1 of 6
City Limits BBQ owner and chef Robbie Robinson was a James Beard Award finalist for the second-straight year in 2025.
Photo by Thomas Hammond
2 of 6
Robinson’s City Limits BBQ has gained national attention for its smoked meats, from Texas-style brisket to pulled pork to sausages and more.
Photo by Thomas Hammond
3 of 6
Only open on Saturdays and Sundays, City Limits is known to draw crowds eager to dig into each weekend’s selection of meats and sides.
Photo by Thomas Hammond
4 of 6
Robbie Robinson began cooking barbecue as a way to connect to home. “I bought my first pit because I was going to teach myself how to cook Carolina barbecue that I missed,” Robinson says.
Photo by Thomas Hammond
5 of 6
While Robinson’s City Limits is most known for its meats, the West Columbia restaurant draws high marks for its sides and desserts, too.
Photo by Thomas Hammond
6 of 6
Long lines lead to a plate that’s well worth the wait at City Limits BBQ.
Photo by Thomas Hammond
Robbie Robinson
Age: 51.
Resides in: Lexington.
Real good barbecue: For the second straight year, Robinson was a James Beard Award finalist in the category of “Best Chef: Southeast.” The James Beard Awards are one of the most prestigious distinctions in the food world.
All-consuming: Running a restaurant takes up most of Robinson’s time. When he gets a break, he eats, sleeps and drives the back roads of South Carolina to clear his mind.
Before the smoke: A self-described introvert, Robinson was an accountant before he started cooking brisket.
The license plate on the truck in the gravel drive reads “BRISKET.” On a Wednesday afternoon, there’s no line outside City Limits Barbeque. But that’ll change come the weekend, when Robbie Robinson’s restaurant will do its week’s worth of business in a whirlwind nine hours.
For an unassuming barbecue joint that’s leapt from local fame into a national spotlight, every minute is precious. Long, eager lines have become as much a part of City Limits’ ethos as its brisket and pulled pork.
“One thing that’s a true blessing is that every Saturday, and I believe every single Sunday that we’ve been here, there’s always been somebody waiting at the door,” Robinson says.
Robinson’s Texas-style barbecue has won the praise of national food writers and critics, being featured in publications from Texas Monthly to The New York Times. In June, he stood in a Chicago ballroom for the second-straight year as a finalist for a coveted James Beard Award, often called the Oscars of the food world.
Years ago, Robinson’s first attempt at barbecue was simply an effort to recreate a taste of home while living far away.
“When I was out in Texas, I bought my first pit because I was going to teach myself how to cook Carolina barbecue that I missed,” Robinson recalls.
Robinson didn’t have commercial ambitions. It wasn’t until later, when he was ready to step away from an accounting and finance career, that he considered cooking for a living. His business instinct kicked in, sensing opportunity. At the time, there were no Texas-style barbecue restaurants within 100 miles of the Midlands.
Robinson’s talent for crunching numbers prepped him to run first a food truck and, since 2023, a brick-and-mortar restaurant on West Columbia’s Methodist Park Road. He knows how to run an efficient business.
“All of this funneled into this business that I’m very passionate about, and one of the core rewards of this is that when we do it right, we make people happy.”
The lines are long more often than not, but Robinson often thinks about how to overcome the disadvantages of only opening on Saturdays and Sundays. He’s thinking of ways to get the City Limits brand on store shelves.
While Robinson thinks of the future, customers keep showing up.
“Everything just happens to be working in cosmic rhythm right now (so) that we’re executing at a phenomenal level,” Robinson says. “We know the food is good when we execute.”