Que On Tour

So it's 8:00 at night and I'm walking by the Salvation Army residential motel in a town I'm completely unfamiliar with (Columbia, SC) looking for BBQ (and, apparently, making new friends).

Am I nuts!!??

Well, slightly. But that has nothing to do with the BBQ quest. Told by the cabbie it was safe (and it was) I wandered the mile or so from my hotel in search of Que.

Some People Call Him Maurice

Before the plane even touched down, I saw out my window a huge billboard for BBQ. Turns out it was for Maurice's Gourmet Barbeque, a local chain (I know, I know - at least it's a family chain) that claims to be, via its mail-order arm the Flying Pig Express, the largest barbeque operation in the country.

In addition to the food, you can get commentaries on your favorite book of the bible and Maurice's autobiography celebrating his Southern (ahem) 'heritage'. Apparently he's caught a lot of grief on his liberal use of the rebel flag in the past.

So What About the Food?

I got the 'Big Pig' ® BBQ Dinner, an insane amount of meat and even more in sides (more on those later). In South Carolina apparently BBQ means pork & the Big Pig features 6 oz of pulled pork topped with two huge ribs that, if you would shake them hard the meat would fly off the bone. The meat was melt-in-your-mouth tender with a mild smokiness.

At Maurice's sauce means mustard. The Golden Sauce (no jokes Don) is tangy (I mean it), without being overpowering. For those used to St. Loo Que, there's a Spicy as well as Hickory and a Honey Sauce.

The sides.

Man they know how to do hush puppies down here! Crisp but not greasy - get a dozen. The cole slaw was ok but the star of the whole dinner was something called Carolina Hash served over white rice. I have no idea what's in it and neither did the gal that sold it to me, but it seems to be finely chopped pork plus who knows what. I could have lived off this in school.

Bottom line: if you're not turned off by the mustard sauce, try this place out if you're in Columbia - it's worth the stop.