Rodney Scott

Where They Are Now

Whole hog barbecue carries both inheritance and discipline, and Rodney Scott’s career has been shaped by both. At Scott's Variety Store and Bar-B-Q in Hemingway, South Carolina (2011–2016), he took over the family barbecuing business and worked within the daily rhythm of the pit, where continuity and technique were inseparable. That period established the foundation of his signature style: rooted in family practice, but carried forward under his own direction. Expansion did not change the underlying method. In 2017, Rodney Scott partnered with Nick Pihakis and opened Rodney Scott's BBQ at Rodney Scott's BBQ in Charleston, South Carolina (from 2017), moving the work into a new setting without altering its core commitments. The name traveled, but so did the same fire and the same reliance on tradition, now scaled for a broader audience while still tied to the methods that defined the operation. The same model extended to Rodney Scott's BBQ at Rodney Scott's BBQ in Birmingham, Alabama (from 2019), and then to a fourth Rodney Scott's BBQ location at Rodney Scott's BBQ in Alabama (from 2021). With each opening, the footprint widened, but the technical through line remained consistent: whole hog barbecue practiced as a disciplined craft, one that depends on endurance as much as momentum. In Scott’s career, growth has been an extension of the original work, not a departure from it.

Signature

Rodney's signature dishes include Rodney Scott's World of BBQ. The name signals the scope of the work: barbecue treated as its own field, with room for lineage, technique, and personal expression in the same frame.

In Their Words “I believe that that's one of the reasons why whole hog is so rare.” “For Rodney Scott, barbecue is less a food and more an idea.”

Recognition

Rodney Scott has received James Beard Foundation — Best Chef Southeast (2018).