a place · SCLewis Barbecue

A Central Texas-style barbecue restaurant at 464 North Nassau Street on the upper peninsula of Charleston, opened in June 2016 by John Lewis, a pitmaster from El Paso who cooked in Austin with Franklin Barbecue and then as a partner in La Barbecue, welding his own smokers along the way. The meat is sold by the pound from a counter: prime brisket, beef ribs, pork spare ribs, turkey breast, pulled pork, 'Texas hot guts' sausage and a green-chile cheddar sausage, with sides from Texas — pinto beans, green chile corn pudding — and from here, collards. A second Lewis opened in Greenville in August 2022 and a third in Atlanta in December 2025.

John Lewis grew up in El Paso and moved to Austin at eighteen; a New Braunfels smoker, a birthday present, started the habit. He competed on the barbecue circuit in Denver, came back to Austin to cook with Franklin Barbecue, and partnered with LeAnn Mueller to open La Barbecue, where the brisket made his name. He moved to Charleston in 2015 and opened Lewis Barbecue in June 2016; Rodney Scott's whole hog arrived on King Street eight months later. Lewis welds his own custom smokers. The Greenville store followed at 214 Rutherford Street in August 2022; in December 2025, after six years of looking, he opened at Ansley Mall in Atlanta with six smokers on the roof, an open-air smokehouse above the Beltline. The Charleston house holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand. Lewis's own line, to Rough Draft Atlanta: 'I think beef is better than pork.'

Everything is sold by weight or the link, cut to order at the counter: USDA prime brisket at $35 a pound, pulled pork $19, turkey breast $22, spare ribs $24, hot-guts sausage $8 a link and green-chile cheddar $7 — the Charleston menu as posted on September 15, 2026. Sides are creamy potato salad, tangy coleslaw, cowboy pinto beans, green chile corn pudding, collard greens, mac and cheese and fries. Beef ribs and oxtail come off the smokers too.

Open Tuesday to Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday and Monday 11 to 9, at 464 North Nassau Street, Charleston, per the restaurant's site on September 15, 2026. Greenville (214 Rutherford Street) and Atlanta (1544 Piedmont Avenue) are open as well.