Orchid Paulmeier of One Hot Mama’s shares the symbiotic relationship between family and barbecue
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire
Story by Bailey Gilliam + Photography by Katie Bradham
You can’t discuss Lowcountry barbecue without mentioning Orchid Paulmeier’s restaurant, One Hot Mama’s. This local family-oriented restaurant is part of the official South Carolina BBQ Trail and has become synonymous with family meal traditions. Chef Orchid runs her kitchen like she lives her life — surrounded by family, friends and feel-good food. She blends time-tested Southern favorites like collards, cornbread and slow-cooked barbecue and ribs with her own homespun recipes influenced by her family’s background.
Bluffton roots run deep
Orchid opened the first One Hot Mama’s in Bluffton in 2003 with the help of SERG’s founding father, Steve Carb. Carb knew of her from the other restaurants she worked at, and they initially discussed the concept in 2000, but in 2003 family life insisted the restaurant come to fruition. “I just had my third baby [who were all under 3] and we had a meeting like two weeks later,” she laughed. “And basically the name of One Hot Mama’s came from my husband. At one point, I think at the birth of my second child, he said, ‘Hey, one hot mama,’ and I said, ‘Oh my god, that’s the name of the restaurant!’”
Orchid and her husband dated since high school, and he was well aware of her dream to own a restaurant by age 30. ‘It wasn’t something new that just happened; he’s known this since he met me,” she explained. “So when the name came up, I knew this was it. And when I met with Steve, he obviously knew that I just had a baby and had two other ones at home. But the name One Hot Mama’s definitely was a driving force.”
In her meeting with Carb, she presented her ideas stemming from her barbecue background. She worked at Long Horn Steakhouse as a corporate trainer and knew a thing or two about meat cuts and barbecue culinary techniques. Carb had always wanted to do a barbecue restaurant and loved Orchid’s ideas and work ethic. He began collecting menus and showed her the vision he saw. After exchanging ideas and concepts, they had a dinner party as a proof of concept. “He brought in a Southern Pride smoker from Illinois where they’re made and had me cook on it and did a party for his friends and colleagues just to try out the concept, and everyone loved it,” she said. “It was just such a hit.”
From the initial discussion in February, they opened the first One Hot Mama’s in September when her youngest child was just 6 months old. Her entire family came down to help open the restaurant, too. “It was a very labor-of-love, family-centric beginning,” she said. “Steve would come over to my house, and we would cook things on the grill. It was awesome. It was an awesome beginning.”
Your heart is at the start
One Hot Mama’s opened a location on Hilton Head in 2007 and closed the Bluffton location in 2008. The new Hilton Head location was and is the most familiar spot due to tourist foot traffic. But around the same time, Orchid ended up on The Next Food Network Star, which really brought the notoriety of One Hot Mama’s and her as a chef. “It completely changed the restaurant,” she said. “It really changed the vision. It changed its popularity. I think that summer we had to hire 40 more people because we just didn’t know what was in store for us for the next few years. So that made a huge difference. As the years went on, we just got busier and busier.”
Then Orchid became a South Carolina ambassador for then Gov. Nikki Haley and the popular barbecue trail. “That was a seed to discover and come up with an initiative to really highlight the different barbecues in the different areas,” she explained. “Not only is barbecue different in different areas of the United States, it’s also different in different parts of South Carolina.”
As One Hot Mama’s popularity grew, Orchid vowed that she would get back to Bluffton where it all started. “I live in Bluffton, we raised our family in Bluffton — we had to get back to Bluffton,” she said. “Finally, in 2019, we were able to open up back in Bluffton by the movie theater on Buckwalter. I was so determined to come back. And it took me a long time to open back up in Bluffton. So much so that I kept the phone number for Bluffton for 12 years. One of my partners said, ‘I’m not gonna pay for this phone number anymore,’ and I said ‘Just wait, I swear. I’m gonna use it again.’ And he stuck with me. So it’s funny, that is the original phone number of One Hot Mama’s.”
A new era
The restaurant is turning 21 in September, the same age as Orchid’s youngest daughter. Her kids are graduating from college. And it feels like a new era for the Paulmeier family, as they pivot into “adult life.” Her kids growing up and becoming adults is a big change for her and the restaurant, and she hopes the next 20 years are just as good. “We’re entering this new era of barbecue that isn’t the same as when we started,” she said. “But the things that stand true are our recipes, the way we make our barbecue and the ingredients we use. We make sure that we always use the highest quality. Those are just some things that have never changed and will never change.”
Orchid started her restaurant empire as a mother of three under 3. Her focus on family has always been a huge part of the restaurant’s success. “Everyone definitely worked together to make it happen,” she said. “And everyone also worked at the restaurant too. Everyone worked, even my mother-in-law. It was her dessert that started out at the restaurant because I’m not a great baker. Mrs. P’s shortcake was on there, Mrs. P’s banana pudding, because she used to make all of them. And then my father-in-law makes all of the paper towel rolls that are on every single table.”
Her brother and sister came from Chicago to help Orchid open the restaurant. Her family moved there for the first few years to help open it up. “So it really was a family driven by the heart and guts of us working really hard,” she said. “Family is the driving force for me. It’s the driving force behind barbecue in general.”
Orchid’s parents moved to the United States from the Philippines in 1971 in pursuit of the American dream. That hard work and determination inspired Orchid throughout her childhood. And so did her love for barbecue. “Barbecue is a normal thing in the Philippines, and pork is their go-to barbecue,” she said. “And it just was funny that I landed in South Carolina and it’s the same thing. You will see a lot of these influences in my food; how I cook is based on what I learned growing up. At one point in my life, both grandparents have lived with me from my Filipino heritage. So learning to cook with them and learning the base of eating at the family table was the norm and is one thing that we did with the kids too. And I feel like that’s how I feel about the restaurant. If you come in, it’s like you’re coming into my home, and I never want you to leave hungry.”
Orchid’s favorite menu items
1. “I love our wings; I wish I didn’t.”
2. “I love our brisket nachos. Whenever friends or family come in and I get them an appetizer, I always send out the brisket queso. I know everyone’s gonna be happy, and everyone can share it.”
3. “If I were to sit down and order a meal, it would be the smoked fried chicken and baby back ribs with dirty rice and collard greens. Done. You can’t go wrong with it.”
4. “I also love our fish tacos, which came around a decade ago, when everyone was doing tacos, and I wanted to try it.”
