The Soul Roll tends to get ordered before anyone has fully settled in: a house creation of greens and pork served with sauce, the sort of thing you won't find spelled out on many menus. It shares the board with brisket, burnt ends, ribs, hand-pulled pork, and smoked wings, plus a rack of BBQ sauces brought to the table so you can dial in your own plate.
These days Smitty's cooks from a downtown Easley storefront on East Main, a move from its original Calhoun Memorial Highway spot, though the approach hasn't changed since Allen Smith opened in 2018 after teaching himself brisket on a smoker he'd bought on sale. The catering side and the food truck carry the same plates out to weddings, events, and at-home gatherings around the Upstate.
Reviewers keep singling out the brisket and burnt ends as some of the best smoked meat around here, backed by the old-school mac and cheese, seasoned greens, and jalapeño cheddar cornbread a lot of us grew up on, with banana pudding and peach cobbler to finish. It was voted Best New Restaurant of the Upstate in 2023 and has since drawn a widely watched BBQ eating challenge to its counter. Work your way across the smoker and the sides enough times and you'll land on the one favorite that's yours to defend.