Real BBQ comes from the heart
Cock Pit BBQ only opened last April , but it's already on the South Carolina Barbeque Association’s “100 Mile BBQ List,” an honor that only twenty-three pits in the state claim . It’s located in the shadow of Williams-Brice Stadium and in less than 24 months, the restaurant has built a reputation with sports fans so strong that it begs to remain tradition .
For the Herring family, owners and operators of Cock Pit, barbecue is in their blood. According to head chef and patriarch, Ralph Herring, the tradition started with his grandfather. “There was no work after the war,” he said. “So grandaddy went to a heavily trafficked area and he dug a hole.”
It was there that Herring’s grandaddy smoked whole pigs “low and slow” all morning and when people left work in the afternoons for lunch, he would open for business.
It was from him that Herring learned the formula for vinegar-based pork, a Midlands staple . For those of you unfamiliar with South Carolina barbecue geography, let me lay it out for you. First of all, “barbecue” here means pulled pork. Second, there are three types of bases. In the lower part of the state, they use a tomato base. In the midlands, they use vinegar. And in the upstate, mustard-based bbq reigns supreme.
As a barbecue fan from the Blueridge foothills, I am a born and bred lover of mustard-based pulled pork. It takes a lot for me to say that vinegar makes for the best barbecue. But I have to say, the vinegar and citrus base at Cock Pit is good. I’d even go so far as to day it’s damned good — so good that I ate an entire sandwich basket in less than a minute and a half.
It’s no wonder that on game days, the line snakes out around the parking lot. On those special Saturdays in South Carolina, Cock Pit serves up over five hundred pounds of barbecue. And they’ve been known to run out.
“We make everything fresh and serve it fast, but we want people to know that this isn’t fast food,” said Brooks Herring, administrator and Ralph’s son .
And he’s not kidding. Barbecue is about as slow a food as you can get. It takes over ten hours to smoke a pig. Multiply that by how much meat it takes to quell the game day crowd, and you’re looking as the slowest food you’ve ever seen.
And the Herrings don’t believe in gas or electric when it comes to cooking. They fix all of their pork in a competition-grade, custom-built smoker, stoked with hickory wood. On Friday nights during football season, the Herrings cook all throughout the night. Brooks sleeps on a cot next to the bar so that he can keep a close watch on the smoker.
“I had season football tickets, but it’s hard to get out of this place,” Brooks said.
His father laughed. “I’ve been to one football game,” he said. “It was in ‘69. We’re not gonna talk about that.”
I ask if they’ve ever thought about participating on the competitive barbecue circuit, to which Ralph says, “I compete everyday. When somebody walks in here, I just won.”
And with Brooks working 80 to100 hours per week, it’s hard to imagine either one of them spending the weekend away from the pit.
But next year, Brooks will begin his career as a student at USC. A military man and weapons expert, he has been looking forward to this day for six years. “I’ve wanted to go to Carolina for a long time,” he said. It’s a kind of homecoming for Brooks Herring. He admits that he’s unsure how it will affect Cock Pit, but he remains optimistic.
They’ve recently added a delivery service for which Brooks hopes to hire more drivers . “Right now it’s just me and my truck,” he said.
And he's looking to expand, as well. Ralph’s menu keeps expanding, and customers keep showing up.
“Not to move, but to build on,” he said. “We’ve got the customers. We just need more space. It restricts us.”
The Herrings aren’t just spending all their time on pork — they’ve also got chicken and an award-winning brisket on the menu. (Texans, are you listening?) Ralph says when his family grew over the years (“from 13 people, to 200”) many members moved away. He was sent the brisket recipe from family in Devine, Texas. It’s so good that it’s also featured on the SC BBQ Association’s “100 Mile” list . That’s no small feat in South Carolina.
While I’m there, Cock Pit is full of people, most of whom the Herrings call by name, and if not that, it’s a raised hand or a nodded head in recognition. They’ve created a local spot in a very globalized city. Brooks gets a call for delivery and waves a thank you over his shoulder as he walks out the door. Ralph disappears into the kitchen, and I sit in the low light for a minute, full and happy. There’s a certain camaraderie between people who have just eaten great food, and everyone in the dining room was feeling it.
Make some time to go see Ralph. He’d love to see you.
Cock Pit BBQ
905A Bluff Road - Across from Williams-Brice Stadium
803-764-0236
Tues - Fri: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Sat: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Open late on gamedays
Closed Sundays and Mondays
What you want:
The sandwich basket with slaw and fries - $7.99
Brisket plate with fried pickles and mac-n-cheese - $16.99
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