I entered Lewis Barbecue of Charleston, South Carolina with only the recommendation by Phil who worked at the Trek Store in Mt Pleasant. I had no idea that the food I was about to eat would change my life forever. I have gone to many barbecue places in my life, from blue ribbon, Chester’s, red bones, Jim and nicks, and the dog watch barbecue. So not to toot my own horn but I know what is up with barbecue. When ordering barbecue I always get brisket or pulled pork and sometimes ribs. I think a true BBQ place shows its true self with it’s brisket. Walking into Lewis was an experience in itself. Wooden tables line the restaurants sides as I walked up to the main counter where the meat is cut and sold. Behind the counter is white tiles surrounding a bunch of ovens to keep the meat nice and warm. It’s kind of like the heaven of BBQ. Ordering is just walking up to the counter and telling the cutter what you want. I stood over the glass and looked at the array of sides and condiments available for the meats. I ask for brisket and he turned around and opened the oven. He pulled out a slab of brisket wrapped in pink butcher paper. He started slicing the meat and asked how many slices. I said give me all of it, which turned out to be over a pound of brisket! I was fuckin pumped! I accompanied it with mac and cheese. I sat down with my parents and we looked at our feast. The brisket was cut into think slices. It had a kosher salt and pepper rub that cooks onto it like a crust of flavor. It’s like a armor that keeps the fat from seeping out. I pick up my first piece of brisket and took a bite. It fell apart on my tongue and the flavor exploded. At that point I knew I was eating the best brisket of my life. The fats flowed on my taste buds followed by the meat which its tenderness is unmatched. Explaining how good this was is very hard. Each bite was like going to every BBQ place in America and taking the best part of each place, then putting it into one order of brisket. The mac and cheese was a Velveeta sauce and shells, but not the Velveeta shells. It kind of disappointed me because I was expecting fresh mac but at that point I couldn’t have cared less because of the brisket.
Overall, this is the best BBQ I have ever had. It changed the way I knew brisket and real southern BBQ. I give Lewis Barbecue a 9.5 on the taste bud scale. For only the Mac and Cheese held it back from a 9.8
A review by Miles Olivetti
An Olivetti's Take on Food 