Southern Living Magazine has named McCabe's Bar-B-Que on U.S. 521 in Manning as one of its Top 50 BBQ Joints in the South.
The list was compiled by Robert Moss, the magazine's barbecue columnist.
"There are plenty of barbecue buffets in the Midlands and Pee Dee region of South Carolina, but none can match the consistent high-quality of McCabe's," Moss wrote in his review of the restaurant.
McCabe's didn't start out to be a barbecue Mecca, co-owner David McCabe told The Manning Times in 2010. Rather, David and his brother, Terry McCabe, were looking for a side business 30 years ago to build upon what David says was just a hobby. That's when they bought the place from a Mr. Haley.
Mr. Haley served barbecue, hash and rice. That was it.
The McCabes added vegetables, fried chicken and hushpuppies. Today, David's son, Arnie, operates the business with them.
David said in 2010 - shortly after the restaurant on the top of another list, specifically "Gun and Garden" magazine - that McCabe’s barbecue is made from the whole hog, shoulders and hams, cooked 10 to 12 hours.
“It combines all the parts,” he said. “It enhances and helps the taste.”
Shoulders are moister and hams are more stringy and chewy. It’s the blend that gives McCabe’s its texture. The sauce gives it the taste.
“That’s the big secret,” David said. “It’s vinegar based with salt, pepper and ketchup and the secret ingredient.”
Restaurant reviewers note a sweetness to the sauce but can never put their fingers on it. It’s made in 50-gallon vats, and the restaurant’s hash is made in a 50-gallon pressure cooker.
"Everything on the small steamtable - the pulled pork, steeped in peppery vinegar sauce, the friend chicken, the sweet potatoes, greens, hushpuppies and coleslaw - is top-notch," Moss writes.
Seven other South Carolina restaurants were included on Moss's list, including nearby Cooper's Country Store in Salters, which the columnist called "a throwback to the early days of commercial barbecue, which often started off as side businesses at gas stations, motels and country stores."
"Still a roadside general store, it stocks everything from hardware and case iron pans to buckets of lard and country hams," Moss said.
But it's the barbecue Moss focused on the most.
"Don't miss the barbecue: (It's) a whole hog pulled into long, thin strands soaked through with a fiery Pee Dee style vinegar sauce," Moss said.
Others named on the list included Cannon's Barbecue of Little Mountain; Carolina Bar-B-Que of New Ellenton; Henry's Smokehouse in Greenville; Hite's Bar-B-Que of West Columbia; Home Team BBQ of Charleston; and Jackie Hite's of Leesville.
See next week's Manning Times for more.
