Charleston’s Original Barbecue Family Celebrates 80 years of Mustard-Based Sauce
Barbecue lovers around the country acknowledge differences in regional flavors of sauces and meats served. However, many devotees may not know Joseph Bessinger’s influence on the creation of the mustard-based barbecue sauce that has become synonymous with South Carolina barbecue. It was on the family farm in Orangeburg, SC that Big Joe Bessinger’s ten year old son, Melvin, found his daddy in a shed mixing mustard with vinegar and spices. That golden amalgam would eventually become the unrivaled mustard based BBQ sauce for generations of South Carolinians.
By 1939 word had spread of Big Joe’s barbecue pork, cooked inside a pit dug deep in the ground, then slathered with his secret mustard based sauce. With encouragement from his wife, Joe traded the family’s cow and mule plus $50 for a café in nearby Holly Hill on Main Street. In 1939 the Holly Hill Cafe opened, serving mustard-based barbecue, until the Great Depression hit, forcing Joe to close the doors and return to farming.
Big Joe’s third son, Melvin, brought that dream back to life when he returned from World War ll a decorated war hero. Using his Army paychecks, Melvin bought a second piece of land in Holly Hill and with his Dad’s help, opened Eat at Joe’s Restaurant.
Melvin and Joe worked around the clock serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. All-wood smoked pigs slathered with the acclaimed mustard based BBQ sauce became the tradition at Eat at Joe’s. The smoky aroma and the lore of the Golden Secret® BBQ Sauce attracted friends and kin from miles away.
Eat at Joe’s came to be a landmark in the mid-lands of South Carolina. The journey was not complete for those traveling US 301 through Holly Hill on the way to Florida without stopping for a taste of BBQ and Big Joe’s secret mustard sauce.
With the impending construction of I-26, Melvin’s vision for the restaurantexpanded beyond the legendary road stop. Realizing that traffic would be diverted away from Holly Hill, he imagined a broader map for the family BBQ business.
In 1958, Melvin made a bold move away from Eat at Joe’s in Holly Hill to the City of Charleston. With the help of his younger brother Thomas, Melvin opened Piggy Park Drive-In on Savannah Highway in 1961, serving the same delicious and tangy mustard based barbecue that his daddy had taught him how to make back in Holly Hill. After a decade in business the two brothers decided to rename their establishment Bessinger’s-“The Barbecue Family,” hoping to relieve confusion over ownership of multiple restaurants being called Piggy Park Drive-Ins in Charleston and Columbia.
Barbecue lovers around the country acknowledge differences in regional flavors of sauces and meats served. However, many devotees may not know Joseph Bessinger’s influence on the creation of the mustard-based barbecue sauce that has become synonymous with South Carolina barbecue. It was on the family farm in Orangeburg, SC that Big Joe Bessinger’s ten year old son, Melvin, found his daddy in a shed mixing mustard with vinegar and spices. That golden amalgam would eventually become the unrivaled mustard based BBQ sauce for generations of South Carolinians.
By 1939 word had spread of Big Joe’s barbecue pork, cooked inside a pit dug deep in the ground, then slathered with his secret mustard based sauce. With encouragement from his wife, Joe traded the family’s cow and mule plus $50 for a café in nearby Holly Hill on Main Street. In 1939 the Holly Hill Cafe opened, serving mustard-based barbecue, until the Great Depression hit, forcing Joe to close the doors and return to farming.
Big Joe’s third son, Melvin, brought that dream back to life when he returned from World War ll a decorated war hero. Using his Army paychecks, Melvin bought a second piece of land in Holly Hill and with his Dad’s help, opened Eat at Joe’s Restaurant.
Melvin and Joe worked around the clock serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. All-wood smoked pigs slathered with the acclaimed mustard based BBQ sauce became the tradition at Eat at Joe’s. The smoky aroma and the lore of the Golden Secret® BBQ Sauce attracted friends and kin from miles away.
Eat at Joe’s came to be a landmark in the mid-lands of South Carolina. The journey was not complete for those traveling US 301 through Holly Hill on the way to Florida without stopping for a taste of BBQ and Big Joe’s secret mustard sauce.
With the impending construction of I-26, Melvin’s vision for the restaurantexpanded beyond the legendary road stop. Realizing that traffic would be diverted away from Holly Hill, he imagined a broader map for the family BBQ business.
In 1958, Melvin made a bold move away from Eat at Joe’s in Holly Hill to the City of Charleston. With the help of his younger brother Thomas, Melvin opened Piggy Park Drive-In on Savannah Highway in 1961, serving the same delicious and tangy mustard based barbecue that his daddy had taught him how to make back in Holly Hill. After a decade in business the two brothers decided to rename their establishment Bessinger’s-“The Barbecue Family,” hoping to relieve confusion over ownership of multiple restaurants being called Piggy Park Drive-Ins in Charleston and Columbia.
