. Instead, it sits comfortably in the middle, serving smoked meats alongside the kind of Southern sides, sauces, sandwiches, and sweets that make a plate feel complete.
That means you can build a meal around pulled pork, brisket, ribs, smoked wings, or smoked chicken, then round it out with hash and rice, collards, squash casserole, mac n’ cheese, or banana pudding.
The main plate menu keeps things simple. Diners can choose a veggie plate, meat with one side, meat with two sides, or meat with three sides.
The meat options give the restaurant its BBQ backbone. Granny & Papaw’s lists smoked BBQ pulled pork, Southern smoked half chicken, smoked wings, smoked baby back ribs, and smoked beef brisket, along with deep-fried chicken tenders for folks leaning more comfort-food than smokehouse.
Brisket gets a little extra personality on the printed menu, too. A playful “Feed Me Brisket and Tell Me I’m Pretty” mark shows up on the page, which tells you brisket is not an afterthought here.
The sides are where Granny & Papaw’s leans hard into its Southern Kitchen name.
The a la carte menu includes coleslaw, potato salad, collard greens, green beans, mashed potatoes, hash and rice, hash only, mac n’ cheese, squash casserole, and brisket baked beans. That is a broad enough lineup for a proper meat-and-sides plate, but still familiar enough to feel like Sunday dinner.
For South Carolina BBQ fans, the hash and rice matters. It gives the menu a local marker, especially when paired with pulled pork, ribs, or smoked chicken.
The brisket baked beans are another nice touch, tying the side board back to the smoker rather than treating sides as filler.
Granny & Papaw’s offers four sauce choices: mustard base, vinegar base, Alabama white, and sweet heat red sauce.
That covers plenty of ground without overcomplicating things. Mustard and vinegar keep the plate in familiar Carolina territory, while Alabama white and sweet heat red give diners a couple of different directions to take smoked chicken, wings, pork, or brisket.
For a simpler meal, the sandwich menu is served on brioche buns and includes Granny’s pimento cheese, smoked chicken salad, smoked BBQ pulled pork, and smoked beef brisket.
The restaurant also offers bulk family-style meats, including smoked chicken, smoked chicken salad, pulled pork, smoked wings, baby back ribs, and brisket. Sides are available in larger portions, which makes the menu work for take-home meals as well as dine-in plates.
Dessert keeps with the same Southern kitchen feel. The treats list includes Southern scratch banana pudding, Rice Krispy treats, cheesecake brownies, lemon bars, and cookies.
Of those, the banana pudding is the one that tastes most at home after a BBQ plate. It is the kind of finish that fits the restaurant’s name as much as its menu.
Granny & Papaw’s also gives BBQ a place on the brunch menu.
The Southern Belle layers a poached egg over cornbread with smoked pulled pork, BBQ sauce drizzle, and hollandaise. BBQ avocado toast brings smoked pulled pork to toasted sourdough with avocado whip, garlicky scallions, and a side of hashbrown casserole.
Brunch diners can also add smoked pulled pork or sliced beef brisket to breakfast sandwiches, omelets, and hashbrown bowls. That helps the restaurant’s smoked meats carry beyond the usual lunch-and-dinner plate.
The rest of the brunch menu rounds out the Southern comfort theme with shrimp and grits, biscuits and gravy, chicken and waffles, pancakes, omelets, and breakfast sandwiches.
Granny & Papaw’s Southern Kitchen & BBQ is best understood as a casual Lexington stop for diners who want barbecue, but also want the comfort of a full Southern plate.
One person can order brisket or ribs, another can build a plate around collards and squash casserole, and the table can still end up talking about the hash and rice, sweet heat sauce, or banana pudding.
That mix is the draw. Granny & Papaw’s gives BBQ a real place on the menu, then surrounds it with the kind of sides, sauces, and homestyle dishes that make the meal feel generous.
Among the many Google Reviews, Local Guide Chris Shipley shared his thoughts on how Granny & Papaw's stacks up:
Absolutely the best BBQ in Lexington, and in the running for best BBQ in the Midlands. My Fellow Foodies - this right here…I’ve been seeing a few reviews for this spot so I just had to come check it out. This HAS to be some of the BEST BBQ I’ve had. The brisket was top tier in every way - the crust, the tenderness, it was perfection. Hash & rice was to DIE for without a doubt and all of the sides had plenty of love. 100% recommended.
Over on Yelp, Lexington local Katrina W shared her experience:
This is a little country style restaurant. No frills.Just good food and nice people.. I had the smoked chicken and my husband had pulled pork. You get a variety of sauces. We had squash casserole which was amazing. The chicken was really tender and flavorful. His pulled pork was well prepared and tasty. This little hidden gem is a must. Don't forget the homemade banana pudding.
Note: Menu prices and options are subject to change over time. Contact the restaurant for the most up-to-date information.
| Monday | Closed |
| Tuesday | Closed |
| Wednesday | |
| Thursday | |
| Friday | |
| Saturday | |
| Sunday |
Cards and Cash, Hash, Heavy Tomato Sauce, Mustard Sauce, Vinegar Pepper Sauce, White Sauce
Love the book, can't thank the team and contributors enough. I've searched high and low for a book that captures the history of SC BBQ and offers hard to find recipes, especially Hash and BBQ sauce recipes. Along with these decades old recipes, there is well documented history of the origins of SC BBQ and… Read more "Awesome History/Cookbook"