Chimney Sweep in Hollywood, SC

HOLLYWOOD — The South Carolina barbecue scene is in a curious spot these days. Just a few decades ago, smoked meat scholars lauded the state’s four distinct sauce zones: thin tomato in the Piedmont, thick tomato along the Savannah River, mustard in the Midlands and vinegar-and-pepper in the Pee Dee.

Those delineations have blurred and merged in the 21st century. From Pickens to Beaufort, joints routinely put squeeze bottles with all four varieties on the tables along with a few out-of-state interlopers.

There’s one such interloper at Easton Barbecue Co. in Hollywood, which opened rather quietly last fall. The menu board includes “Bama White” alongside the four canonical styles. It also offers beef brisket, which was once an exotic species in these parts but has now been thoroughly assimilated.

It’s well worth the drive out Highway 17 through Ravenel to sample that blend of old and new. The standing lineup includes smoked chicken wings ($19.95 a dozen), ribs ($18 per half rack), pulled pork ($10 for a half pound) and brisket ($16 per half pound).

The smoky, tender strands of pork are infused with a nice vinegar tang. The spareribs are even better — meaty, neatly-trimmed slabs with a big bold bite and a balanced, firm-but-tender texture.

I’ve yet to sample Easton's brisket in its sliced form, for I skipped it in favor of the Carolina specialties on my initial visit, and it was sold out when I arrived for my second. I can only assume it’s pretty darned good, though, for the chopped and ground versions are excellent.

The smoked brisket smashburger ($15) doesn’t overcomplicate things: a double stack of well-seared patties, each draped in melted American cheese, atop a layer of tender grilled onions, housemade pickles and pale orange “special sauce.” Beefy, gooey, salty, chewy: it hits all the buttons in a compact, if somewhat messy, package.

The Colonel ($17) is normally made with sliced beef, but I can’t imagine that being any better than the chopped variant I tried. The glistening beef is mounded high on a soft kaiser bun and draped in a blanket of gooey, slightly grainy queso and tender grilled onions, a schmear of chipotle and horseradish aioli adding extra creaminess and zip.

Don’t limit yourself to the regular menu board, though. Perched at the edge of the counter is a small chalkboard in the shape of a pig, and that little porker will guide you to fine treasures, such as the day’s sandwich special. Recent examples have included pastrami cheesesteaks, unagi-glazed pork belly banh mi and a gussied-up club with smoked turkey, pastrami and bacon.

One notable special has no name, just a tempting description: “shaved pork belly & loin, collards, Provolone, pepper relish, roasted garlic aioli w/ Hog jus on a roll.” For working purposes, let’s call it the Great Googly Moogly, which is what I said when I first bit into the thing.

A long, soft roll encloses a tender foundation of smoky, thin-shaved pork topped with mild melted cheese and sweet pepper relish. Best of all is the layer of chopped collards, which are superbly tangy with a touch of crunch from their chopped stems.

The hog jus, in case you were wondering, comes in a little plastic cup on the side for dunking. I have no idea how one goes about making hog jus, but each dunk into the salty, savory fluid merges the riotous assemblage into an even softer and more flavorful bite.

Far-off flourishes meet SC tradition

How such smoky wonders ended up in Hollywood is a bit of a circuitous story, one that is emblematic of our current barbecue moment.

Back in the 20th century, each region’s distinctive style was shaped by an informal apprenticeship system. In rural areas, the younger generation would learn from their elders while tending the pits at family gatherings and holiday events. As restaurants emerged, teenagers would take jobs at the local barbecue joint, and some ended up taking the recipes and techniques they learned and opening a restaurant of their own, replicating and reinforcing what became highly regionalized styles.

In our more mobile and digitally-connected age, an informal apprenticeship system is still at work, but it’s defined less by geography than by happenstance and individual connections.

Joel Easton, a Sumter native, learned much of his style from another South Carolinian, but only after moving up to the North Carolina mountains. In 2019, he left a health care career to take a job at Asheville’s acclaimed (and recently shuttered) Buxton Hall Barbecue, where he was mentored in the cooking of whole hogs and hash and rice by Florence native Elliott Moss. (Moss has since returned to his hometown to open the very impressive Elliott's BBQ Lounge, but that’s a story for another day.)

Easton launched a pop-up of his own in Asheville, but family brought him down to the Lowcountry, for his mother had a house on Edisto Island. When he happened upon the low-slung gray building on S.C. Highway 162, just a few hundred feet from Hollywood’s lone traffic light, he knew he had found his permanent spot.

The building has housed a series of barbecue restaurants over the years — Black’s BBQ, Boogie’s, Too Good Foods — though none of them had made it onto my radar screen. Easton inherited much of the interior décor from its predecessors, which tends toward corrugated sheet metal, open wooden rafters and mismatched chairs. It still feels like a work in progress.

Also inherited from those previous establishments were a pair of custom-made barbecue pits, both of them black metal behemoths. One is enclosed like Mike Mulligan’s steam shovel inside the small kitchen, while the other is affixed to a battered old trailer parked long ago beneath the trees out back.

Joel Easton told me he does a little overflow cooking on the outdoor pit, but firing up the one in the kitchen would overwhelm the A.C. in an already too-hot workspace. Instead, most of the real work is done on an 84-inch Lang offset smoker in an open-sided shed adjoining the restaurant.

I have a particular admiration for barbecue joints that not only get the big things right — the headline meats, a signature side dish or two — but also apply the same focused attention to each and every element of the meal. Easton checks that box for sure.

The “Joel slaw” ($4), is a generously dressed version of the classic barbecue side, offering a cool, creamy crunch spiked with a tart vinegar bite and a hint of mustard and celery seed. There are no actual bones in the backbone and rice ($4), an old South Carolina hog-killing dish. Served in a little paper boat, Easton’s rendition is a cross between chicken bog and Cajun dirty rice, with distinct grains of spicy rice dotted with bits of smoky pork.

Such regulars are augmented by recurring specials, like cool cubes of sweet watermelon kissed with lime and dusted with barbecue rub, which adds a nice spicy kick. Even the freebies are worth notice: tangy and tart pickled red onions and housemade pickled cucumbers with a fragrant herbal crunch, either of which would fit right in at a top Texas craft barbecue joint.

When Ryan and Rochelle Jaleh first came across the sun-faded resort property tucked against the backdrop of the San Jacinto Mountains, it wasn’t just the architecture or the history that stopped them in their tracks. It was a possibility. The San Clemente couple — designers, entrepreneurs and parents of three — had been searching for their next project. They could have invested in a mobile home park in Alabama or an apartment building in Ohio, but neither option sparked excitement. What they wanted was something alive, something they could rally their friends and family around, something that would allow them to create.

“Time is the most important resource we have,” Ryan said. “We wanted to spend that time on something that could build our family connections and just be a fun thing to do, because at the end of the day, if you’re not having fun, then what’s the point?”

That philosophy led them to Palm Springs, where the property they discovered carried echoes of Old Hollywood. Built in the 1940s by legendary actor Errol Flynn as a members-only playground, the site had long been a symbol of California escapism. Its bones — an eclectic mix of Midcentury and Mediterranean design — were still there, waiting for a revival.

For the Jalehs, who run Archive, a San Clemente-based event rental company they’ve built over the past decade, the hotel was a natural extension of their work.

“We’ve been part of the events industry for years,” Rochelle said. “We thought, what else can we do? We could have a venue where we bring in our rentals, host weddings, corporate events, wellness programs — really make it a beautiful space for everyone. It just flowed as the next evolution for us.”

Reborn as Casa Palma Hotel & Bungalows, the property opened this year with a new identity: part Mediterranean-inspired hideaway, part social club. The boutique resort features 33 serene guestrooms, two glimmering pools, pickleball and tennis courts, and grassy lawns designed for connection and play. A restaurant is set to open soon, adding another layer to the experience.

When asked to describe Casa Palma’s personality, Rochelle answered without hesitation: “Fun. But not pool-party fun of your 20s — it’s elevated fun. You’re playing pickleball, volleyball, lawn games, and you’re doing it with your family and friends.” Ryan added his own description: “Activity, connection and fun.”

Those values aren’t just aspirational — they’re built into the design. From water volleyball nets to outdoor gathering spaces, the Jalehs wanted every corner of Casa Palma to encourage interaction. “Meeting someone over an activity has a completely different level of connection than just sitting at a table,” Ryan said.

The design approach reflects that balance between heritage and reinvention. While Palm Springs is known for its Midcentury Modernism, Casa Palma leans into Mediterranean details — arches, whitewashed walls, natural textures — that echo both Southern California’s Spanish influences and the Jalehs’ travels to Capri.

“In San Clemente, they call it the Spanish Village by the Sea,” Ryan said. “That Mediterranean influence is ingrained in Southern California culture. It wasn’t something that needed reconciling. It was something to enhance.”

Throughout the renovation, they aimed to “listen to the property,” experimenting with details but always circling back to whether their choices honored its roots. The result is a space that feels glamorous yet grounded, historic yet forward-looking.

Of course, bringing a storied property back to life wasn’t without hurdles.

“It always costs more money and takes longer than you expect,” Rochelle conceded. From unforeseen expenses to the sheer scope of work, the process tested their patience. But leaning on lessons from years of entrepreneurship helped. For Rochelle, it was learning to let go of doing everything herself: “We can’t wear every single hat. We have three young children and another business. Trusting the people we brought on was huge.”

Ryan’s lesson was patience. “I looked for two years before I found this property,” he said. “You can’t settle. If you do, that translates into the success of the project. And when things get hard, you need faith and love — for your vision, your product, your employees and your guests.”

Casa Palma also reflects a generational shift in desert travel. While Palm Springs has long been synonymous with lounging poolside with cocktail in hand, today’s travelers want more.

“People are looking for fun, for connection, for ease and beauty,” Ryan said. “They want to play, not just drink all day.”

That philosophy is already resonating. Guests have filled Casa Palma with five-star reviews since opening. Some, like a man who’d stayed at the same Palm Springs hotel for three decades, even switched reservations mid-trip after experiencing Casa Palma. “He had a tattoo of his old hotel,” Ryan said with a laugh. “And he canceled the rest of his stay there to be with us. That’s as validating as it gets.”

For San Clemente locals, the Jalehs want people to see Palm Springs as an easy escape.

“If you love San Clemente, you’ll love Palm Springs,” Rochelle said. “It’s laid-back luxury without pretension. And when May and June are gloomy at the beach, it’s perfect weather in the desert. It’s less than two hours away.”

More than a hotel, Casa Palma represents a continuation of the Jalehs’ story as entrepreneurs who blend business with family, creativity with community. They’ve built a place that honors history while carving out space for new memories.

“Palm Springs has always been about reinvention,” Ryan said. “We wanted Casa Palma to honor its glamorous past while creating a chapter that feels inclusive, inspiring and alive.”

For the Jalehs, that’s the ultimate measure of success — not just reviving a resort, but creating a place where fun, connection and beauty can thrive.