Charleston is entering a smoked meats revival — it started with Swig & Swine, then continued with the proliferation of Lowcountry favorite Home Team BBQ, picked up speed with the announcement of a "brisket missionary" moving to town, and now former pub Egan & Sons is resurrecting as a barbecue restaurant.
Egan's chef Kyle Yarbrough will still be in the kitchen at the soon-to-be-named meatery. Yarbrough tells us he started smoking proteins back in the La Fourchette days for parties and would routinely sell out when they featured it at Egan & Sons. He also says city officials very recently gave the restaurant permission to place a smokehouse behind the establishment.
The interiors of 5 Cumberland St. were transformed with help from general manager Kristen Leahy. She sourced reclaimed wood for the walls, tables, and decor from an ancient cotton mill in Whitmire, South Carolina, where Yarbrough grew up. She transformed the abandoned boards into something beautiful. Previous to her move to Charleston, Leahy built dining rooms in Philadelphia for big names, like restaurateur Stephen Starr.
The barbecue establishment is still a few weeks out from opening, but check back here for a name reveal and menu details.