Three different people had asked me if I had eaten at Willie Jewell’s so I figured I had better go by and check it out. A friend of mine (a Master Judge) predicted that it would be good but overpriced.  Well, he was wrong on both points: It wasn’t “good” it was very good and not overpriced at all.

In fact, when I saw the plate they brought out, I was stunned at the amount resting there.  It was enough for two people!  Indeed, I carried enough barbeque home for a good supper.

I ordered what they call a “Big Ol’ Platter” with two sides.  It was a very large pile of pulled pork along with two generous sides and a piece of buttered Texas Toast. 

The two sides I ordered were baked beans and hash and rice.  Willie Jewell’s hash and rice is the only helping of that delicacy that I would actually choose over Maurice’s, which has been my favorite for decades.  It was that good.  The beans were great, better than almost everyone else’s beans and I was very pleasantly surprised by it all.

They serve four different sauces which is dispensed from a central bank of pumps.  They have small plastic cups which you can fill and take to your table or carry home if you do as I did, that is, take half of it home.  Their four sauces were: Hot Mama, Low Country Gold, Sweet and Sassy brown sauce that looks like the usual Kraft brown sauce and Hickory Haven.  The Hot Mama and Low Country Gold were good and they actually enhanced the barbeque rather than cover up the taste as some sauces do.

In fact, the trip to Willie Jewell’s was so good I’m looking forward to going back and trying their ribs.  If their ribs are as good as their pulled pork and their sides, Willie Jewell’s will probably be elevated to 100 Mile BBQ status.

The Willie Jewell’s menu includes beef brisket plus smoked turkey and sausage, as well as their wood smoked pulled port, ribs and smoked wings.  They serve stackers and sandwiches as well as corn fritters, onion rings, fried pickles and fried okra as snacks.

Their sides are baked beans, Cole slaw and Brunswick stew.  They also have hush puppies, mac and cheese, green beans and the ever-present French fries. I plan to try the Brunswick stew and Cole slaw next time and if they are as good as the beans and hash and rice they will be winners. 

I didn’t get any dessert but if I wanted an after dinner sweet touch they have peach cobbler and bread pudding, plus the always appreciated banana pudding.

Willie Jewell’s is a new building with some cute décor signs that mostly say things like “Farm Eggs Sold Here,” “DeKalb Hybrid Corn” and other new copies of older signs. Sort of a reasonably enjoyable atmosphere.  You order when you come in and they bring it to your table.  If it had been a buffet I wouldn’t have taken out as much as they brought me.

Willie Jewell’s is located at the juncture of I-20 and highway 378 or from another direction, where Corley Mill Road comes into Highway 378.  It is in the Saluda Pointe Court which is at I-20 and Highway 378.

If you try it out I predict you will be pleased.