Sweatman's Barbeque — Restaurant in St. George

On Saturday, October 5th, 2024, my family and I visited Sweatman’s Bar-B-Q, located at 1427 Eutaw Road in Holly Hill, SC, about a 45-minute drive from Charleston. For years, I had wanted to visit Sweatman’s after reading about it in Southern Living Magazine as one of the best barbecue spots in the South. Unfortunately, it seems that this is no longer the case.

My son and I ordered the large BBQ Pork Dinner, substituting Mac and Cheese and Baked Beans for the Rice and Hash. My daughter chose the Half-Chicken BBQ dinner with an additional side of ribs. We all had Cokes, which were served in cans.

As for the food, it was decent but unremarkable. The portions were noticeably small, and nothing about the meal stood out. For my daughter’s meal, she expected to receive a breast, thigh, drumstick, and wing as part of the Half-Chicken BBQ dinner. However, she was only served a thigh and a wing. To be honest, if the food quality had been better, she probably would have complained, but since it didn’t meet her expectations, she just ate what was served and let it slide.

One aspect that really stood out (and not in a good way) was the presentation. Despite ordering for dine-in, all of our meals were served in styrofoam clam trays with plasticware, as if we had ordered takeout. This was not a mistake, as all other patrons in the restaurant were served the same way. While I understand that this approach may make things easier for the staff, it cheapened the dining experience, especially for a restaurant with such a storied history.

Later in the day, we happened to run into someone who grew up visiting Sweatman’s often, as she was from Holly Hill. She mentioned that the restaurant today is a far cry from what it once was, attributing the decline to the passing of the original owners. The restaurant is under new ownership these days, which seems to have greatly impacted the overall quality.

There are numerous restaurants in Charleston serving great barbecue that, in my opinion, far surpass what you will receive at Sweatman’s. While it may have been a standout destination in the past, it no longer lives up to the hype.

I, for one, had entered the restaurant knowing I was also going to have dessert while there. After the less-than-great dining experience, we decided to leave and drove straight to one of their competitors' restaurants and had dessert at that location, so glad we did this.

There is plenty of free parking and the staff was nice, .... It was the food.

Sorry, Sweatman’s — we will not...

4.5 stars-Friday was a big day on the eatinetary. We were going to finally get to the South Carolina bbq icon Sweatmans in Holly Hill SC. I had hoped to get here on our previous trip to SC but unable to fit in. We decided to hit Congaree NP this trip to add to the list so Holly Hill worked well into that path. One hour drive from Charleston. Only open Fri/Sat. It's different here than before Covid as the buffet of sides to go with the meats has been replaced by packaged sides. Very famous for their pork and Carolina mustard based sauce. This made me a little leary because while I like mustard a little will do me. Covid order set up starts with a table outside the old farmhouse where a nice young man answers questions, shows you the menu takes your order and name then radios into the house to give order to the kitchen. You follow arrows to the back where you wait your turn-6 feet apart-until they call your name and you gather your order and pay. Very simple and civilized. Counter ladies very personable. Limited outside seating. DW ordered two rib plate with mac & cheese and green beans and I ordered half rack with same two sides. The Mac was definitely homemade-cheesy and gooey and damn good. Beans were cooked with some chunks of smoked pork that added a nice flavor. DW thought both were too mushy but I was in hog heaven. Ribs, while not being real hot, were cooked to a perfect state with just the right amount of pull-super tender while not immediately sliding completely off the bone. The mustard sauce was definitely tasty. Not so strong of mustard that it overpowered the meat but with an enjoyable flavor profile. Not sure of all the ingredients or even if maybe it was made with mustard powder and another wet base product. Anyway it was much tastier that I was afraid it would be. Followed up my meal with what turned out to be some of the best banana pudding I've ever had. Creamy, full of banana and vanilla wafers. They sell it in containers up to a quart and folks come to just buy that so it must be good. This place is a bbq lover’s dream and is really a must visit if anywhere in...

So my girlfriend and I were on a road trip and decided to find a nice BBQ restaurant somewhere in the Carolinas, and we stumbled upon this place. It's a place like 15 miles off of I-95 and it's only open Friday and Saturday. I love places like that. It's a buffet setup with a one-time-through price of $11 and an AYCE price of $14. The choice is obvious here.

The catch is you are only privileged to two ribs per buffet purchase. They were pretty good ribs, though. Not the star of the show, though. Let's talk about the rest of what's on the buffet.

There are two main sides, barbecue beans and mac & cheese. The beans were yummy. Nice and beany. The mac & cheese was pure mush, though. No discernible noodles throughout. I'm not saying it's bad. I just didn't have seconds.

There are two types of barbecue pork available. I forgot the difference, and I'm sorry for that. I think one was cooked with the skin still on the hog, and the other wasn't. Either way I gobbled them up. Tender and juicy. The perfect component for a sandwich you can make with the slices of bread that are behind the buffet that you can ask for. Add some of their cut cole slaw to that sandwich, and it's choice.

There was something unusual there that I have never seen before. I don't know what it was called, but it was basically barbecue pork chili, but with only meat and sauce. Sloppy Joe-ish. They have white rice for you to serve it on. I DID go back for seconds on this. This was the star of the show for me.

A few odds 'n' ends. There are pork skins that are big giant hunks of super crispy chips of pork skin. It wasn't for me. Too crunchy. Too much work to eat. And the sauce. As you may or may not know, Carolina sauces are very vinegary and can be mustardy. There are three unlabed sauces on the table with different combinations of these styles. It's fun to play around with.

Overall, this place was a lot of fun. The employees are the nicest kind of nice you can find in the South. The sweet tea was A-mazing. The price was right. I was full. Quality place. Come here if...