Dukes is one of the best barbecue places I've ever been to, and it's a buffet to boot! At the time of writing, it was a measly $10.50 a person for ribs, brisket, roasted chicken, perfectly breaded and fried fried chicken, sweet potato casserole, corn fritters, hush puppies, baked desserts, soft serve... I could go on for forever. You will not be disappointed and will most certainly not leave hungry. As for the aesthetics, it's got communal picnic tables on the inside and outside so just pull up a seat and get friendly with your neighbors, many of whom are regulars in the area. Tip: note their hours, and if you want to beat the rush, get their early!! They are known to have lines out the door on busy days but since it is a buffet, it'll move fast. I highly recommend this place if you are in the Aiken area... this is true southern barbecue! read more

Go for the food folks. The cold slaw is spot on, not too sweet, and not pulverized into that strange sawdust texture I've encountered before . Their potato salad with some dill pickles and sprinkling of pepper was also really good. The fried okra was "go back for that 3rd serving" good as was the pulled pork w/o any sauces. Never tried any of their sauces actually. The ribs are served with some BBQ sauce on them. Well these babies were luscious and meaty and proved to be bone suckin' fine! Rutabagas corn nuggets and the stewed apples were okay. For $10, at all you can eat, I don't have the heart to P&M about the decor. Simply a friendly place with allot of earned devoted following,for a reason - or two, or three, or four perhaps. read more

A friend of mine and I recently went on a BBQ tour of the CSRA. One of our stops was Dukes. And let me say, it was...OK. Probably my least favorite of the 8 or 9 places we tried, but nevertheless not terrible. The ambiance is interesting, it feels a bit like a restaurant straight out of the 1950's. The gentleman(perhaps Duke?) was very friendly, as were the other employees. The place was clean. The food was...Ok. Not great, it felt a bit dry, a bit tough. I expect bbq to be moist and a bit juicy, this was not it. The BBQ sauce we were provided was good, but overall, if I was in New Ellenton and wanted BBQ, I would definitely go to Carolina Bar-B-Que instead. read more

Great food, and even better prices....Its gets a little busy around the lunch hour but worth the wait. They have really good sweet potato casserole. Buffet style..I will be back if I'm ever in the area again!! read more

Dinner on Friday night while in Aiken visiting family. No frills, buffet style, all you can eat, BBQ restaurant with open/community style seating. The BBQ chicken and mac and cheese were my faves. Pulled pork and ribs were OK (a little drier than I like) and similar to many other SC BBQ joints. 3 sauces to choose from were pretty good. Peach cobbler and banana pudding were very good. Soft serve ice cream machine was out of service. The staff was friendly and helpful. Reasonably priced. read more

Classic. Southern. Cheap. Delicious. Exactly everything you would expect at a southern BBQ Buffett. Wish it had been cleaner or they wiped down the tables between visitors. Grab the peach cobbler before it's gone as its almost as good as my momma's. :) would recommend. read more

Riiiiiiibbbbbssss. We go here often on Fridays. It's my favorite bbq place around. Great variety, good quality, great tasting food. read more

We are from Miami Florida and happen to come across this place. What a great find. Ribs are AMAZING . Must try a side of Hash as well. Great food and hospitable people. read more

baked Chicken was very juicy and delicious. And the corn nuggets were sweet and crispy. The worst part was that they did not have chocolate ice cream or cones. read more

We love the food and have done take out twice. My wife gets all veggies and I do the pork BBQ. Hush puppies yumm.

Dukes does it right. I have only lived in the area for five months and Dukes is my go to any day of the week when they are open. The ribs and chicken are perfection. All of the sides are great I really like the squash casserole reminds me of Home. Finally you can't go wrong with the dessert either the eclair or banana pudding are both what the doctor ordered at the end of an awesome meal. Keep up the great work. read more

Love Duke's!! We were traveling home to GA and couldn't resist a chance to stop at Duke's even if it was a little out of our way. Earlier that day, we had lunch in Lexington, NC and I can say, Duke's wins the BBQ battle hands down! Great buffet with fresh served BBQ, ribs, chicken, etc. Corn puffs and hush puppies are awesome. My wife is convinced Duke's has the world's best banana pudding and peach cobbler! read more

Bought 15 bags of pork skins to send to Connecticut. Specifically asked for all fluffy light colored skins. Next day started to pack them and had all dark hard skins. They were closed Monday & Tuesday so I figured I was just out of $30. Wednesday I called and talked to the owner Christian. He could not have been nicer or more apologetic. No questions asked. Told me to come by and he would have new skins ready for me. Now that is the way to run a business and keep your customers!!! read more

Delicious, great selection. I recently moved back from Charleston and though we have amazing food there, the barbecue is the one thing that does not compare. The Duke's here has always been my go-to, comfort food when in Aiken. read more

This is a wonderful buffet for $12.00. The price includes the drink and dessert. The hash tasted fresh made, the chopped pork was tender, the potato salad was out of this world, the fried chicken was well seasoned, and the hush puppies were hot out of the fryer. It was a fantastic meal!! I will be going back. read more

Duke's Bar B Que - Barbeque Near Me - Aiken, South Carolina

Dukes barbecue has delicious Mac and cheese and fried chicken. The Carolina barbecue sauce is my favorite. It is buffet style with "community" seating. Look careful for days of operation. read more

We ate at Dukes in Aiken SC, Sunday 09/07/19. The fried chicken 0n our plates was spoiled, all the vegetables were ice cold. On the way home my husband began to vomit we went straight to the ER. They pumped my husbands stomach and the Doctor said he could tell by the smell the food was bad. Eat there at your own risk. I called and complained to the manager first then called back to speak to the owner they took my number and a young man called me right back. he was arrogant and basically called me a liar I told him again, he was extremely rude. They should be put out of business. I'm calling our lawyer first thing in the morning. DO NOT EAT HERE Patricia read more

Best bar-b-que in the Aiken area! We tried them all and Dukes is the best by far!! If we're in the area again we will definitely be by to have your delicious food! read more

The food is delicious! I've been enjoying this food for years and it gets better each time. It's an even better feeling when you walk in and everyone treats you like family. I definitely recommend trying the peach cobbler and of course, the banana pudding! 10/10 read more

My favorite restaurant in Aiken! Love their veggies. Drinks come with the buffet and also desert, so you cannot beat the price!

Best barbecue joint in Aiken! All you can eat buffet for a reasonable price. No place else like Duke's!

The food wasn't appetizing at all and the taste was even worse. I'm not sure why locals eat here. I would never come back.

Saw the review and thought this would be a good"when in Rome," opportunity. So maybe I'm just not a South Carolina cuisine guy. Ribs were tough. Just short of being good jerky at the meatiest parts. Fried chicken not bad, but nothing special. Oh, back to the ribs. If you like your meat smoked to the point that it tastes like sucking on charred wood after a barn fire, you will be in heaven. Roasted chicken was a bit dry and the Mac and cheese was a bit different but also a bit bland. Some of the sides were tasty, and I didn't try the bbq pork because I get enough of that where I hail from. I assume the appeal to this place is the same as many other establishments I've eaten in around the country. Lots of food at a cheap price. read more

Good eating here. Quite a bit of choice. You would be hard pressed to get one plat that will hold every item. I have eaten here several times. Have not yet been disappointed. read more

Duke's is one of those places best described as a "joint;" there's nothing fancy about it, whether décor or food, but it's incredibly good. It's described as a barbecue place, but I would describe it more as a Southern buffet with a couple of barbecue dishes. The only real barbecue they had was pulled pork, which is very good, and ribs, which were decent. The best thing about the place, though, are the sides. This is a real Southern down-home cooking place, the kind of food your grandma (well, I don't know about YOUR grandma, but MY grandma) cooked: sweet potato casserole (with marshmallows on top, of course), squash casserole, fried okra, fried chicken, fried cabbage (do you sense a theme?), greens, and so forth. I can practically feel my arteries hardening just writing about it, but it's worth it. read more

Zero stars if I could. I wouldn't eat there if I was payed. They honestly think they compare to Carolina BBQ? Lmao. Ok so dukes had more variety. What's quantity to quality. Carolina wins all day! Dukes is for the hipsters and the confused. read more

This is the best place for a buffet with all of the sides and Fixin's. Their BBQ is not very flavorful, full of fat and has no charred bark. If you want real barbecue or real hash however, then you need to go to Carolina. This is the place to go for dinner and sides. There fried chicken is awesome too. Carolina Bbq is the place to go for picnic Bbq and hash and rice to go. read more

You cannot beat Dukes. Best BBQ ever. Don't stop there. Fried chicken, BBQ chicken, hot wings, ribs, & great veggies. Plus the nicest people you will ever meet. Don't forget the desserts. They are consistently awesome. This is the place you dream about. read more

Between the fall-off-the-bone ribs, fried okra, sweet potato mashed and fried chicken it was hard to pick a favorite. Absolutely fantastic BBQ. Hash over rice wasn't bad either. The best $10 spent all week. We drove a while to get here and it was totally worth it. Next time we're in town we will come again. read more

I try to go here every week. Everything is great and the fried chicken is also awesome here. If you never ate at Dukes you ain't livin yet.

If you want authentic Southern Carolina bbq, come here. I will be back the next time that I am in Aiken!

I know, I know, everyone raves about this place but Im just not on the same page. I found the food bland, at best. I have had better bbq pretty much everywhere else ive ever eaten bbq. Not for the discerning palate. read more

Dukes has been my favorite bbq place since I was a child. It's a place you grew up eating at if you're from this area. My favorite is the squash casserole & the broccoli casserole. My only wish is that it was open longer on Sunday's. read more

Awesome place. The selection of vegetables and sides are great. I love the homemade potato chips and the skinless chicken. What really makes the place, is the owners are there 100% of the time, and they are friendly - you can see they really care. They seem to have the same people working there year after year, which says a lot. The place is clean and it has great food and warm, caring, competent people. It is truly American, doesn't matter if you are rich or poor, everyone seems to fit in and have a good time. read more

I dined at Dukes restaurant and I can say that I truly enjoyed it. I enjoyed the country atmosphere which was very friendly. The long tables which were obviously intended for families and lots of friends were kept sparkling clean. The barbeque ribs that I had heard so much about were finger licking good. The meat was so tender and flavorable. I enjoyed the potato salad and collard greens as well but I was especially impressed with the great big pan of peach cobbler. I did enjoy my meal there and I will return with family and friends read more

This is a serious buffet. If you are on a diet, then keep walking. You will not be able to muster the willpower necessary to survive this place. Great homecooking with lots of Southern staples--peas, rice, cobbler, banana pudding, pulled pork, fried chicken, greens, hash, squash, corn fritters, etc. I only gave them four stars because the pulled pork was the only barbecue on the buffet the day we were there. No ribs or chicken--just pork. Very good pork, though. Several different sauces (Carolina style mustard sauce, red sauce, etc.) and bins of white bread to sop it all up with. Did I mention this is not a place for a dieter? They are only open a few days a week at the weekend, so call ahead to make sure they are open. Very casual atmosphere, but really delicious food. I am still full and ate there nearly a week ago! read more

I am from England but now live in Aiken, SC. You can go and spend $100 on a meal in downtown Aiken or you can go and enjoy great food and great company at Dukes. How many places can you take a 2 year old and have them eat a hearty and healthy meal, toddlers new favorite is chicken with lima beans, collards and rice. Now that beats PBJ or nuggets or burgers that you have as choice for kids at basically every other restaurant. Thank you Dukes for teaching my son about "real" food not junk food. read more

Wonderful food! Love the home cooked vegetables. Friendly atmosphere to take family and friends. They are now open on Sunday's. Give it a try. You will be satisfied. read more

Love Duke's. We live about a half mile from here and eat it twice per month. The food is great and the staff are super nice. Highly recommended. read more

I have been looking for a good BBQ place for a long time. I think I have found it here at Duke's. The stuff was friendly and great service. I will be back again. Keep up the good work. read more