Big T Bar-B-Q

Food taste is not bad but the servers on the line are not maintaining the food to a proper holding temperature. Just a matter of time before someone gets sick.

My wife sometimes gets in the mood for bbq and for a quick fix we got to Dickies down the street. So glad i turned to Unilocal to see if anything else was close by. Glad i did… so much more bang for your buck. Great portion size. Pulled Pork was amazing, the mac n cheese was pretty damn good and the hash and rice was great too. But… some of the worst ribs i have ever ate. Corn bread was very dry too. But even with the bad ribs, I’d go back to try other things… my advice… stick to the pork and hash, try their «hot» sauce too.

I have visited Big T’s several times, and it never fails to be a great experience. I had the bbq pull pork sandwhich combo. Bbq sandwhich was outstanding, with a delicious mustard based sauce, tender and juicy pork on a soft bun. Serving sizes were excellent for the sandwhuch, french fries and cole slaw. My wife had fried flounder, collard greens, candied yams and green beans, and she thought the entire meal was fantastic. Collard greens were very flavorful, candied yams were delicious. Fried flounder was prepared exactly as she ordered, and was delicious. The prices were very affordable as well. The entire staff was very friendly and professional. Will definitely be a regular patron and spread the word on this awesome restaurant.

I love this BBQ. The meat is cooked in true southern style! I have never had any better hash. The portions are huge. You won’t go away hungry

Absolutely disgusting, everything was nasty. Our family will never go back. The food was not fresh and we had to ask for them to bring fresh food out. It was a waste of time because it was not good.

Loved the BBQ sandwiches and the sauce, very tender meat. The ribs were a little on the dry side for my taste. I would come here again and just get the sandwich.

Very disappointed. Ordered the BBQ chicken (white meat) which was dry as ever. The skin was this grey color with yellow spots. The red velvet cake was also dry and did not have cream cheese frosting. The cake was returned and we got our money back for it. Also, the ladies working behind the counter should be wearing hair nets, at least I think they should. The food was inexpensive so I guess I got what I paid for. My dining experience here was poor to say the least.

Hole in the hall. Run by a family. Not high quality. Not healthy at all, but man this place is the truth. Very good southern style BBQ and they give you so much food. All of the BBQ that falls out of your sandwich while eating it leaves a large enough portion for another whole meal. Definitely try it at least once.

Didn’t floor me but holds a place as the destination when your sick of your usual routine. The food reminds me if eating at my friends parents house. The food is different them I’m used to but that is a good thing. Home style cooking and a down home style décor. I’ll be back, I don’t know when but ill be back.

Big T is the quintessential BBQ experience in Columbia. It’s a hole in the wall. It’s a dive. It’s a ma-​n-​pa shop. But that’s what real southern BBQ is all about. Everything is cooked on the spot, and when they run out of something, they’re out. There is nothing fancy about Big T, but it’s solid home cooked ‘cue n fixins.
Let’s start with the shredded pork because let’s face it, a SC bbq shack is nothing without good shredded pork. Theirs is to me, the best in Columbia for one simple reason: the texture. For some reason, most pork you get in town is this amalgamation of pork and some form of rendered fat. It ends up in this kind of half meat/​half liquid glob. I blame this on most places using a processed product. Big T’s cue is juicy and smoky, but still has enough dryness to it to make me know that I’m eating smoked flesh. Their mustard sauce is authentic, much more so than the sweet crap you get from the bigot. I would recommend going for the hot version, as it’s really not very spicy at all, but adds in a little chili flavor.
If you are in to ribs, I am told theirs are solid, but I am not a rib guy. Surprisingly enough, they actually have a fantastic chicken sandwich if you’re not in the mood for bbq.
As for fixins, the mac-​n-​cheese is amazing. Truly amazing. There is nothing that special about it, it’s just extremely well done, homemade mac-​n-​cheese. I would say it’s the second best you can get in town, next to Solstice’s crack-​n-​cheese (though it’s not technically mac n cheese). The hash is fantastic as well, and i like to personally mix my pork in with the hash. The green beans are very good, but the collards are so so. Always go with the cornbread out of the two options. It’s not stellar, but it’s better than the store bought dinner roll.
The sweet tea here is fantastic also. Just like I make at home. This is often overlooked, but is very important to any bbq shack. Honestly, I believe you can judge a bbq book by its sweet tea cover.
Finally, the price. You can feed a family of 4 for $ 15 here. I’m not kidding. If it’s just you, if you’ve got a huge appetite, order the Big T (bbq, hash, 2 sides, and choice of bread). I myself can’t even usually handle an entire Lil T (same as a Big T minus one side).
One final point. This is the location in NE Columbia. Most people will tell you that this location is the exact same as the Garners Ferry location. While they do have the same menu and same recipes, the Garners Ferry location is always much more crowded, but imho, this location’s food always seems better.

Big T’s is the truth. This is the epitome of good olé southern BBQ. The food is not high quality, but it is really really good and a ton of food. If you ate it everyday you would weigh 400lbs. seriously. I first went in there with low expectations and it blew me away and I really enjoyed it. I took some friends there and they had the same experience. Just make sure you get some type of BBQ dinner or sandwich and macaroni and cheese and you will be amazed if you can enjoy good southern style food.

Be prepared to get the ‘itis’ if you eat here. My family and I are fans of their food. My mother LOVES their BBQ pork and I love their sides. My only complaint is that the collard greens are too salty sometimes. You get a good portion for what you pay, so (as a light eater) I always order my meal to go.
The restaurant itself isn’t nothing fancy, and it seems like they prepare the food in large quantities. The food is always hot, and if they may make what they don’t have readily available. Key word is may.

I had a barbeque=(shredded pork w/​mustard based sauce) and rib dinner mac n cheese. Hash-​mystery meat of the pork kind was also included poured on a bed of rice, I tasted it but did not like that. Overall the meal was good.