The Smokin' Pig of Pendleton — Restaurant in La France

Funky little BBQ joint on the side of the road that I've driven by several times. Decided to stop today and give it a whirl. Walls and tables, as well as art work are written all over by the patrons. Country music is piped overhead, and thankfully the volume is at an agreeable level unlike many places. The dining area is divided into 3 separate rooms with mostly tables, but a few booths (booths are in the main room where you also order). There's a larger open floor plan area for dining in a second structure behind the "restaurant" itself. Separating the two is a nice sitting area with a fire pit in the middle where you could enjoy a drink (just generically speaking on drink as I'm not sure if they serve alcohol) and wait for your table.

I had the chopped brisket sandwich and a side of fried okra. The food was served hot and fresh. Okra was delicious. My brother let me sample his sweet potato fries, which were bomb. They were drizzled with honey (I think) and dusted with powdered sugar, which was an interesting choice, but it worked beautifully. The fries were hot and had a great texture.

The chopped brisket was good, and I'm thankful. I'm very shy to order brisket out because I know I'm often going to be disappointed. (My mother's brisket is pretty much the best in the world. No lie. But this was good.) Good smoke flavor. Maybe just a hair on the dry side. Would've been nice if it had been dunked in the drippings (or had some poured over) before slapping it on the bun, but I still give them kudos for excellent brisket. It was tender, the fat was broken down well, and the beginning of a good bark can be found on various pieces. As you can see, there's a good portion of meat on the sandwich. I took about half off, ate the sandwich, and then ate the rest by itself. The bun wasn't toasted, but that's not necessary for a BBQ sandwich. Of course I didn't ask them to toast it, and they might've if I had. That's a point of personal preference. I did ask them for extra pickles, and they weren't stingy with the supply which makes me happy.

4 selections of BBQ sauce are on the table: sweet, mustard based, hot and vinegar based.

Total for the sandwich, okra and sweet tea was about $13.50 pre-tip. Not cheap, but not ridiculous. I'll go back again, and when friends are visiting me it'll be a good spot for me...

We caught them at a slow time and there was no wait. All the staff were super friendly and helpful. Prices were as expected for what we thought would be a top notch hand-crafted meal. Food was slower to arrive than expected given that things were slow, but portions were good and our server was on the ball, The good: The chopped pork was great, as was the chicken. The brisket, though, that I was SO looking forward to, approached jerky. It was very dark, dry, and chewy; there were actually hard chunks like burnt ends. Overdone to start with then apparently spent some serious time under the heat lamp. The mac & cheese was really creamy, and the potato salad far too creamy, lots of mayo in there. The fried okra was overcooked. The berry cobbler with ice cream was good, rich and delicious. Those rolls? Frozen Sister Shubert or a very close copy. Another blow to expectations. If you don't have scratch-made, pillowy table rolls are a better choice IMO. The atmosphere was as expected, basic 90's BBQ house with modern touches. Seating very comfortable. TBH we ate a while back at the one in Easley and were absolutely blown away, so maybe we expected too much? Easley brought us those to-die-for pork rinds as a free starter, and Pendleton apparently doesn't. We later bought a portion of those; OMG freshly fried onsite!! Plus the food was 10/10. We don't often go out so this was a treat that sort of fell flat. We did mention to the server that the brisket was dry and hard, she said but everything else was ok? No concern at all. If you tell Chet at "the other bbq place" that his brisket was dry, he'd come check it and be offended on your behalf. Not that we were looking for a discount or anything but more concern and pride were expected given their rep. Anyway a great letdown and we aren't likely to go back. We will definitely try Easley again if we are...

I’ve always said this - this is best barbecue in the upstate. I’ve usually gone to the Easley location but today we visited the Smokin’ Pig of Pendleton.

They’ve got plenty of parking ‘round Bach (it is on a rocky/gravel lot) and have plenty of signs to guide you. I thought it was cool that if we wanted to choose take out we could walk right up to the food truck beside the restaurant.

The menu is simple and easy to order from. The sides were incredible (it was hard to choose just one so I got an extra). They have all the classics (sweet potato casserole, baked beans) and unique options such as Jalapeño cheese grits. The tea was sweet (had to go half unsweet half sweet on my second glass). Most importantly, the barbecue was perfection. We ordered chopped chicken, chopped pork, and brisket. At the tables they’ve got an array of sauces to use as you please.

The restaurant’s charm is part of what makes this place so special. The decor is, as you’d expect, very southern. They’ve allowed people to cover the walls with writing which gives it a laid back, personal vibe. Interesting local antiques are scattered on the walls. They had the best old-school country hits playing throughout the establishment (inside and out). I was really blown away by the new renovations they’ve made with a beautiful lawn to roam where the old parking lot used to be complete with a stone fire pit. I doubt they struggle with seating - there were plenty of choices of tables inside and out.

The employees truly seemed happy to be at work. This is something I don’t see often these days. We were greeted with many smiles and our server was very polite and attentive.

I can’t wait to go back this summer. It seems like they really have this whole thing...