BullStreet District’s first restaurant makes it official

Scott Hall, owner and chef of Bone-In Barbeque, downtown Columbia’s new destination for barbeque, cocktails and eclectic Southern cuisine, hosted a ribbon cutting July 30 with Mayor Steve Benjamin to celebrate a successful first three months.

“This is more than just a new restaurant in our city,” said Mayor Steve Benjamin. “Bone-In Barbeque expanding from a food truck to a brick-and-mortar location is a sign that our creative class is flourishing.”

Bone-In Barbeque first opened its doors April 27. Now officially out of its “soft opening” period, the eatery is the first to open in the city’s BullStreet District.

Hall, a Midlands native, leveraged his popular food truck — Bone-In Artisan BBQ on Wheels — into a 3,600-square foot eatery, serving barbeque and Southern eclectic cuisine for lunch and dinner alongside a full bar offering local beer, wine, frosé and Prohibition-era cocktails.

When it came time to open the doors, Hall took a low-and-slow approach: just open the doors, feed the customers and get their feedback on what they tasted, saw and felt.

“We’re all part of building the BullStreet District, so come on in and help me guide its first restaurant to a first inning home run,” Hall said.

Bone-In Barbeque is located in the historic Ensor Building, next door to Spirit Communications Park, home of the Columbia Fireflies. The casual-dining restaurant features repurposed oyster tables and roll-up garage doors that open to an outdoor patio that extends onto the ballpark plaza.

Hall, whose barbeque skills have been featured in GQ and Smithsonian magazines as well as on the Cooking, Bravo and Travel channels, will provide feedback cards to diners for their input.

“Every person who walks through our doors will be a barbeque expert, because this is South Carolina,” Hall said. “So we’re going to have fun with it. BullStreet District is a new frontier, and we want our guests to be involved here at its first restaurant.”