Maurice's BBQ - Columbia - TravBuddy

Okay, I know I have't written anything in a long time and since I'm not hitting the road anytime in the near future - I guess I'd put pen to paper so to speak.

This review will be one in a series about my bbq road trip around the USA. Yes, I took a road trip to sample some of the country's best (and not so great) bbq joints. The first write up will be about Maurice's in Columbia, South Carolina. Now what sticks in mind about this place wasn't the food nor the price. Both of which were pretty average. What stuck was the decor of the place, which I will get to last.

On with the review. Maurice's is a small family owned bbq joint located in South Carolina. There's a few stores, but nothing like a mega chain set up. I believe there are actually less then ten stores. Those of you who know bbq know that there are two camps when it comes to sauces. Camp one is the ketchup (did I spell this right?) base red sauce. And camp two is the mustard base sauces. Hence, the more yellowish color instead of reddish. Both are great in my book if done right.

Now on this road trip, it was more business then actually fun. But since I was here, I figured I'd give it a shot. Once you get inside, there is the usually set of everything on the menu board or get a little of everything on the buffet line. I usually avoid buffets for oblivous reasons (old reused food, and poor quality). But my buddy wanted to pig out, so the two of us got the buffet. Now everything was covered in the yellowish bbq sauce. The ribs were a bit old and dry and not very tender. The chicken was about the same. However, I will admit the sides were pretty decent. I love a great mac and cheese. And Maurice's buffet offering of it was pretty good. And if you grew up in the south, then you have to know what collard greens are. Their's was nice and tasty with big chuncks of bacon and onions in it. And the dirty rice was really good. With a nice blend of seasonings, sausage and rice.

Now on to the decor. Those of you who know me, will know that I'm of eurasian mix and can pass for a variety of minorities. My traveling buddy (Daniel) for this trip was African American. So you can imagine our reaction when we get pass the doors and inside to see a shrine to the Confederate Bible. Yes, a Confederate Bible on an altar for all to read. Flanked not by one, but by two Confederate Civil War uniforms on each side. And with more Rebel flags on the walls then I could remember. There were even framed news articles about how the city and county has been trying to shut down Maurice's because of their family southern views. There was even a blown up article about of the family's son who had passed away. Was buried in full Confederate uniform with full Confederate military honors. Yes, trust me there were pictures of it and everything.

So you can imagine Daniel and I pretty much just stopped in our tracks as soon as we were inside. We stop in our tracks and EVERYONE in the place turned and looked at us. Yes, of course they were all white. And out of no where (it seemed at the time, but actually it just came out of Daniel's mouth for all to hear)...."shit, all they need are some sheets". By now my mind is racing and looking for ways to get out alive. But Daniel stuck to his guns and walked up to the counter and ordered the buffet. So I followed suit. It wasn't too bad once everyone stopped looking at us. But yes, we ate quickly and quietly and we left the same :-)