Posted on Jun 04, 2010 - 07:58 AM

Oinking It Up in Socastee

By Becky Billingsley

With five new barbecue restaurants opening in the Grand Strand area within five months Oinks had to start strong, so they came out squealing.

Now it's the customers who are squealing with delight.

Proprietor Tim Stout opened the doors on March 25, and since then he has served a lot of pork. Oinks has the honor of being the only barbecue restaurant in the Socastee area of Myrtle Beach.

Stout slow-cooks his pork for 10 hours, and it's the specialty of the house. The meat is tender and moist and has a slight smoky flavor. The barbecue can be ordered as a regular-size sandwich, on four soft thick rolls as sliders, on a platter with two sides, or by the pound.

A pound of pulled pork to take home or have delivered is $9.69, or you could have pork in a Family Big Oinker Deal such as one that feeds 4-6 people for $25 and includes a pound of meat, one pint of baked beans or coleslaw, one pint of mac 'n' cheese or potato salad, one pint of sauce and six buns.

Since the meat is served smoky and naked, five sauce choices are on the tables. They are mustard, mild tomato, hot tomato, regular vinegar and sweet vinegar. They're all good, but my favorite is the mustard, which is a little sweet and has a non-lethal fiery bite.

Pork is not the only story at Oinks. Stout is also serving Texas-style Beef Brisket and Pulled Chicken, plus burgers, chicken sandwiches and chicken fingers. Children have their own specially priced choices for $4-$4.29 with sliders, chicken fingers and mini corndogs.

Those sides are baked beans, mac 'n' cheese, fries, potato salad, coleslaw, onion rings and hushpuppies, and the sweet hushpuppies come with honey butter.

The loose coleslaw has an abundance of sweet and creamy dressing and a pleasant celery seed flavor; there is also a tangier vinegar version. Either one is fine for piling onto your pork barbecue sandwich. If that sounds weird to you, then you're not from the Carolinas, because a 'Que sandwich with slaw is a traditional Southern delicacy.

Macaroni and cheese is extremely soft – it's way beyond al dente – and comfortingly creamy with plenty of cheese. Onion rings contain real onion slices, not the chopped-up onion-like filling used in many restaurants.

Almost everything except the bread is made in-house from scratch, including the sauces and desserts, which are cookies and brownies. My family enjoyed rich, dense, soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies.

Oinks has an in-house dining area with five 4-person booths (6-person if the people are thin). Witty meat humor is framed and hung on the walls (“Plays Well With Udders”; “All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teats”).

Classic rock plays medium-loud, and there are free refills on soda and iced tea. No alcohol is served.

Business has been so good since Oinks opened, Stout recently expanded the hours. It's open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. The number to call for carry-out or delivery is (843) 293-OINK (6465), or if you want to visit in person the restaurant is at 4505 Socastee Blvd. in Myrtle Beach.