Monk: In a recent podcast interview, Kevin’s BBQ Joints finally managed to interview Garren and Kelly Kirkman from Barbecue Bros favorite Jon G’s Barbecue. It covers a wide range of topics from Garren growing up on a beef farm in NC to their beginnings as a pop-up to quitting their fulltime jobs to open a restaurant during COVID. A great primer for folks who may be new to Jon G’s.
Author: Barbecue Bros
The 64 Best North Carolina Barbecue Restaurants
Monk: Drew Jackson has done a great job covering barbecue the past few years for the News & Observer, and earlier this month came out with the 2023 edition of his list of the 64 best barbecue restaurants in the state.
Here are the links to the various stories around barbecue from early October, but be warned that they are behind a paywall once you hit a certain number of articles:
Description: Mention barbecue in North Carolina and the conversation quickly becomes divided on its definition and all depends on location, location, location. There’s a west and east BBQ divide. Drew Jackson with the News and Observer explains.
Linkdown: 10/25/23 – The Travis Kelce BBQ Edition
Featured
Monk: Sad news, as Buxton Hall Barbecue announced last week that it will close after service on November 22. This comes 15 months after Elliott Moss parted ways with the restaurant. No word on on what the Chai Pani Restaurant Group (Chai Pani, Botiwalla, Buxton Chicken Palace) plans to replace the restaurant with.
Native News
Elliott Moss’ next barbecue adventure, Moss and Moore Barbecue, is hitting the road to Cattleack Barbeque in DFW
From Drew Jackson’s recent barbecue feature for the News & Observer
Catch the train to the Lexington Barbecue Festival this weekend
Speaking of which, did you know that Taylor Swift played at the 2006 edition of the festival?
Traffic warning if you are near the Mallard Creek BBQ tomorrow
Non-Native News
John Tanner visits Clark Crew Barbecue in Oklahoma City
Barbecue brunch plans this weekend?
Hoodoo Brown BBQ is also on tour this fall; check Cody out with Feges BBQ and Bar-A-BQ in Houston
Hot Luck Fest will be back next May
Peg Leg Porker is selling beef tallow
Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que will be a vendor in the new KC Current Stadium
Interested in Travis Kelce barbecue? Available at Wal-Mart now.
Opt for the Asian Fusion Rather than Traditional Barbecue at Seoul Food Meat Company
Name: Seoul Food Meat Company Mill District
Date: 10/7/23
Address: 421 E 26th St, Charlotte, NC 28205
Order: Hickory pulled pork, brisket, beef rib bao bun slider, baked ram and cheese, doenjang collard greens, fries (link to menu)
Pricing: $$$
Monk: Seoul Food Meat Company opened their second Charlotte location in the “Mill District” near NoDa and Optimist Park roughly one year ago in October 2022. That location in a former industrial part of town allows them to spread out a little more than their original South End spot, and they’ve taken advantage with a huge patio that includes a splash pad, playground, and dog park in addition to their large restaurant that includes 5 karaoke rooms.
On a nice day, its certainly a destination-type place where families, dog owners, and childless millennials and zoomers can spend multiple hours. That is certainly the hopes of the owners, between Seoul Food and the Urban District Market food hall just across the greenway.
In terms of the barbecue, I found both my pulled pork and the brisket lacking. The pork had some smoke on it but did not taste fresh. But even with its shortcomings, it was far more palatable than the brisket.
The brisket was covered in a ton of their house barbecue sauce, which I would describe as an Asian fusion barbecue sauce. This covers up the poor trim job of the brisket, and if you flip over the slices of meat you’ll see that a good portion of each slice is unrendered fat. Quite unappetizing.
The Asian fusion dishes I tried were more successful than the barbecue. The beef rib bao bun slider was again slathered with the house barbecue sauce but was a satisfying bite. The baked ram n’ cheese is a ramen noodle take on mac n’ cheese and while the youngest Monkette did not take to it (no huge surprise there) I ate it up.
The collards were labeled as “doenjang” which apparently is “a type of fermented bean paste made entirely of soybean and brine.” That did not come through in the bland, nearly flavorless collards.
If I’m back at Seoul Food Meat Company Mill District enjoying a nice day on their patio, I’ll be leaving the barbecue dishes alone and exploring more of the Asian fusion in the forms of the bao buns, Korean fried wings, or tacos.
Ratings:
Atmosphere – 4 hogs
Pork – 2.5 hogs
Brisket – 1 hog
Sides – 4 hogs
Overall – 2 hogs