Would you eat at Maurice's Piggy Park?

[j biesinger]

on our way back up north, we stopped and ate at an establishment owned by Maurice Bessinger. I figured it would be a good chance to try some Carolina mustard based 'cue. I remembered reading something about his questionable politics in Peace, Love and Barbecue, but figured it was our best option for lunch on the fly. After lunch, as we continued our drive, I read some more about him and how there seems to be a boycott of his places and sauces. I suspect if I lived near Columbia, I'd have a better idea of alternative bbq places and wouldn't need to patronize Maurice, but I was wondering what others think. Is his bbq and sauce that special that it's worth overlooking his questionable politics? I though the food and sauce was decent, but it sounds like his brother Melvin is filling the niche created by the boycott

 

[Bryan B]

I've lived in Columbia, SC the majority of my life and am very familiar with Maurice and his politics.

South Carolina was in the news alot a few years ago for being one of the few states (or maybe only state) that still flew a confederate flag in front of their state house. There was a huge political war about it, and Maurice felt the need to chime in on behalf of keeping the confederate flag up. He went on to say some pretty outlandish things such as "Black folks were better off in America as slaves than they were free in Africa, so I really think we kind of did them a favor in the long run". That's a paraphrase but pretty close to what he said. Considering that Columbia is 40% African American, you can imagine the turmoil a statement like that could generate.

As for the food, I used to think it was good when I was a kid, but now that I am an experienced BBQ'er, I think it sucks frankly. I'm not convinced he really smokes the meat. I've never tasted much of a smoke taste or seen a smoke ring on the pork. The mustard sauce is good, but he cakes so much of it all over the food, that all you can taste is the sauce. To me, this a way to cover over bad quality meat. I'm in the camp that if BBQ pork is good enough, it doesn't really need sauce.

 

[Hamilton Barnes]

Lived in SC all of my life until moving to GA for school in 2007. His mustard sauce is one of the best. Sticky fingers has a decent mustard sauce too, but Maurice's is one of the iconic mustard sauces in SC. We all become bbq snobs when we cook low volume and profits aren't even on the table.

 

[Garland Hudgins]

I live in Columbia too. I agree with Hamilton...we all become bbq snobs when we cook low volume and profits aren't even on the table. Call me guilty as charged.

Maurice's mustard sauce is one of the best examples of SC Mustard based sauces.

On an additional note, I like to keep my politics away from my food, especially BBQ. It always leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

 

[j biesinger]

I live in Columbia too. I agree with Hamilton...we all become bbq snobs when we cook low volume and profits aren't even on the table. Call me guilty as charged.

Maurice's mustard sauce is one of the best examples of SC Mustard based sauces.

On an additional note, I like to keep my politics away from my food, especially BBQ. It always leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

I have pretty low standards and cut places a ton of slack when I'm at a bbq joint. I can't even begin to figure out how I'd serve a consistent product throughout a lunch or dinner service. With that said, I actually enjoyed the food at Piggy Park. I tasted smoke and the beef was fairly moist.

I was glad I tried it, and the sauce. It's good to know it's a decent representation of the style. I make a sauce that's fairly similar, so I know I'm not missing out on much ;-)