Maurice's Gourmet Barbeque to open Monday

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Maurice's Gourmet Barbeque, a chain embroiled in controversy in the past over the racial views of its founder, will open in North Augusta on Monday.

The new restaurant will be in the old Friedman's Jewelers in the Shoppes at North Augusta, near Wal-Mart on Knox Avenue.

It will be the 18th Maurice's to open in South Carolina, said Chris Bennett, the vice president of the restaurant chain.

"We've always had people asking from the Aiken and North Augusta area for a Maurice's down this way, and we finally had the means to do so," Mr. Bennett said.

Maurice's will be open Sunday to Thursday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Friday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The restaurant features dine-in and carry-out service.

In 2000, Wal-Mart pulled Maurice Bessinger's mustard-based barbecue sauce from its shelves after he took the U.S. flag down outside his Columbia-area restaurants and began flying the Confederate and South Carolina flags.

The retailer also said that Mr. Bessinger sold tracts at his restaurants justifying slavery. Several other grocery chains, including Kroger, Publix, Food Lion, Bi-Lo and Winn-Dixie, followed suit.

Comments

TonydeMedici

Great News! When in Columbia, I never miss a visit to Maurice's. The best BBQ in the world. Finally, something other than the same old (and I do mean old) choices for those of us that appreciate real "Southern" BBQ flavor! And there jingle isn't a rib-off of "Dixie" :-) Mr. Bennett, I applaud your choice of North Augusta. As a resident we are in dire need of new dining establishments and I can't think of anything I would prefer to Maurice's. If you need any help with your advertising and Marketing, may I suggest Medici Media right here in North Augusta. www.medicimediainc.com Good luck with your new Maurice's and thanks again for bringing it here :-)

Tony "Powers" deMedici

imdstuf

It is good news North Augusta is getting a new restaurant, although I think they could use more than another BBQ place. I will try it out, but I feel kind of bad supporting it, being that it sounds like its run by some redneck racist.

FallingLeaves

I may check it out, but if I see a Confederate Flag or a racist tract supporting slavery, I'm outta there without a purchase. If I were Kroger, Publix, Food Lion, Bi-Lo, or Winn-Dixie, I'd be complaining about the wording on that last paragraph. It makes it seem as if they were selling the slavery supporting tracts in their stores. I hope what it really means is referring to the previous paragraph, where Wal-mart pulled his sauce from its shelves, when it says the above grocery stores followed suit. That makes more sense.

Signal Always

Maurice's sucks, just like every other BBQ restaurant around here. Carolina BBQ cannot even BEGIN to compare to Memphis Pit.

notsurprised

Well signal, if you are so partial to Memphis pit, move to Memphis. I, being reared on Carolina/ Ga bbq my entire life happen to love it. I have tried the Memphis but am not impressed. Thank goodness I live here in Ga so I get to enjoy the incredible bbq!

Informed

I like Maurices BBQ and have eaten there in and around Columbia on several occasions. To those concerned about racism, I encourage you to do some research and read more about Mr. Bessinger's reasons for what he has said and done in the past. It wasn't about racism...wasn't then, isn't now.

jbfj

Thanks goodness for Maurice's bbq. It is some of the best bbq and ribs and hash and rice in the country and I love bbq and have tried the Memphis bbq and it beats it by a mile. I grew up in Augusta and have been driving to Columbia to eat Maurice's for over 30 yrs and have been living in Atlanta for over 25 yrs and make at least 10 trips to Columbia per year just to eat at Maurice's. If you have never tried it, please do, the sweet mustard sauce is the best you will ever taste. Trust me, there is no racism at this establishment, and it has not stopped any race from eating their bbq when I have eaten there. Blacks are very welcome at Maurice's and have not stopped going since the boycott years ago. Maurice's will definitely put a dent in Sconyers, Famous Dave's and other longtime bbq establishments in the Augusta area. Welcome Maurice!!!

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