‘A humbling experience’: Duke’s Bar-B-Que rises from the ashes

AIKEN, S.C (WRDW/WAGT) - Two years after a fire destroyed the legendary Duke’s Bar-B-Que in Aiken, the restaurant reopened Wednesday.

The eatery at 4248 Whiskey Road was filled with a lunch rush at noon.

After the fire shut down the restaurant in the summer of 2022, people thought the locally owned business would be back after only a couple of months.

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Even though it took longer than expected to rise from the ashes, it’s now open and ready to serve the community.

It’s like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

Greens, beans, potatoes, and tomatoes, you name it? They’ve got it.

“Best food in town. Ribs-ribs and the hash and rice. I love that stuff,” said Augusta customer, Brian Bracey.

For those who do travel, they say it’s worth the wait.

North Augusta customer, Juanita Ward, said: “The good food. We’ve been missing this for a long time. We’re happy they’re back open.”

Owner Christian Judy was happy to see the crowd.

“It’s a humbling experience,” he said at lunchtime Wednesday.

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He says it was double the work and double the money to get the store back open.

“Next thing you know we have a fire and it basically just made it where we had nothing. We had nothing ready, we had nothing prepared. We had to go back to the drawing board completely and figure everything out from scratch,” said Judy.

With faith and the help of the Aiken community, Duke’s is just as lively as before, with hundreds of customers flooding in within the first few hours of opening day.

“It’s mind blowing to see just how the community’s come around us. Aiken’s been such a great home for us,” he said.

Ribs, chicken, mac and cheese and veggies. It’s the type of food you dream about.

If you don’t believe the people, come try it for yourself.

Mary Montgomery, customer, said: “You need to come out because it’s wonderful. The staff was very nice,” said customer Mary Montgomery.

Judy says he’s grateful to the Aiken community for the turnout.

“There’s been so much buzz online, we had an idea this was coming but to fully prepare for it was really impossible,” he said.

Getting reopened took a lot of prayer and a lot of encouragement, he said. But the day has finally arrived.

“It’s definitely been surreal to see it,” he said.

Duke’s is open until 8 p.m. at 4248 Whiskey Rd.

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