Charlotte Barbecue News from July through September of 2022

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Monk: Phar Mill BBQ and Brewing has not only recently joined the Charlotte barbecue landscape within the last year or so but has even opened a second location in Concord (it’s original location is in Harrisburg). They are a joint that is smoking it’s barbecue over wood – on a Jon G’s smoker, nonetheless – and I hope to report back soon.

In the next six months, I’d love to see more upstart barbecue joints in Charlotte plus maybe an established, wood-smoking chain like Sam Jones or Rodney Scott or Home Team join the Charlotte barbecue scene because, you know, a rising tide lifts all boats.

Here’s the notable barbecue news from the past three months.

July

7/12 Spectrum 1 checks in on Barvecue, the wood-smoked, plant-based barbecue from Cornelius

7/12 Jon G’s Barbecue makes Yelp Charlotte’s list of 25 places to eat in Charlotte

7/15 Lewis Donald is no longer involved with Dish and will be focusing his efforts on Sweet Lew’s BBQ and the Carolina Barbecue Festival going forward

August

8/3 HopFly Brewing Company releases Go Time Smoked Pilsner, brewed in collaboration with Jon G’s Barbecue:

We put this recipe together with our friends from the renowned @jongsbbq in Peachland, NC. In addition to our favorite pilsner malt, we filled this beer out with a healthy quantity of wheat smoked by Jon G himself down in Peachland. This beautiful golden lager has a round, malty sweetness complemented nicely with overtones of the BBQ pit. It’s the perfect accompaniment to a slab of smoked brisket, or while you’re at home standing next to the grill. 4.0% ABV

8/3 Jon G’s also makes the News & Observer’s favorite NC barbecue joints

September

9/3 Jon G’s Barbecue shares some photos of their involvement in the wedding of Jennifer Lopez and Ben Afflect in Savannah

9/9 Phar Mill Brewing and BBQ opens its Concord location

9/14 Noble Smoke, Jon G’s, Midwood Smokehouse, and The Smoke Pit are included in this Texas-style barbecue restaurant roundup from Kevin’s BBQ Joints

9/16 Phar Mill Brewing and BBQ announces its new chef, Chef Eric

9/17 Midwood Smokehouse made it to the finals of the News & Observer Barbecue Bracket but ultimately lost to Wilber’s Barbecue

Preparations Underway for the Barbecue Festival in Lexington

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Monk: Preparations are underway, not only from the organizers of the festival but also the restaurants on the fringe of town who hope to get additional traffic from the 150,000 or so folks coming into town for the weekend.

I did learn from this video that a barbecue joint named Cafe 71 has recently opened in the former Rick’s Smokehouse in Welcome, which is wonderful news and has been added to my list.

Linkdown: 10/12/22 – The “Noted North Carolinian, Texas Pete” Edition

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Monk: Fascinating story first brought to our attention by the excellent NC Rabbit Hole newsletter by Jeremy Markovich. And relevant because Texas Pete has a long history with NC barbecue: “[The history section on the Texas Pete website] goes on to say that basically, during the depression, the Garner family wanted some spicier sauce to serve at their barbecue stand. The sauce outlived the stand.”

Also fascinating: Jeremy first brought this to our attention (culling information from a publicly available lawsuit, but still) but has since been aggregated out of credit. He breaks it down in the following Twitter thread.

The story has since been picked up by The Huffington Post, USA Today, Business Insider/Food Insider, and the Nexstar-owned news stations like High Point’s Fox 8.

In any case, I urge you to support Jeremy and NC Rabbit Hole for not only this but lots of other fascinating, NC-focused stories.

Native News

The last bit on Texas Pete (for now), an Our State Magazine story on its history from 2017

Mac’s Speed Shop’s latest location in Concord will also feature live music

A short video on Cook Out from Food Insider

The Barbecue Festival is coming up on October 22

Non-Native News

John Mueller’s barbecue joint at the Granary didn’t come to fruition before he passed, but his friend Jeff Ancira is keeping his memory alive with BBQ at the Granary

Heirloom Market is still found on Eater Atlanta’s 38 Essential Restaurants lis

The Houston Chronicle Top 100 List features several barbecue restaurants, including Brett’s BBQ Shop

Voting Ends later today in this poll from City Limits Barbeque

Home Team BBQ – Greenville, SC

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Name: Home Team BBQ
Date: 10/2/22
Address: 815 Laurens Rd, Greenville, SC 29607
Order: 2 meat combo (pulled pork and brisket), collards, hash and rice (link to menu)
Pricing: $$

Monk: While Speedy has previously reviewed both the Sullivan’s Island and West Ashley locations of Home Team BBQ, I have never actually eaten at a Home Team BBQ myself. I’ve had drinks at the Sullivan’s island location but prior to my visit had yet to actually taste their barbecue. Home Team has very much been in expansion mode, with an additional two locations in the Charleston area plus expanding out into South Carolina with locations in Columbia and most recently Greenville. Then of course there’s their Aspen, Colorado location!

The vibe of the newest Greenville location is “sports bar that happens to serve barbecue.” They had a good tap list and were rearing to play a full Sunday early afternoon slate of NFL games. We arrived just before it got busy for Sunday lunch but the food took a while to get out to us.

Having not tried their meats but with Mrs. Monk not looking to share a big platter, I settled for the two meat combo with pulled pork and brisket. The plain pulled pork had a little bit of smoke in the bits of bark but was clearly made to have one of the many sauces added to it as opposed to eating it plain. I predictably went with the pepper vinegar and it worked fairly well.

The brisket, on the other hand, was squarely average. It was sliced thinly and the fat could have used a bit more rendering. It was also a tad on the bland side.

As far as sides went, the vinegary collards were quite good and a meal highlight. The hash and rice was a nice surprise as a side.

After my first visit to a Home Team BBQ, I find it to be what Mac’s Speed Shop in Charlotte used to be circa 2005/2006: a fun spot to watch the game, have some beers, and eat some decent barbecue. While it wouldn’t necessarily be my first choice, I would certainly visit one again.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3 hogs
Pork – 3 hogs
Brisket – 2.5 hogs
Sides – 3.5 hogs
Overall – 3 Hogs