In this age of self promotion, Instabooks, Snapgrams and all other related ballyhoo, it is always nice to come across what could best be described as a throwback. Ted Huffman fits that bill perfectly.
If you don’t know Ted, then you just haven’t been around long enough. Everyone knows Ted and Ted knows everyone. That’ll happen when you move somewhere new and spend the next 3 or so decades working in that same somewhere new on a few different things.
He’s run for local office and lost. He’s run for local office and won. His wife Donna created a local magazine and grew that into its own business for about a decade. The Huffmans have been as much a part of the fabric in Bluffton as some of the moss hanging from those trees. It has been that way since they got here.
They can also put out some pretty darn good BBQ.
Bluffton BBQ has been the Huffman’s baby for about 12 years now. It was part of the plan way back when the Old Town Promenade was just an idea on paper. The brick building that houses Bluffton’s most famous BBQ looks like it’s been there 200 years.
“People ask me how long this has been here all the time.” Ted tells me.
That’s a lot of the charm. There is plenty of it to go around.
Bluffton BBQ is a one room operation. Kitchen in the back, smoker outside. They seat about 30-40 people. Right in front of the register is an old aluminum bucket with ice, some soft drinks and some bottles of beer. If they like you, they’ll give you one. The message is simple ‘be nice.’ Of course, most people are.
Everything you eat in this slice of Americana is made about 10-15 feet away from where you are eating it. The smokers run overnight a few nights a week. More when necessary. The pulled pork and the ribs are the stars here. There’s also some chicken. Never brisket.
“To do brisket right” Ted says “You’ve got to slice it to order. And we just get too busy at lunch time to do that all day long.”
The chicken is the one thing they run out of the most. Sometimes they’ll take phone calls from area offices asking how many chickens they are smoking and they all get purchased just after opening. It does happen. What happens next? Someone will show up at noon thinking they are guaranteed some BBQ Chicken because they were ‘early.’
“We have to tell them the chicken is gone even though we just opened.”
“People get upset with us.”
The best BBQ spots will make just enough to cover that day. Same goes here. You know the drill. When it is gone, it is gone.
My go-to here has always been their pulled pork sandwich (photo above). 1/4 pound of pulled pork, some of Ted’s Red Sauce and a slice of tomato on Texas Toast. It’s the best $7.50 lunch you will find in the county. I cannot tell you the number of times I’ve stopped for one when I’m racing all over the area on my way back to Savannah at lunch time.
Those tomatoes, by the way, in season, are picked up once a week from the Bluffton Farmers Market. I saw it myself one Thursday when I had the honor of riding through town with Sir Ted in his golf cart.
It doesn’t get much more local than that.
I have yet to try a side I didn’t like. Even collard greens, which I’m not the biggest fan of, are very good. How do I know? Ted and Donna made me taste some in their kitchen one day. It was clear I wasn’t leaving until I did. Same goes for their Sweet Potato Casserole. It could double as a dessert. It’s their most popular side along with the Brunswick Stew which is also delicious.
I could riff for another few paragraphs about the experience at Bluffton BBQ, but I think you get the picture. This is an Old Town Bluffton treasure. Made even more so by your experience when you walk through the door.
If Ted isn’t busy, he’ll greet you, maybe bring you your food. He’s always good for a chat. Food, Sports or Politics. If each of you have got the time, he’ll fill your notebook. Want to learn more about Bluffton and how it got to where it is? He will share some of that too. I’ve never even held it against him that he’s a Florida Gators fan. Ew.
Go see Ted and Donna. If you are lucky, they’ll buy you a beer. Which is a bonus because I already know you will Eat It and Like It.
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