The 2025 Georgia Tour Extended – John Tanner’s Barbecue Blog

My last stop in Georgia was at Sconyers, a big old place at 2250 Sconyers Way, just off Bobby Jones Expressway. You’ll be surprised that I didn’t order barbecue. Before I set out from my home in DC, I’d posted an inquiry on the I Love SC BBQ Facebook page and asked who had the best hash — South Carolina barbecue hash — within a few minutes of I-20 between Augusta and Florence, where I planned to eat at Elliot’s BBQ Lounge and spend the night. I went through the many responses and eliminated wonderful places like Carolina, Price’s, Maurice’s, and True BBQ that I’d have loved to have revisited but that would have taken an extra day, at least. I stand astounded at my restraint. That left Sconyers and the Duke’s across the river in Aiken. The first stop was Sconyers at 2250 Sconyers Way.

It’s a big sprawling space with a rustic feel inside as well as out. They serve barbecue by the sandwich, plate, and pound. I went there a couple of times decades ago when I had a voting rights lawsuit involving Augusta, where one of my forbears is one of five generals whose statues grace the Confederate memorial. I didn’t think much of the restaurant (seemed like a gas cooker) but Sconyers was and is very popular. They also serve hash, so I got a cup to go.

This is good hash with a deep rich flavor. I got excited because it also included some chicken — that largest whitish lump there in the upper left center, if that makes sense. I studied it and tasted it by itself, and I am convinced that it was chicken. Here was an apparent example of the fusion of hash and Brunswick stew along the Georgia-South Carolina marches. I looked online and found two recipes here and here for Georgia hash that included chicken. I grant that could have been just an odd hunk not large enough to serve so they threw in to avoid waste, but that’s my theory and I’m stickin’ to it. For now. I welcome your thoughts.

Then on to Duke’s. I went across the Savannah River into South Carolina, down sundry roads, and found it at 4248 Whiskey Road.

Duke’s is another huge place, much more modern in feel than Sconyers, and it too was chock full of diners,

all of whom were in thrall to the long, long buffet.

That view doesn’t even get to the fried food section. If I’d eaten there I never would have made it to Eliot’s. I instead got a cup of hash to go, and went to my car to eat it.

That photo was taken inside the car, but I put it on the hood to open the lid and eat in deference to our new car seat covers. It’s a very good hash, tangy with South Carolina’s characteristic use of mustard. It was looser than Sconyer’s, just the thing to put over rice, but excellent on its own. Some of the bits of meat were very light in color, and I thought at first that Duke’s may have used chicken in addition to pork and beef. But I checked James Roller’s authoritative (and lively) Going Whole Hog, and there’s no chicken in Duke’s hash. I guess it was just the pork white meat.

I throughly enjoyed both versions, and if you’re looking for some hash along the Georgia-South Carolina border near the Gnat Line, stop by Sconyers or Dukes.

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