Restaurant Review: Burk's BBQ, Rock Hill, SC

Since we had spent last weekend at the beach with a lot of driving involved, Sara didn't wish to drive long distances today for our weekly BBQ excursion. I recalled reading about barbecue hash in a recent Charlotte Observer food article, and had noted that the restaurant, Burk's BBQ, was in nearby Rock Hill, SC, so we decided to go there.

It's easy to find, right on US 21 in Rock Hill (called Cherry Road there), in a storefront:



A photo of the menu:



You order at the counter and the staff brings the food to you. Sara ordered her customary small pork plate, I ordered my customary large pork plate, and we decided to share a plate of the barbecue hash between us, since it had been the point of the food article.

Here's my plate, with mustard-based sauce, hush puppies and steak fries:



Here's Sara's plate, with the red tomato-based sauce, sides same as mine:



And here is a photo of the barbecue hash. The article from The Charlotte Observer describes it thus: "Take beef brisket, Boston butt pork, sweet red pepper, onion, cook them in a pot for five hours, maybe more, till the meat's just falling apart. Remove any fat. Then add back some of the broth, a little mustard, a dash of vinegar."



The barbecue was outstanding, being moist and succulent, finely chopped, with a good mixture of outside brown meat and inside white meat. The mustard-based sauce on mine was very tasty; in color it wasn't as obviously yellow as other mustard-based sauces I've tried, but there was still a definite mustard tang to it. The tomato-based red sauce in Sara's 'cue was good too, but not quite as good as the mustard-based sauce.

The hash was good, but suffered in comparison with the barbecue, which, as I said already, was outstanding. Sara and I divided the hash between us, and we ate it all in addition to our own plates. It would be a good dish to eat by itself as a change of pace from the barbecue.

The sides were good. The hush puppies were sweet and freshly cooked, as were the large steak fries. Sara had iced tea for her drink, I had Diet Dr. Pepper (it comes in 20-ounce bottles at Burk's).

Still wanting to fill up the corners after that great meal, we decided to try another item from the menu, "apple sticks," which turned out to be small deep-fried turnover-type treats filled with apple pie filling and rolled in cinnamon sugar after frying:



Same size as fried mozzarella sticks or chicken fingers, and simply delicious, cooked to order, so they come to the table hot and fresh. Wonderful.

The restaurant is, as I have said, in a storefront in a strip mall. The walls are covered with photographs of TV and movie stars, mostly from the '70's and '80's. Sara reported that the ladies' room is covered with beefcake pictures of Tom Selleck. Intrigued, I checked the men's room for cheescake pictures of female starlets, but no such luck, the walls there were bare.

Folks, I have to give Burk's BBQ my first 5 out of 5 on my rating scale: 5 out of 5: great; excellent food, cooked fresh. Staff attentive and proactive, management responsive to complaints. Restaurant spotless.

It's well worth visiting.


update: Burk's BBQ is no longer in business as of 10 July 2013.