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The highly anticipated Atlanta location of Rodney Scott’s BBQ opens Tuesday, July 27, on Metropolitan Parkway across from the Met on the border of the Pittsburgh and Adair Park neighborhoods. The restaurant is known for its South Carolina-style whole hog barbecue, ribs, and chicken and Southern sides like collards, its popular cornbread, and banana pudding by the pint or quart.
Owned by James Beard award-winning chef and pitmaster Rodney Scott and business partner Nick Pihakis and the Pihakis Restaurant Group (Hero Doughnuts, Hot Dog Pete’s), Atlanta becomes the third (and largest) location of the Charleston-based barbecue restaurant.
At nearly 5,000 square feet and seating around 150 people, the Atlanta location features a larger dining room than in Birmingham and Charleston, a screened-in porch and open-air patio, and a bar serving cocktails. The restaurant also includes a walk-up window for takeout and third-party delivery service orders.
For the Atlanta restaurant, Scott had the pit room installed in the kitchen, something he says took years to perfect in terms of engineering. Having an air-conditioned pit room inside allows the cooks to stay cooler while working around the fires and helps the kitchen run more efficiently.
“Some of the advances that we’ve made, some of the things that we’ve learned to adjust over the years and learned how to set up our kitchens, all of this for us is the most advanced restaurant we’ve done yet,” Scott tells Eater of the Atlanta location. “It’s also our best looking restaurant yet.”
Scott began cooking live coal-style and whole hog barbecue when he was just 11 years old, learning the craft from his father. In 1972, his family opened a variety store in Hemingway, South Carolina, where they sold barbecue sandwiches and chicken on Thursdays. Eventually, Scott’s family turned the Thursday barbecue specials into a thriving takeout business.
Rodney Scott’s BBQ first opened in Charleston’s North Central neighborhood in 2017, followed by the Birmingham location in 2019.
Open daily 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; 668 Metropolitan Parkway, Atlanta. rodneyscottsbbq.com.
Accessible via the West End MARTA station and bus route 95 to the Christman Street stop on Metropolitan Parkway.
Disclaimer: The latest CDC guidance for vaccinated diners during the COVID-19 outbreak is here; dining out still carries risks for unvaccinated diners and workers. Please be aware of changing local rules, and check individual restaurant websites for any additional restrictions such as mask requirements. Find a local vaccination site here.
