It’s not just a name at Dampf Good BBQ in Cary

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Name: Dampf Good BBQ
Date: 2/7/25
Address: 6800 Good Hope Church Rd, Cary, NC 27519
Order: Texas Trinity: 1 pound brisket, 1 pound ribs, 2 sausages, with three sides plus a smoked brisket burger (link to menu)
Pricing: $$$

Monk: Another week, another top 50 Texas joint (outside of Texas). Dampf Good BBQ in Cary has been on my wish list for a few years now, but when I’m in Raleigh they tend to be either closed when I come in town for the Hopscotch Music Festival the week after Labor Day or I am otherwise occupied with a State football game and tailgating in preparation for what is certain to be mediocre football.

That changed this most recent trip while I was in town attending two nights of American Aquarium’s Roadtrip to Raleigh three night stand at The Lincoln Theater. I roped two friends of the blog Smorgan and Bill Fleming into coming with me for a late Friday lunch, both to enjoy the nice day but also so I could order more food.

Brothers Nick and Bryce Dampf have set up their food trailer and offset smokers on the grounds of Phillip Farms, and its a pretty sweet setup for a non-brick and mortar with not only the trailer and smokers under permanent metal awnings but also some of the seating for the guests. Phillips Farm is a 100+ year old farm in Cary that in recent decades has expanded to become more of a community gathering spot that hosts a farmers market and  family fun park in the spring, a seven acre corn maze, sunflower field, and Haunted Farm in the fall, and a Christmas tree farm and Winter Wonderland in the winter. While this was my first time visiting, I’ll keep my eye on it next time I’m in town with the full Monk family.

Much to my happy surprise, it was a relatively short line of maybe 6 parties in front of us at 12:30 for Friday lunch, though the line did grow quite a bit as we sat down to eat. Me and the boys waited in line maybe 10-15 minutes before we stepped up to make our order.

As the sole Barbecue Bro present, I offered to handle the ordering for the group and once that duty was agreed upon I was instantly drawn to the Texas Trinity Plate: one pound of brisket, one pound of spare ribs, two sausages, and three sides; I selected smoked mac and cheese, elote, and coleslaw. And then, because I was feeling frisky, I added a smoked brisket burger on top of our order.

The pork spare ribs were my favorite of the three meats, and the half rack was smoked nicely with a glaze that had a hint of sweetness. Altogether, a good balance between the sweetness of the glaze and the savory of the pepper-based rub. The ribs themselves were cooked perfectly and had a great bite to them. 

We got slices of both fatty and lean for our pound of brisket, and I had a slight preference of the lean between the two though both had the peppery bark you would expect from a top tier brisket while still having the proper amount of salt. We opted for one of each each of the sausages – polish and pepper muenster. Both were very solid.

I’ve buried the lede a little bit here, and the smoked brisket burger may have been the best part of the lunch. I split the burger (which I ordered all the way with cheese, pickles, and mayo on a potato bun) into quarters and both Smorgan and Bill were instantly huge fans. Greedily, I opted for the final quarter after a few minutes when no one was so bold as to take it.

I liked the smokiness of the mac and cheese, while not being overly smokey. The elote corn salad and the cole slaw offered a nice contrast to the fattiness of the meats. All very good sides.

For fans of Texas-style barbecue in the Triangle, I can’t recommend Dampf Good Barbecue enough. Along with Prime Barbecue in Knightdale, Sam Jones and Longleaf Swine in Raleigh, and Lawrence Barbecue in Durham, the Triangle has some pretty heavy hitters when it comes to new school barbecue. I must say, I’m a little bit jealous down here in Charlotte.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3 hogs
Brisket – 4.5 hogs
Ribs – 4.5 hogs
Sausage – 4 hogs
Burger – 5 hogs
Sides – 4 hogs
Overall – 4.5 hogs

Trying the Michelin star-winning barbecue joints in Texas (and 13 more)

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Monk: In the following video, YouTuber Joshua Weissman is joined by private chef/Instagram star (and new Texas resident) Olivia Tiedemann on a journey to try the best barbecue in Texas, all of which are on Texas Monthly’s Top 50 list and four of which received Michelin stars last year (CorkScrew BBQ in Spring and Interstellar Barbecue, La Barbecue, and LeRoy and Lewis in Austin).

Joshua and Olivia visit 17 joints in total and rated each one and slotted them onto a big board as they go for both brisket and sides. Starting in Houston, they then make their way to Austin before heading Central Texas, the panhandle, and eventually DFW. Your favorite barbecue editor even makes an appearance at the end of the video.

What was their favorite and did it match up with Texas Monthly’s #1? Check the video to find out.

Shotgun Willie’s Brings a Taste of Texas to East Nashville

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Name: Shotgun Willie’s
Date: 1/25/25
Address: 1500 Gallatin Pike S Suite 104, Madison, TN 37115
Order: “Tennessee style” pulled pork plate with dill pickled potato salad and honey poppy seed slaw plus a half pound of brisket and a beef sausage link (link to menu)
Pricing: $$$

Monk: Shotgun Willie’s opened up during the early days of the pandemic in 2020 and Speedy tried it in October of that year when the indoor seating was still restricted. He liked it enough, particularly the pulled pork and ribs over the brisket. In his Nashville rankings of 2020, he ranked it his fifth favorite barbecue joint in Nashville.

The Monkette’s gymnastics meet was taking place not too far away at the Gaylord Opryland, so we made an 8 minute drive on a Saturday morning and arrived shortly after their 11 o’clock opening. This location is actually not the same on that Speedy visited but its just a short 1.3 miles east across I-31E in the nearby town of Madison. It sits at the end of what looks to be a newer building sitting at the front of an older shopping center housing a former K-Mart-turned-bowling alley which is also a concert venue (I actually went to see The Get Up Kids that night with Speedy, in fact). According to the website, “[t]he new SGWBBQ is about 4x larger than its original location, with more smokers, more parking, plenty more chairs and the one thing he’s been wishing for since 2020… a mechanical bull!” I will note that the bull wasn’t operational at the time of this visit.

After I commiserated over the current form of Manchester United with the meat slicer who I believe to be the owner Bill, I went to work ordering food for my in-laws, my kids, my wife, and me. Bill kindly guided me towards the pulled pork plate when I started to order the pork and brisket by the pound, added a link, and then added sides after the fact, which saved me a little money. The kindness of Bill and his staff seemed to be a constant from the sounds of Speedy’s visit a little over 4 years ago.

Starting with the brisket as Speedy did, I was offered a choice of fatty or lean (going with fatty). Personally, I would have preferred a slightly thinner slice and one without a big vein of fat through it (though of course the latter could not be helped). It did have a nice peppery crust and on the whole wasn’t overly salty. The plate came with pickled onions and pickles and a slice of white bread so I did not hesitate in making a fold over for a few bites.

The pulled pork wasn’t dusted as aggressively as it was in Speedy’s photos and I found it to have good flavor. I shared my portion with both Monkettes (who got the queso mac and cheese as their entrees), and it was a hit with my girls.

Bill recommended the beef link (he prefers beef over pork in links), and boy he did not steer me wrong. The link (which is premade from Kiolbassa in San Antonio) had a nice snap and great beefy flavor.

Staying true to form, the sides of potato salad and cole slaw were above average. I tried a few bites of Mrs. Monk’s Brunswick stew, which she loved and I just couldn’t disagree. You can even get a Lone Star for your beer. So far, no real misses from Shotgun Willie’s.

It seems as if I’m not the only one who thinks highly of Shotgun Willie’s, as last year they were named one of the top 50 Texas barbecue joints outside the state by Texas Monthly Magazine. I’ll have to convince Speedy to check it out again and see if he’s in agreement but for me it’s among the very best barbecue joint that I’ve tasted in Nashville.

Speedy: After Monk told me about his solid experience, I decided I needed to give Shotgun Willie’s another try a few weeks later to see if it would move up the Nashville rankings (current #1: Bringles Smoking Oasis). I had a similar order to Monk, with the pulled pork sammie, brisket, and beef sausage. Like Monk, I enjoyed all, but did not find any one meat life-changing (though the cornbread muffin approached that distinction).

I enjoyed the pulled pork sandwich most, due to the heaping portion of pork that had just been pulled off the shoulder, and the good, hearty bread. The brisket and beef sausage both had really good flavor, but I agree with Monk that the brisket would be better sliced thinner, and I thought the sausage was a tad on the greasy side. Rereading my original review, I wish I had ordered a half rack of ribs, which I’ll have to save for next time.

Monk: Thanks for checking in, Speedy. This sounds like a good occasion for a refreshed Nashville Top 5. What say ye?

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 4 hogs
Brisket – 4 hogs
Pork – 4 hogs
Sausage – 4 hogs
Sides – 4 hogs
Overall – 4 hogs

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

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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