The Experience
Having previously made the purposeful, destination BBQ trip to Scott’s BBQ in Hemingway, SC back in 2016 to experience the essence of whole hog BBQ before the tradition died (major rumor at the time) and left woefully disappointed, I thought it only right to give Rodney Scott another chance when he opened in Atlanta. So the wife and I set the GPS and made the drive.
Visited mid-afternoon on a Sunday. Interesting looking building with a light crowd. You enter, place your order at the counter, and then self-serve for drinks and silverware while your order is prepared and delivered to your table. Young lady taking orders was very nice and patient with new visitors. We had the three meat combo with whole hog, ribs, and chicken. We were informed the chicken was chopped which I thought strange, but went with it. Got sides of baked beans, collard greens, potato salad, and hush puppies. Not sure why a South Carolina-based BBQ place has hushpuppies (that’s NC to me) but whatever. I do like them. Plate came with a piece of cornbread (which is also a side to order?) and some whipped butter. Also got an order of fried pork skins (something we tried to get in Hemingway, but any way, long story). Took longer than expected for the order to come out given the very light crowd (hey, something familiar from Hemingway, I gotta let it go). Pricing was about as expected for a name brand ATL BBQ joint.
Whole hog was better than Hemingway, but the wife and I just came to conclusion we are not whole hog people. Let me stand over that whole hog and pick and eat the various pieces and I would be in heaven. But chop all those cuts of meat and mix them together, just not our thing. Chicken was OK, a bit dry, but mostly I still do not understand why the chicken is pulled off the bone (not chopped as the order taker stated). Strange to me. Just give me the normal quarter chicken, dark or white. Ribs were a bit tough where you had to tear off the bone with your teeth, with OK flavor. Sides were equally OK, at least they seemed made there instead from the big box store (Hemingway, looking at you and that Sam’s bucket of potato salad). Order of preference was probably: hushpuppies, greens, potato salad, and beans. No side really stood out.
Sauces were a bit of a conundrum. They had Rodney’s Sauce, Other Sauce, Kathy’s Sauce, Bama 16, and white sauce. They first four were on the table, had to ask for the white sauce which they brought it a portion cup. Rodney’s was the vinegar sauce you would expect with whole hog, the Other was a more typical ketchup base, Kathy’s was a sweet sauce, and the Bama 16 was another ketchup-based. Why is there a Bama sauce at a South Carolina restaurant, got me, and it was not the white sauce as might be expected. Inversely, no mustard sauce at a SC BBQ joint? Seems so.
The hit of the table: the pork skins dipped in white sauce. Go figure.
It was all OK. We ate it. Do I need another Rodney Scott experience? Probably not. We would go back if someone else was buying.