Where do GOP presidential candidates like to eat in SC?

Running for political office is hard work. Long days on the campaign trail, on and off buses or planes, meet-and-greets with potential voters and supporters, and trying to get your message heard.

And of course, you’ve got to eat – and campaign more between forkfuls.

As Republican candidates crisscross the Palmetto state this week ahead of Saturday’s primary, there are some restaurants they’re almost sure to hit, based on past GOP experience.

The web site www.P2016.org tracks candidates on the presidential campaign trail, noting where they’ve stopped along the way for a meal. Here’s a breakdown of some of the most popular stops for Republican candidates in South Carolina so far this campaign season..

Among most popular restaurants

The Beacon Drive-In in Spartanburg hosted Ted Cruz (April 3), Scott Walker (Sept. 18), Rand Paul (solo May 29, Nov. 6 with Mick Mulvaney), John Kasich (Nov. 19) and Jeb Bush (Nov. 24).

Steve Duncan, manager at The Beacon, said campaign managers usually give them about two to four weeks’ notice about a possible stop. The Beacon can accommodate casual meet-and-greets as well as a more formal media room set-ups with a podium. Not everyone orders food, but when they do, it’s almost always pulled pork, Duncan said. After the candidates walk down the line, shaking hands with the staff, just about everybody has a glass of The Beacon’s iced tea. Duncan said the candidates’ entourages are given food packs with some T-shirts for the road.

Jeb Bush surprised Duncan the most, hanging out for about two hours. “I think he ordered the Chili Cheese A-Plenty (a chili-cheeseburger buried underneath piles of sweet onion rings and french-fried potatoes). He was much taller in person than I expected and I showed him some photos of his brother (George W.) when he stopped in when he was running for president.”

Rand Paul stopped in unannounced a couple of times, Duncan said, just because he was in the area.

“We want The Beacon to be a place for the public to be able to meet a possible president,” Duncan said.

Wade’s Restaurant, also in Spartanburg, saw Ben Carson (July 1), Bush (July 21), Scott Walker (Aug. 9) and Marco Rubio (Jan. 10, 2016).

Hamp Lindsey, owner and operator of Wade’s, said every trip is different, but they are all disruptive – in a good way.

“It’s worth it for folks, our regular customers, to be able to meet the candidates. They LOVE it,” Lindsey said. “Some of our customers are not afraid to speak up or call them (the candidates) on the carpet.”

In most cases, Lindsey said, campaign directors will call 48 hours to a week ahead to book a date, and he is open to hosting anyone who wants to stop by. “No one is denied,” he said. “I keep politics separate from the business. I don’t take sides.”

Of the GOP candidates who have stopped by, Lindsey said Bush and Scott Walker stand out the most.

Bush didn’t have a meal at Wade’s, Lindsey said, but he did go through and talk to the kitchen staff (Bush’s staff tried to get him to eat some peach cobbler because he was on the way to Gaffney, home of the Peachoid). Lindsey also said Bush was the most approachable of the candidates.

Walker was “lots of fun,” Lindsey said. Walker talked to the kitchen staff about his first job as a dish washer and introduced himself to everyone. Ben Carson appeared “shy but super nice” and dined in the Express Dining area.

Hudson’s Smokehouse in Lexington hosted Chris Christie (June 2, with Attorney General Alan Wilson), Mike Huckabee (July 7), Scott Walker (July 15), Carly Fiorina (Sept. 23), Jeb Bush (Dec. 30) and Marco Rubio (Jan. 2).

Owner Clint Hudson said most campaigns give two to three weeks’ notice, though Bush and Marco Rubio campaign managers called one week ahead and the restaurant has dealt with “last minute” requests with four to seven days’ notice. When a candidate is in the house, everything shuts down for a couple of hours.

Hudson’s dining area opens on to a covered outdoor space, so the restaurant can accommodate whatever set-up the campaign requests – from standing-room-only to sit-down dining. Chris Christie did a roving stand-up question-and-answer session – no microphone, no props – at the Saloon Bar. Rubio was “a really cool guy and very gracious,” according to Hudson, but he and his crew were in and out. Bush chatted with employees and spent more one-on-one time with them. Carly Fiorina and Walker had the largest crowds, probably attributed to the timing of their visits closely following the first GOP debate.

Trump was scheduled to stop by but that venue was moved to Harmon’s Tree Farm. “That worked out OK,” said Hudson. “There were thousands of folks, kinda like a circus. We couldn’t have handled that crowd.”

Tommy’s Country Ham House in Greenville saw Carson (May 9), Rick Santorum (May 31), Christie (June 3), Rubio (July 28) and Fiorina (Aug. 9).

Most of the time, Tommy’s draws in crowds for its homemade biscuits, hand-ground sausage, and banana-nut pancakes. But during election season, diners might find themselves rubbing elbows with the next occupant of the White House.

It’s been a gathering place for politicians for decades, since the name was just the Country Ham House and it was located in the old Kash and Karry shopping center on Buncombe Street. Tommy Stevenson bought the restaurant from the original owners in 1985, and in 1997, he moved it to a brand-new building he had designed on Rutherford Street.

The unassuming one-story building, with its long wood-grain counter and the cartoon drawings of pigs hanging behind the cash register, isn’t a venue for flashy political operations; it’s a place where candidates can meet regular voters who aren’t found at black-tie fund-raisers.

The open layout that offers a casual place to talk to voters was part of Stevenson’s vision for the restaurant. He imagined a dining room that invited friendly conversation. “Most of your restaurants are cut up. They want a section here and a section here, and they’re separated from everything. So I wanted an open restaurant. I wanted it to be like a family,” Stevenson has said.

Tommy’s is most popular with GOP candidates, but “we welcome Republican or Democrat,” Stevenson said.

Wholly Smokin (BBQ) in Florence had Bush (Nov. 17) and Fiorina (Dec. 22).

This restaurant in the Pee Dee is a place for traditional favorites like pulled pork, chicken and briskey, along with pimiento cheese sandwiches and burgers. It’s been a setting for town halls and other campaign events.

Most stops on the trail

Bush (12), Huckabee (12), Kasich (11), Rubio (8) and Christie (6)

Where they’ve gone – so far – and when

Bush: Rioz Brazilian Steakhouse, Myrtle Beach (March 18); Tommy’s Country Ham House (May 2); Wade’s Restaurant (July 21); Stax’s Original Restaurant, Greenville (Oct. 2); Sticky Fingers, Charleston (Oct. 23); Wholly Smokin (Nov. 17); coffee stop at FATZ Cafe in Gaffney and The Beacon Drive-In (Nov. 24); Hudson’s Smokehouse (Dec. 30); Dyar’s Diner in Pendleton (Jan. 8); Venus Restaurant, Florence (Feb. 11); Ebenezer Grill, Rock Hill, and Shealy’s Bar-B-Que, Batesburg-Leesville (Feb. 16)

Carson: Wade’s Restaurant (July 1); Creekside Bar-B-Que, Anderson (July 1); Lighthouse Restaurant, Seneca (Aug. 23); Seneca Family Restaurant (Aug. 24)

Christie: Liberty Tap Room, Columbia (June 2); Hudson’s Smokehouse (June 2); Tommy’s Country Ham House (June 3); Skillets Cafe, Hilton Head (July 20); Sea Captain’s House, Myrtle Beach (July 21); Liberty Tap Room, Mt. Pleasant (Sept. 20)

Cruz: Beacon Drive-In (April 3); Palmetto Pig, Columbia (April 4); Liberty Tap Room, Mt. Pleasant (Aug. 7); Seneca Family Restaurant (Feb. 17, scheduled)

Fiorina: Tommy’s Country Ham House (Aug. 9); Hudson’s Smokehouse (Sept. 23); Brookland Baptist Church, West Columbia (Dec. 1); Wholly Smokin’ BBQ (Dec. 22); Charleston Crab House (Jan. 14, 2016)

Graham: Seneca Family Restaurant and Besto’s Ice Cream Shop, Anderson (Aug. 10); Uncle Mikey’s Brick Oven Pizza, Murrells Inlet (Sept. 27)

Huckabee: No Name Deli, Columbia (May 21); First Citizen’s Cafe, Columbia (June 2); Cracker Barrel, Gaffney (June 13); Beacon Drive-In (June 12); Hudson’s Smokehouse (July 7); Chik-fil-A, Clemson Avenue, Anderson and Seneca Family Restaurant (July 6); Golden Corral, Beaufort, and Aunt Chilada’s Easy Street Cafe, Hilton Head (Sept. 2); Lizard’s Thicket, Lexington (Sept. 23); Grapevine Restaurant, Boiling Springs (Oct. 23); Applewood House of Pancakes, Pawleys Island (Jan.16, 2016)

Kasich: Palmetto Pig (Feb. 19, 2015); Beef O’Brady’s, Fort Mill (June 15); Aunt Chiladas Restaurant, Hilton Head (July 8); Brookland Baptist, (Nov. 11); Beacon Drive-In (Nov. 19); Cumberland St. Smokehouse (Jan. 13, 2016); Finn’s Brick Oven, Charleston (Feb. 10); Applewood House of Pancakes and Carrabba’s Italian Grill, North Myrtle Beach (Feb. 11); Duke’s Bar-B-Que, Orangeburg (Feb. 12); Mutt’s BBQ, Mauldin (Feb. 13)

Paul: Beacon Drive-In and Connolly’s Irish Pub, Greenville (May 29); The Clock, Laurens, and River Rat Brewery, Columbia (Aug. 7); RJ Rockers Brewing Co., Spartanburg (Sept. 23, with Mick Mulvaney); Beacon Drive-In (Nov. 6, with Mulvaney)

Perry: Fat Jack’s Grillin’ and Chillin’, Walterboro (July 23); Mama Penn’s Restaurant, Anderson (Aug. 14); Lizard’s Thicket, Lexington (Aug 28)

Rubio: Tommy’s Country Ham House (July 28); Brewery 85, Greenville (July 27); Brookland Baptist, (Oct. 23); Water’s Edge, Mt. Pleasant (Nov. 25); Cribb’s Kitchen on Main, Spartanburg (with Trey Gowdy) and Figs Beanery and Creamery, Anderson (with Gowdy and Tim Scott), (Dec.19 ); Hudson’s Smokehouse (Jan. 2, 2016); Wade’s Restaurant (Jan. 10)

Santorum: 238 Pizzeria, Kings Mountain (May 30); Tommy’s Country Ham House (May 31); Mig’s Pizza Castle, Greenwood (Nov. 28); Stax Omega, Greenville (Nov. 29)

Donald Trump: The billionaire made campaign stops within the state, but never at a restaurant.

Walker: Wade’s (Aug. 9); Blackstone’s Cafe, Beaufort (Aug. 28); Beacon Drive-In (Sept. 18)

SOURCE: P2016

Editor’s note: Christie, Fiorina, Graham, Huckabee, Paul, Perry, Santorum, Walker have suspended campaigns.

This story was originally published February 16, 2016 at 1:13 PM.