Texas Barbecue Heavyweight Truth BBQ Files Plans for Charleston Location

Charleston’s barbecue scene could be getting a major new player from Texas.

Plans filed with the City of Charleston Technical Review Committee identify Truth BBQ as the owner of a proposed restaurant project at 1300 Rutledge Avenue, the former home of Rutledge Cab Company. The proposal calls for the renovation of the existing restaurant along with construction of a new smokehouse and associated infrastructure.

And this isn’t just another barbecue concept.

Truth BBQ is an acclaimed Texas smokehouse currently operating locations in Houston and Brenham, with a reputation built around Central Texas-style barbecue, long cooks over wood-burning offset smokers and scratch-made sides and desserts.

If the Charleston project ultimately opens, it would appear to represent Truth BBQ’s first permanent restaurant outside of Texas, based on the company’s currently listed locations.

What the Charleston Filing Shows

The proposal appeared on the City of Charleston Technical Review Committee’s August 13, 2026 agenda under the project name “1300 Rutledge BBQ.”

The filing lists:

Address: 1300 Rutledge Ave.
Project: Renovation of existing restaurant with a new smokehouse
Owner: Truth BBQ
Applicant: Sitecast, LLC
Property size: Approximately 0.63 acres
Zoning: General Business
City project ID: TRC-SP2026-000949

The project was submitted on July 27 and received its first TRC site-plan review on August 13.

The Technical Review Committee process is used by Charleston to coordinate review of development plans across departments including planning, zoning, engineering, stormwater, transportation, fire and other city divisions. A project appearing before TRC is therefore an important development step, but it does not by itself mean the restaurant has received every necessary approval or established an opening date.

Remember Rutledge Cab Company?

Charleston locals will immediately recognize the address.

1300 Rutledge Avenue was home to Rutledge Cab Company for more than a decade.

The restaurant opened in 2012 after an abandoned service station was redeveloped into the popular NoMo-area restaurant. Rutledge Cab Company ultimately closed in October 2024 after approximately 12 years in business.

At the time of the closure, the owners indicated that they expected another restaurant tenant to eventually take over the property.

Now, city documents are providing the strongest indication yet of what could be next for the site.

So, Who Is Truth BBQ?

Truth BBQ began in Brenham, Texas, where pitmaster Leonard Botello IV opened the original restaurant in 2015. A larger Houston location followed in 2019.

The concept specializes in slow-smoked Central Texas barbecue, including brisket, turkey, sausage and other smoked meats alongside scratch-made sides and desserts. Truth says its meats are cooked using traditional wood-burning offset smokers, with some cooks lasting as long as 18 hours.

The Houston restaurant has also earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand, an honor Michelin gives to restaurants it considers to offer particularly good food at a good value. Michelin highlights Truth’s brisket, turkey, house-made sausages, collards, beans, corn pudding, tater tot casserole and oversized slices of cake.

In other words:

This would not be an unknown restaurant testing the Charleston market.

Truth arrives with a national reputation.

Truth BBQ Already Has Charleston Connections

A Charleston location may be new, but Leonard Botello IV and Truth BBQ aren’t complete strangers to the Lowcountry.

Botello has previously participated in Charleston culinary events, including Charleston Wine + Food, and Charleston Wine + Food’s own participant archive describes him as one of the country’s celebrated pitmasters.

Truth’s website has also promoted previous Charleston Food + Wine participation among its featured events.

What Now Charleston reports that Botello and his wife and business partner Abbie Byrom-Botello were married in Charleston in 2021, adding another local connection behind the potential expansion. The publication says Botello had not responded to its request for comment as of August 14.

Is Truth BBQ Officially Coming to Charleston?

Here’s where we need to make an important distinction.

The development plans are real.

The City of Charleston’s own August 13 agenda identifies Truth BBQ as the owner of the 1300 Rutledge BBQ project and describes the proposed restaurant renovation and smokehouse.

However, as of August 14, Truth BBQ has not publicly announced a Charleston restaurant or an opening date on its website, and its official locations page continues to list only Houston and Brenham.

So we’re not putting an “OPENING SOON” sign on this one just yet.

The accurate takeaway is:

Truth BBQ has filed plans tied to a Charleston restaurant project, and the project has entered the city’s development-review process.

That’s considerably more substantial than a rumor — but there’s still development work ahead.

Why This One Is Worth Watching

Charleston certainly doesn’t lack barbecue.

But Truth entering the market would bring one of Texas’ better-known modern barbecue brands into a city with its own deeply established barbecue culture.

It would also create an interesting combination at 1300 Rutledge Avenue: an existing restaurant property being transformed with a purpose-built smokehouse, according to the city description.

And for the growing NoMo / Upper Peninsula area, filling the former Rutledge Cab Company property would return an established restaurant site to active use after nearly two years.

For now, there are still some major questions we don’t have answers to:

When will construction begin?

What will the Charleston menu look like?

Will the restaurant operate exactly like Truth’s Texas locations?

And most importantly — when can Charleston get its hands on that brisket?

We’ll be watching the project as it moves through the city review process.

Follow What’s Going On In Charleston for updates as more details become available.