Dem 2 Brothers and a Grill BBQ — Restaurant in Charleston

When people decide to go out to a sit down restaurant, there are some default expectations we have once we arrive at an established eatery. Our expectations include a clean establishment, friendly staff, a good selection, at an appropriate price for the quality. Dem 2 Brothers and a Grill hit practically every point. I'll elaborate.

I've driven by this location probably a dozen times and for some reason it just didn't click there was a restaurant here. I think I was too focused on surrounding traffic to just notice. Today I noticed. They had just opened up for the day, and I figured, well I'm going to eat somewhere.

Was greeted by a nice young woman who sat me down and offered a menu.

I had some questions about the brisket, and she lit up a bit when she described the brisket. Being someone that appreciates saucy brisket, I ordered that with a side of mac n cheese.

The order came out shortly after ordering, maybe 5-7 minutes tops. It's pretty clear whoever cooks here gets up quite early to start up the grills for the slow cooked meats.

I'm not a terrible fan of any bread, not because of taste, just more of a dietary alteration. Took a bite and I thought "Yea this is REALLY good, but bread hates me"

But I digress. I poke into the mac n cheese, and it's got that pull stringy cheese coated throughout and it was deliciously hot. The cheese was perfectly gooey and enjoyable.

Then I dove into the brisket.

This is the kind of brisket that has about a bucket full of space for flavor, but the cook found a way to give it a bucket and a half of flavor. The meat was slow cooked, enough that just a small amount of force, slightly more than gravity cut through this meat. Tender is not the right word, probably delicate. Attention to detail in every bite is plainly obvious. The sweet tea is fresh brewed. So much so that when it was delivered to my table, it was still warm. No problem, I ordered a cup of ice to repour it over ice. It was arguably on par with my significant others attention to brewing sweet tea. She takes great pride in making tea, as do these guys.

I met with one of the chefs, and expressed my enjoyment of the brisket and side(s) and he recommended the banana pudding. I relented, and I am so glad I did. The last time I tasted banana pudding like this, I was at my grandmothers house down south. Every gram was finely crafted, even the Nilla wafers weren't soggy which is a challenging hurdle for some of the most experienced cooks.

Every aspect of this restaurant was carefully thought out, prepared with a high drive for perfection and an appealing presentation.

I'll be returning for something else on the menu.

Now, the only thing I'd personally like to see, prices on the menu. I've noticed a trend with some places don't show the pricing on the menu, and there's some marketing value to that, I'm just not a big fan of that approach. The service and food more than made up for it. We just live in frugal times and knowing ahead of time is helpful so there aren't any surprises. Keep up the great work, and some artwork on the front glass display I think would aid visibility from the street and drive more traffic to this great restaurant that shines in...

My wife and I have been to many highly rated barbecue restaurants all over the United States and Dem 2 Brothers And A Grill Barbecue is probably the best barbecue restaurant that we have been to. This is real, good, wholesome food and barbecue that the owners obviously put their heart and soul into. This place is a hidden gem! My only issue is that we live two states away. But I promise you this, if we are even remotely close to this place in the future, we will definitely be back!

Here's some pros and cons:

-Food-

Pros: The food was spectacular! The ribs were seasoned just right. They were moist, tender, and the bark was spot on. The sauce that was lightly drizzled over the ribs was like the icing on an already really good cake. It didn't even need sauce honestly but it just upped the flavor. They were probably my favorite ribs I've had anywhere.

I believe any good barbecue place needs good sides. I had mac n'cheese and potato salad which were both excellent, especially the mac n' cheese.

My wife had the brisket sandwich and the brisket was great! It was perfectly moist, seasoned well, and tender.

Cons: I have no complaints honestly!

-Service-

Pros: The staff here was very welcoming, professional, friendly, and efficient. We had some good conversations with the owner who was super nice.

Cons: This is probably my one and only complaint which was that we were given and charged for two mac n' cheeses and a potato salad, but I only asked for what came with the meal. We didn't know this was the case because the mac n' cheese came in really small containers. We didn't say anything because we already ate it and it was good and didn't want to contest it or cause problems, especially since we had been driving for 9 hours and had 4 more to go.

-Restaurant-

Pros: The restaurant was a typical small-town dive. The place was clean, well set up, in a good location, and had a great comfortable atmosphere.

Cons: I have no complaints! It was a great place!

-Conclusion- This restaurant is an excellent place with delicious food and a great atmosphere. Will definitely be back if I'm anywhere near Charleston. I only wish this place was...

Out of Ribs, Brisket and Fries on a Tuesday at lunch hour, which is what I’d walked a mile in the heat from my hotel to try.

That said, circumstances are sometimes serendipitous. Ended up having the chicken breast, pulled pork, potato salad and beans.

Sat back in the bar area as the restaurant was empty at lunch hour. Couple customers back there was all. Was able to sit and order fairly quickly and the food came out within about 10 min. Ambiance is on par for other southern BBQ establishments, service was poor having to wait 10 min after I got my food for someone to come by again where I could ask for silverware and napkins to begin eating. Other reviews have said it, the service and smiles are lacking.

That said, even though the chicken was a little dry, the flavor was good and the pulled pork was excellent. BBQ sauce spot on. The potato salad which I wouldn’t have got if I’d got my fries was also really good. The beans were plain, but had good brown sugar flavor on them. Love to see some brisket and onion beans here sometime.

Some customer service training would go a LONG way here and bring even more business.

I got to meet the owner as I was finishing the meal. Nice gentlemen, complimented is pulled pork. He mentioned that they’d just opened a downtown location (maybe this was why they were out of brisket, ribs and fries).

Going into business isn’t easy. I can appreciate supply problems for what they are, so I can’t give the whole experience a great rating. I do look forward to coming back and having a different experience where I can give them...