Shealy's Bar-B-Que — Restaurant in Batesburg-Leesville

The best deal in town! At only $13 per person, you won’t find a better place to fill your stomach anywhere else around. While the exterior is unassuming, the full parking lot hints at the quality of food within. The entrance winds you around to a small window with a sign that reads, “Pay your way in, eat your way out” with no other indication of price. You just tell the cashier how many are dining, and whether you will pay in cash for a small discount. After paying, you enter the buffet area to peruse the offerings of the day before finding a seat at one of the communal tables to order your included drink.

The buffet is split between the salad bar, hot bar, and dessert bar. The salad bar has everything you’d expect, from fresh veggies to cheese and meat toppings, as well as a variety of dressings to choose from. I found the veggies to be fresh and crisp, with the ranch dressing tasting homemade. Be aware that the bowls are on the small side and not chilled.

The hot bar has a relatively small assortment, but each item is cooked well. It starts with the soup of the day, but I did not partake myself. Then there’s a good variety of southern style veggies, including the not often seen cut off corn and livernips, plus staples like homemade mashed potatoes and baked Mac and cheese. I do appreciate that they do offer actual vegetable sides and not just various forms of carbs. Finally, you get to the meat section, which always has fried chicken, hash, and BBQ pork in three different sauces, plus daily special option. For my visit, that was fried pork chops, which were almost as good as the fried chicken. Although the restaurant is called Shealy’s BBQ and you would expect the BBQ to be their specialty, I found the fried chicken the best. All different pieces are available, including the rarely seen pulley bone, so you can get whatever piece of chicken you like, whether bone in or boneless. It is fixed to perfectly crispy without being greasy and the interior remaining tender and juicy. As for the BBQ, it is pork served in three different sauces, including the SC classic mustard sauce, a smokier hickory sauce, and my favorite, a vinegar and pepper sauce. At the end of the hot bar is cornbread, that I did not try.

Unfortunately, I was too full to attempt to eat dessert. The dessert bar offers banana pudding, jello, fresh fruit, ice cream, and other changing selections. My visit had cherry pudding and a chocolate dish available.

The service was great as well. I never had to ask for a refill on my drink and the server checked on us often. I even saw her get items from the buffet for elderly diners, calling a few of them by name. The service combined with communal seating gave an atmosphere of southern hospitality that compliments the southern fare on the buffet.

Overall, I did enjoy my meal at Shealy’s BBQ. A few things could be improved, so I can’t give it five stars, but I feel confident that four stars does it justice, especially for the value. I would recommend it to anyone that enjoys...

I think hands down that Shealy's is the best dine in BBQ buffet for hundreds of miles around in the Augusta GA and Columbia SC area. And that is saying something Columbia SC has some amazing Carolina Style BBQ places. However, I have been eating Shealy's for over 40 years. My Grandma first introduced me to Shealy's takeout BBQ many years ago and I have been enjoying it on occasion since I moved back to the Augusta GA area 10 years ago. What is surprising, as far as I can tell, the quality of the food seems to be just as good as it was years ago. Their mustard based BBQ hash and rice is outstanding. They have 3 kinds of pulled pork BBQ, mustard based, old hickory and vinegar and pepper. All 3 are very good, but my personal favorite is the mustard, it is the best around anywhere from my perspective. The mac and cheese is just like grandma used to make. They have a large all you can eat buffet. Our last time there, they had an excellent ham and chicken jambalaya as well as all kinds of old southern style vegetables and BBQ beef brisket. Their fried chicken is quite good as well. Their salad bar is extensive, with everything you would want on a chefs salad, you can make a meal off the salad bar, although it would be a crime to miss out on the BBQ. Lastly, they have a great desert bar, banana pudding, cookies, cobbler along with a soft serve ice cream machine. You won't go wrong at Shealy's BUT be warned, although it is way off the beaten path in Batesburg-Leesville, it is still always crowded and busy with patrons from all over. The tables are set up family style, not individually, so you will be sitting beside some other folks not from your party, but it's OK, it works out just fine and you might meet some nice people who you otherwise wouldn't have spoken to. I highly recommend Shealy's if you love Carolina Style BBQ, love to eat and are going to be within 50 miles of Batesburg-Leesville or passing Exit 39 on I-20. It's very reasonably priced for what you get and the quality of the food and I think the food will be memorable if you like old style Southern home cooked...

It's a buffet, the food is okay but I would not say it is spectacular. I know that this has been a popular dining destination for years but I actually think that the barbecue could be better. I also stopped in for some chicken gizzards and they are quite pricey. The staff is very friendly and efficient and the place is usually bustling with patrons. Update 4-25-2023 We still enjoy their gizzards but I made a huge mistake of ordering some coleslaw and potato salad to go with them. The coleslaw is terrible and it's full of sweet relish, the potato salad is more like mashed potatoes with some relish thrown in and very disgusting. Once again their service is spectacular, efficient and fast but I had to mention something about the coleslaw and potato salad. They do make some great pork skins as well. Update 5-27-2023 My wife wanted me to go there and get some ribs. It sounded pretty good so I got two lbs enough to feed us both for dinner. When I got home she took a bite of one and said, this it was the worst rib she'd ever had. I thought that she had to be wrong so I tried one as well and they have no flavor and we're just really bad. I bought the alleged dry rub ones and I think that they were cooked in a pressure pot. They definitely didn't taste like they had been slow cooked over a fire pit. As far as I'm concerned this is pretty much strike three, they still make pretty good chicken gizzards but...