Name: Alston Bridges Barbecue
Date: 3/1/24
Location: 620 E. Grover St, Shelby, NC 28150
Order: Small chopped barbecue plate (with red slaw, hush puppies), Sun Drop
Pricing: $

Monk: While it’s no secret that we are a big fan of Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge here at Barbecue Bros, there is another Bridges restaurant in Shelby (no relation) called Alston Bridges. I had only visited once before, in May of 2013, so I was more than overdue for a return visit. Especially when I have a lot of Shelby natives in my life telling me that Alston’s is their preferred barbecue place and perhaps even the choice of locals. You see, Alston Bridges is tucked into Shelby and not located off a major thoroughfare, so you’ve got to work a little bit to get there. Or, of course, be a local that has been going there for a few decades.

I had even made a pledge last summer to get back to Alston Bridges so on a rainy March 1st, I finally made good on that pledge. On my return trip, I had a very similar order to what I had previously, a chopped plate with a Diet Sun Drop.

A slight diversion on Sun Drop if you will allow, as I recently realized that while North Carolina favorite beverage Cheerwine has expanded beyond its initial cult following perhaps Sun Drop is still a bit of a secret (at least based on the reaction from The Smoke Sheet duo Sean and Ryan at a separate restaurant). The original Sun Drop bottling headquarters was located in nearby Gastonia for 50 years until 2016, and along with Cheerwine I’ve long thought of it as a perfect drink to accompany a Lexington-style barbecue plate. Sun Drop is currently owned by Keurig Dr Pepper and apparently distributes it nationwide so perhaps you’ll see it soon if its not already in your market. Highly recommend, especially if you come across the cherry lemon variant.

As for the barbecue, Alston’s barbecue is very good. It’s tender and moist, with the dip mixed in providing the nice bit of tang to the meat. A small Styrofoam cup comes with some additional hot dip to add in if needed (that wasn’t the case for me). Mix in the chopped red slaw and some Texas Pete to the barbecue and its a very good bite of food.

Unfortunately, the one thing missing is the smoke, which is as a result of Alston moving away from pit smoked to gas some years ago. While I don’t know the reasoning behind the decision and while I also greatly enjoyed my meal, for me it will always be a notch less than a Red Bridges or any place that smokes over wood for that matter. I certainly don’t fault loyal customers for favoring Alston’s over Red as barbecue tribes are formed early on and are hard to break.

That said, I don’t think it will necessarily take another 10+ years before I stop at Alston’ Bridges because as I alluded to above it is a good plate of food. I stop in Shelby enough where I can mix up my visits between the two historic “Bridges” restaurants a little more equitably.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3 hogs
Pork – 3.5 hogs
Sides – 3 hogs
Overall – 3.5 hogs