I am starting this article with the MOST EMPHATIC Quotes from my interview with Swig & Swine Chef and Restauranteur Anthony DiBernardo: “My wife is gorgeous and she is the Love Of My Life.” There is no contending the veracity of this imposing 6 foot 5 inch Chef’s statement. FAMILY. FOOD. COMMUNITY. These are the major components comprising the multi-faceted BBQ Pitmaster’s life. He defines “A Chef Driven Concept” to running all six of his Swig & Swine locations as; “It means that all the food -EVERYTHING- is made In-House, and we treat each menu item as equally important; the sides, the sauces, the desserts, and obviously, the meats.” Independent and Veteran owned, Anthony says that “Swig & Swine is as Mom and Pop as it gets! To have the opportunity to share my gift with others is WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO.” When I asked Anthony if he had a personal motivational or catch phrase that he shares with his team members he said, the goal for himself and his teams are “Making people happy with BBQ!”
And, also, “DON’T FU%# IT UP.” Period. Dot.
To say that Anthony, his family, and all six of his restaurant locations have had an EXCEEDINGLY B.U.S.Y. and quite complicated year would be a vast understatement. Anthony’s son had a horrific accident resulting in a traumatic brain injury. After a lengthy hospital stay, his son was transferred to the specialized rehabilitation Shepherd Center in Atlanta, GA, undergoing a grueling recovery. Meanwhile, back in South Carolina, Anthony was opening three new Swig & Swine locations, his eldest daughter was graduating from high school, and his youngest daughter was graduating from middle school. His wife, Meghan, resigned from her career to become Anthony’s “Jack-Of-All-Trades-Right-Hand-Woman.” Thousands of miles were traveled back and forth between South Carolina and Atlanta. Hurricane Debby flooded one of their just newly opened Swig & Swine restaurants located in Moncks Corner. It has been an eminently tumultuous timeframe for everyone involved. Thankfully, his son’s determination, excruciating hard work and outstanding progress has resulted in his son being allowed to begin working again next week! His eldest daughter is all moved in, starting her Freshman Year in College and his youngest daughter is embarking on her Freshman Year in high school. Anthony says that he so appreciates each and every one of his 200 plus Swig & Swine Team Members support, as well as the heartfelt well-wishes of the entire BBQ Community.
The origin story of how a guy from New Jersey who graduated from high school with his yearbook quote stating that “I Will Do 4 Years In The Navy And Open My Own Restaurant,” culminating into the South Carolina Swig & Swine empire that Anthony now has today is a fascinating tale. Anthony entered the culinary world at the tender age of 12 starting off scrubbing pots and pans, then becoming a banquet line cook at age 14. Anthony’s father was a butcher, and as a teenager, Anthony helped his Dad smoke hams and roast whole pigs. After high school, Anthony joined the US Navy and served as the lead cook on the USS Batfish Submarine for 4 years, making 4 meals a day for a crew of 135. The USS Batfish was assigned to Submarine Squadron 4, which at the time was based at Naval Station Charleston, at Charleston, South Carolina. After serving the Navy for 4 years, Anthony remained in South Carolina. “One big take-away from my time in the military, is that I process stress very well because of those years I spent underwater,” said Anthony. Anthony then proceeded to work at various restaurants and resorts in and around the Charleston area, gleaning evermore expert BBQ skills. At one such job at Jasmine Porch, at The Kiawah Island Golf Resort, Anthony was introduced to “whole hog BBQ techniques,” where the resort would feature cooking a whole hog BBQ on the beach “LOW AND SLOW.” By 2013, Anthony was perfecting his Premiere Pitmaster skillset. Shortly thereafter, with the assistance of partners, Queen Street Hospitality Group, Anthony opened the first Swig & Swine location in West Ashley, by renovating an old car wash and tire shop building, TRANSFORMING it into a BBQ restaurant. When that first Swig & Swine location opened to the public in May of 2014, Anthony offered “whole hog BBQ” once a week…the smoker was too small to make a whole hog daily…as you can surmise, the whole hog days at Swig & Swine became the busiest, most crowded, and filled to capacity times at the restaurant. Anthony designed larger smokers with offset wood boxes which would allow for whole hogs, pork shoulder, brisket and other meats to BBQ and smoke at the same time, he then had a company in North Carolina build them to his specifications. “ALL WOOD…ALL THE TIME,” is a Swig & Swine MOTTO. Using only red oak wood fuel for its meat smoking fire, Swig & Swine’s flavor profile had impressed visitors and locals alike. The BBQ Community was completely smitten with Swig & Swine. It wasn’t long before patrons were clamoring for more restaurant locations and FOR MORE BBQ!
In 2017, Robert Moss, the contributing BBQ Editor for Southern Living Magazine, Restaurant Critic for The Post and Courier and multi-book author said of Anthony’s whole hog operation that “Swig & Swine produced a video, taking you into the pit room to see their cooking process: WARNING; IT WILL PROBABLY LEAVE YOU HUNGRY!” Furthermore, Robert Moss stated that, “Swig & Swine is an absolute hit with the eating public!” In 2019, Anthony was able to purchase the shares of Swig & Swine from his partners at Queen Street Hospitality Group and became the sole proprietor. With the Mission Statement on Swig & Swine’s website declaring “…we believe that nothing is a substitute for hard work and long hours, so we cook our barbeque low and slow, savoring all the natural juices and locking in that iconic flavor. We also believe that hard work deserves a great cold beer, which is why we offer a diverse selection of craft beers (as well as your usual favorites, of course.) Sit back and relax with us at any one of our 4 locations across the Lowcountry.”
The 4 Swig & Swine Lowcountry locations are in; West Ashley, Summerville, Mount Pleasant, and Moncks Corner. The 5th Swig & Swine location is in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. And the 6th location is actually a satellite kitchen inside of Commonhouse Aleworks, in North Charleston, South Carolina, where Anthony has taken over the food service, aptly naming the menu “Uncommon Swine.” His first Swig & Swine location in West Ashley has just celebrated it’s 10th Year in business. Over the course of those years, Swig & Swine has been named by Southern Living to its “List Of The Top 50 BBQ Joints In The South.” Swig & Swine has been awarded the “Legendary BBQ Restaurant Of The Year,” by Certified Angus Beef. At 2021’s Certified Angus Beef’s annual conference, Anthony was named “Restauranteur Of The Year.” He is now a Brand Ambassador for both Certified Angus Beef, as well as M & M BBQ Company.
An inordinately tantalizing bit of information that I culled was that for the past 3 years, Swig & Swine has cooked BBQ for The HBO PROP DEPARTMENT! Swig & Swine cooks for the HBO Show, “The Righteous Gemstones,” which has officially been renewed for a 4th Season. “The Righteous Gemstones,” is a show that is both filmed and set in South Carolina and the series follows a dysfunctional family of televangelists. Swig & Swine also BBQs for the Netflix show, “Outer Banks,” a show set in North Carolina but primarily filmed in South Carolina. “Outer Banks” Season 4 is slated to arrive in the Fall of 2024.
Winston Churchill said, “WE MAKE A LIVING BY WHAT WE GET. WE MAKE A LIFE BY WHAT WE GIVE.”
That quote can be indubitably attributed to Anthony DiBernardo. He is benevolent in charitable works and acts of giving. In a remarkable and noticeable way, Swig & Swine supports not only the local Charleston, South Carolina Community, but The National BBQ Community as well. Said Anthony, “BBQ to me is the quintessential food that brings everybody together.” Anthony originally started “Friends Cooking For Friends” as a way to raise money for a little girl in his neighborhood…over the years, “Friends Cooking For Friends” has morphed into a network of fundraising for causes to aid a variety of people and families who are in need and the organization is currently working to achieve its nonprofit status. ABC News 4 highlighted Anthony and reported that Swig & Swine “Serves Good; multiplying good and serving up bites in the Lowcountry.” Swig & Swine also participates in an inordinate amount of fund raising; as part of The “Holy Smokes BBQ Festival” and “Rock The Block,” Swig & Swine helped to raise more than $200,000.00 for local nonprofits; $100,000.00 going to The Ronald McDonald House Charities of Charleston, $100,000.00 went to “Hogs For Cause,” and $10,000.00 went to “Friends of Fischer House Charleston.” Anthony and his beloved wife, Meghan traveled to New York in April to participate in The Pig Beach BBQ fundraising event to help support The Jeff Michner Foundation. As part of the Nationwide BBQ Family, Anthony says “I believe that we are all given a gift and it is up to us to use that gift to help others.” The Jefferson Awards Foundation are given at both local and national levels “to people who do extraordinary things without expectation of recognition.” Receiving the 2024 Jefferson Award for Public Service was most definitely a zenith of Anthony’s professional career.
With the enormous pressure and never-ending responsibilities of running 6 Swig & Swine restaurants, caring for their family, helping out their community both locally and nationwide, it is truly gracious that Meghan carved out time for my interview with Anthony on behalf of RIBBQNews.com –Many, many thanks for generously giving of your precious time- I am especially grateful. Anthony calls his wife his “Schedule-er” and she is certainly masterful at that task! I asked how he decided what location he goes to on what days? How does he divide his time between locations? How does he oversee Swig & Swine’s catering orders? Who coordinates the many events that Swig & Swine are BBQ-ing for? Obvious KUDOS to Meghan, The Master Keeper of The Calendar! Further, Anthony has surrounded himself and his Swig & Swine empire with DEVOTED AND LOYAL Team Members. His Team Members are at the core of his immensely successful Daily Standard Operating Procedures! Swig & Swine Team Members diligently work together delivering exceptional craftmanship in order to be absolutely certain that the food, the beverages, the dining rooms, the customer service experience, the catering, the To-Go orders, and The Tailgate Packages are PERFECT. Swig & Swine’s megahit Sauces; Sweet Red, Carolina Mustard, and Jalapeno Red will be re-stocked soon! The care, attention to detail, and the HEART AND SOUL poured, baked, smoked and BBQ-ed into every bite of scrumptiousness renders Swig & Swine’s culinary treasures DELECTABLE.
Swig Ampersand Swine. Swig & Swine. “Horrifying Vegetarians Since 2013.” Anthony has been referred to as “A True BBQ Jedi- with a Heart of Gold.” Assuredly, the compliments and comments on Social Media Platforms speak for The Chef and Restaurants themselves: CHEERS to Anthony DiBernardo and his Family and to ALL of The Swig & Swine Home-Team-Members and CONGRATULATIONS on their MUCH DESERVED Swig & Swine MASTERSTROKE PHENONMENON prosperity!
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