Author: Barbecue Bros

A Quick Lunch at Honeyfire Barbeque Co.’s Stall in Downtown Nashville

/ Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Name: Honeyfire Barbeque Co.
Date: 1/31/25
Address: 5055 Broadway Place, Level 2 South Stall 8, Nashville, TN 37203 (Assembly Food Hall)
Order: Pulled pork sandwich with sweet corn pudding (link to menu)
Pricing: $$

Monk: The Monk family gymnastics travels brought us to Nashville recently, and Mrs. Monk insisted on an afternoon on Broadway on our first day in town. Arriving in early afternoon, she had already scouted out Assembly Foodhall with the assumption that it would satisfy each of our tastes; I usually get a bit of a moan from the Monkettes when I announce we are going to a barbecue restaurant and I was saving that for the next day (more on that next week).

Assembly Foodhall has a prime location in downtown Nashville around the corner from Broadway and across the street from the Ryman. It features stalls from local Nashville eateries and bars like The Pharmacy Burger, Prince’s Hot Chicken, and Hattie Jane’s Creamery over two floors and like just about every other place in Nashville, regularly features live music.

The youngest Monkette (the pickiest eater among us) got a fancy grilled cheese, Mrs. Monk and the elder Monkette shared sushi rolls, and I got a lighter lunch of a pulled pork barbecue sandwich and a side at Honeyfire Barbeque Co.

The pork sandwich was dusted with a sweet rub and a squirting of their honey barbecue sauce but that was somewhat offset by the topping of a mayo-based coleslaw. All in all, this was a fairly satisfying sandwich albeit not overly smokey. My assumption is that it was smoked in a gasser at their main location in the Bellevue neighborhood and trucked into downtown.

Speaking of the Bellevue location, Speedy actually checked out Honeyfire back in 2020 and tried a 3-meat combo of pork, brisket, and ribs. His main complaint overall was a generally high level of sweetness. Though to be fair, he did add a heap of of additional sauce onto the pork thinking it was a vinegar sauce.

The small cup of corn pudding was on the sweeter end of the spectrum while not being overly sweet, and a nice complement to the sandwich.

Honeyfire Barbeque Co. was not the main barbecue joint I was looking forward to in Nashville, but I certainly did not regret visiting as it’s decent ‘cue that is served quickly (a plus in a food hall setting). And there’s better barbecue down the street at Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog BBQ at Chief’s, but in a pinch it’ll do the trick.

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

What are your Barbecue New Year’s Resolutions for 2025?

/ Barbecue Bros / 2 Comments

Monk: I’ve never really been one for New Year’s resolutions in my personal life, but barbecue-related ones? Well those are the types of resolutions I can get on board with. Now that the calendar has turned from 2024 to 2025, here are my barbecue-related New Year’s Resolutions:

Image via Our State Magazine

Visit the joints I’ve been putting off

Ever since we started this barbecue journey in 2012, Grady’s Barbecue in Dudley, NC has been on my “must visit” list and was even warned that they won’t be around forever as there was no next generation to pass the restaurant down to. Well, 13 or so years later, owners Steve and Gerri Grady continue to own and operate it as they’ve done for the past 38 years with Steve still splitting the wood and cooking the hogs even at the age of 80. Steve was even inducted in the National BBQ Hall of Fame in November 2024, so that’s a reason to visit if I’ve ever heard one. They reopen from their well-deserved winter break on Wednesday, February 5th and mark my word, 2025 will be the year I finally get to Grady’s.

In addition to Grady’s there are a few other newer joints that I want to check out (funnily enough, all in South Carolina): the James Beard-nominated City Limits Q in West Columbia, Fork Grove BBQ in Anderson, and the soon-to-open Elliott’s Barbecue in Florence from Elliott Moss formerly of Buxton Hall Barbecue. I hope to hit those this year for the first time and maybe revisit a classic NC joint or two in addition.

Attend an Out-of-State Barbecue Festival

Everyone knows that barbecue festivals can be an efficient way of tasting a bunch of new and different barbecue without having to make the trips to each individual restaurant, especially if you have pitmasters that are travelling across the country for the event. That certainly was the case for the two festivals I attended last year in the Charlotte area, the Carolina Barbecue Festival, and the Jon G’s Jubilee where I was fortunate enough to taste (among others) City Limit’s Q’s barbecue hash and rice, Elliott Moss’ whole hog barbecue, smoked oysters from N. Sea Oyster Co, and Lawrence Barbecue’s brisket caramel wings, the best thing I ate all year.

This year, its time to try an out-of-state barbecue festival, perhaps something like the Memphis in May Festival or Holy Smokes in North Charleston, both of which I’ve done in the past and would happily revisit. Or perhaps attend one that haven’t been to such as the Windy City Smokeout in Chicago, Jack Daniel’s World Championship in Lynchburg, TN or one of the many festivals in Texas like the Texas Monthly BBQ Fest in Grand Prairie or Houston, the Red Dirt BBQ & Music Festival in Tyler, or Aaron Franklin’s Hot Luck Festival in Austin.

Smoke my own whole hog

My one and only whole hog took place Father’s Day 2019 and was an amazing experience. My fellow Barbecue Bro Speedy and I smoked a whole hog in my backyard in an temporary cinder block pit (courtesy of Garren from Jon G’s Barbecue) and I had 80+ neighbors and friends over for a big party. Other than deciding to reposition the the burn barrel a couple hours into the burn, Speedy making a 3am Wal-Mart run for more charcoal to help kickstart the fire, and deciding to hang backyard lighting solo from a teetering ladder during a middle of the night shift, it all went according to plan. That includes finishing the hog about 6 hours before the party and frantically Googling out how to keep it warm for our guests later that day. Still, the barbecue was amazing and the party went off without a hitch.

I’ve thought over the years about doing another one but just haven’t made it happen. Well, that needs to change and this fall I plan to do just that.

What are your barbecue new year’s resolutions?

The Women of Red Bridges School Behind the Food

/ Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Monk: Fans of old school barbecue in Cleveland county have been relying upon Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge in Shelby for Piedmont-style barbecue for nearly 80 years. While originally started by Red Bridges in 1946, the restaurant is really a story of matriarchs. Red’s wife Lyttle continued to run the business after his passing in 1966, working over 12 hours each day until she retired at the age of 80. Today her daughter Debbie and granddaughter Natalie continue to carry the torch, with the same pits and same recipes.

In the below video, Al from Behind the Food TV gets schooled by Debbie, Natalie, and the men of Red Bridges Barbecue during an overnight smoke as they cook barbecue in temporary mobile pits that they used while their brick masonry pits were being repaired after a pit fire in the fall of 2024.

Along the way, we get a comprehensive history of the restaurant, Debbie’s choice of the restaurant over a modeling career, and how Natalie has slowly drug the restaurant into the 21st century as her mom has technically retired. Al also gets to prep the hush puppies and the barbecue slaw in the part of the kitchen known as “The Slaw Room.”

Needless to say, this was a very thorough schooling by the women of Red Bridges.

Description: In this epic story, the 2nd and 3rd generations of women running Red Bridges BBQ in Western North Carolina show me their almost 80 year-old tradition of cooking Shelby, NC style BBQ – and share the journey of all 3 generations of strong women defending their BBQ traditions.

Linkdown: 1/30/25 – The Joy and the Sadness Edition

/ Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Featured

Monk: Congrats to the 2025 James Beard Award Semifinalists! They were announced a little over a week ago, and from a barbecue standpoint Christopher Prieto of Prime Barbecue was the only pitmaster from North Carolina nominated. This was his first nomination.

Impressively, Robbie Robinson of City Limits Barbeque in West Columbia was nominated for a second time – perhaps the first time someone from the barbecue world has been nominated two years in an row. That’s big time.

https://twitter.com/EaterCarolinas/status/1882089244937871864

By my count, there were 8 nominations from the barbecue world. The Southeast made up 2 of those, as did Texas. The remaining nominations were from California, Mid-Atlantic, South, and in the Outstanding Restaurateur category. The full list is available here.

  • Outstanding Restaurateur – Daisy Ryan and Greg Ryan, Companion Hospitality (Bell’s, Bar Le Cote, Priedite BBQ, and others), Los Alamos, CA
  • Best Chef: California – Darryl Bell, Stateline Road Smokehouse, Napa, CA
  • Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic – Fernando Gonzalez, 2Fifty Barbeque, Riverdale, MD and Washington, DC
  • Best Chef: South – Jordan Wright, Wright’s Barbecue, Johnson, AR
  • Best Chef: Southeast – Christopher Prieto, Prime Barbecue, Knightdale, NC;
  • Best Chef: Southeast – Robbie Robinson, City Limits Barbeque, West Columbia, SC
  • Best Chef: Texas – Fasicka Hicks and Patrick Hicks, Smoke’N Ash BBQ, Arlington, TX
  • Best Chef: Texas – Evan LeRoy, LeRoy and Lewis Barbecue, Austin, TX

Nominees for the 35h Annual James Beard Award will be announced on Wednesday, April 2, and winners will be announced at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony on Monday, June 16. Will someone from the barbecue world win Best Chef? Stay tuned and we’ll find out in a couple of months.

Native News

On the sad side of things, a trio of stories from the world of North Carolina barbecue:

Kyle Fletcher of Kyle Fletcher’s Barbecue in Lowell passed away earlier this year and leaves behind a “legacy of kindness”

Short Sugar’s in Reidsville has closed after 75 years in business

And to add to the misery, Kepley’s in the Barbecue Bros hometown of High Point will close next month after 75 years open