Viral “Chicken Baptizer” Bernard Hardison Is Bringing His Fall Pop-Up Tour to Charleston
The South Carolina culinary creator has built an audience of more than 2 million, cooked for the Seattle Seahawks on Hard Knocks and taken his signature fried chicken overseas.
If you’ve ever seen a massive batch of chicken lowered into hot oil on your social feed, there’s a good chance Bernard Hardison was somewhere behind it.
The South Carolina chef, caterer and content creator better known online through B’s Dining Experience has turned his larger-than-life cooking style — particularly his signature “baptized chicken” — into a national and increasingly international food brand.
Now he’s bringing it to Charleston.
Hardison’s 2026 Fall Pop-Up Tour is scheduled to stop at The Refinery in Charleston on Saturday, Dec. 5, with food pickup listed from 11 AM–3 PM at 1640 Meeting Street.
And this is considerably bigger than an ordinary traveling food pop-up.
From South Carolina backyard cooking to millions of followers
Hardison has built one of the largest food-focused social audiences to come out of South Carolina.
As of fall 2026, social-media analytics services Social Blade and HypeAuditor both place his Instagram following at approximately 2.3 million people under @bsdiningexperiencesc.
His videos typically feature big outdoor cooking setups, enormous batches of food and a willingness to cook things far beyond a standard restaurant menu.
Fried chicken may have become the calling card, but Hardison’s content has also featured everything from seafood and barbecue to rabbit, shark and other unconventional meats.
His own Premium Exotic Catering brand describes him as the founder and CEO behind B’s Dining Experience, Premium Exotic Catering and the expanding Looka That Festival Right There! event brand.
Keith Lee came looking for the chicken
Hardison’s profile received another boost when viral food critic Keith Lee traveled to South Carolina specifically to try his cooking.
Hardison prepared fried chicken for Lee, who described it as the best-seasoned chicken he had ever had, according to Eater Carolinas.
That visit introduced even more people to the “baptized chicken” concept that had already made Hardison a social-media attraction.
Then came the Seattle Seahawks
Hardison’s reach has also crossed into the NFL.
He appeared during the 2026 season of HBO’s Hard Knocks featuring the Seattle Seahawks, where players were shown learning how to “baptize” chicken with him.
Seahawks defensive lineman Derick Hall was shown enjoying the meal, while Uso Seumalo gave the food a 9.7 out of 10 during the season finale.
That’s a long way from simply posting cooking videos online.
The “Chicken Baptizer” goes international
Hardison has also taken the act overseas.
In 2026, he appeared at ROOST, an international chicken festival in the London area, where British food coverage highlighted the South Carolina chef’s enormous fryer and the theatrical process behind his cooking.
Organizers and attendees there knew him by the same nickname that has followed him across social media:
The Chicken Baptizer.
The London appearance put Hardison alongside international restaurants and culinary talent, extending a brand that still remains closely connected to the Carolinas.
He’s building festivals of his own, too
Hardison isn’t only being booked by other events.
Earlier this year, he brought Looka That Festival Right There! to Charlotte, with more than 25 food, drink and dessert vendors and fellow viral food personalities joining the lineup.
He was also featured among the culinary personalities at the 2026 National Fried Chicken Festival in New Orleans, alongside chefs and creators from around the country.
A previous Columbia fried-chicken festival organized around Hardison’s brand reportedly drew more than 2,000 attendees and involved approximately 20,000 wings.
Charleston is part of his Fall Pop-Up Tour
Hardison’s current Fall Pop-Up Tour includes stops across the Southeast.
Before arriving in Charleston, he’s scheduled for a Nov. 28 Greenville-area stop at The Mill at Fountain Inn, built around Clemson–South Carolina rivalry weekend.
Then comes Charleston:
Bernard Hardison Fall Pop-Up Tour — Charleston
📅 Saturday, Dec. 5, 2026
⏰ Pickup: 11 AM–3 PM
📍 The Refinery
1640 Meeting Street, Charleston
The tour flyer promotes food, vendors and entertainment, with preorders available through Hardison’s social-media link.
For Charleston diners unfamiliar with him, the December pop-up offers a chance to experience in person something millions of people have already watched through a screen.
And judging by the trajectory — millions of followers, Keith Lee, London, the Seahawks and major food festivals — Bernard Hardison’s “Chicken Baptizer” nickname has grown into something much bigger than a viral gimmick.
It has become a brand.
