3 red flags a pitmaster looks for when dining at a barbecue restaurant

• The pitmaster shared his tips for spotting a barbecue restaurant.

• The James Beard Award-winning chef uses his senses.

• There is no visible pile of wood, no visible pits, and no smell of smoke for Scott.

There are a few key red flags to keep an eye on when you're looking for a quality barbecue restaurant.

The author of the cookbook told Insider that it's easy to see the difference between a barbecue spot and a place that serves barbecue like food.

If there is no visible pile of wood or pit area, that's your first red flag

It's a good sign if you can see if they have wood or if they're cooking it on site.

The pits and cooking area can be seen to diners at some restaurants.

Scott's restaurant in Charleston, South Carolina, can be seen from the corner. You can see the pits through the dining room through a glass window when you walk in the door.

It was important for his team to give customers an opportunity to see that they cook on-site. Some restaurants can't do that.

If you can't see the pits, Scott says to look out for smoke

Scott said that smoke is a sign. Customers will be able to see the smoke or smell it if the restaurant cooks their barbecue on site.

The pitmaster said you should simply walk in the building or walk by the building if you're confused. Is the meat cooking? That is a positive sign.

The next big red flag, according to Scott, can be the location

Take note of your location after looking for some of the more blatant signs of on-site cooking.

What kind of space the restaurant occupies is more important than location. If you're unsure, ask if there is a chimney or a large exhaust in the kitchen that could handle the cooking process needed to smoke meat. If you can't see the outside, look for the vehicles that will let you out of the house.

If I see a spot in the airport that says they're a barbecue joint, that would be a problem for me. What do you think about the amount of smoke at the airport?

He wanted to know when and where the food was made.

It isn't a guarantee that you're going to like the food, Scott said. It's just showing that the team is sticking to their guns. This doesn't mean that the food will be bad at a place that doesn't burn wood or smoke meat in pits, it just probably won't be true.

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