Hursey’s Bar-B-Q – Graham, NC

February 16, 2015April 27, 2015 / Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Name: Hursey’s Bar-B-Q
Date: 2/14/15
Address: 1234 S Main St, Graham, NC 27253
Order: Two barbecue sandwiches (one slow, one without), large fries, two soft drinks (link to menu)
Price: $11

The newest (and I believe largest) location of Hursey’s Bar-B-Q replaced the previous Graham location, which was located in an old Hardee’s just off I-85/I-40 (if I am remembering that correctly). Many years ago (well before the blog), Mrs. Monk and I stopped there and this past Valentine’s Day we found ourselves stopping by this newer location for a quick bite on our way to Raleigh.

We didn’t get a chance to really check out much of the large barn-shaped establishment due to the fact that we had to get to Raleigh. But from what I could tell it did seem similar to the original location, with the order counter at the front and the dining room off to the side. This one does serve breakfast from 6-11am, as opposed to the other locations that open for lunch starting at 11.

Seeing as we were going to be eating in the car, we went for barbecue sandwiches – mine with slaw, hers without. Unfortunately, hush puppies would have been a 5-10 minute wait (since it was still technically breakfast time when we went) so we had to go with fries instead. The pork in the sandwich was moist and tangy and the crunchy white slaw complemented it nicely. I gobbled it up in just a couple of bites, seeing as I hadn’t eaten much of a breakfast that day. The fries were standard, but we found the large portion to be a bit small for two people to share seeing as how we asked the girl at the counter if they would be enough for two and she said that it would have.

I actually enjoyed this barbecue more than I remembered liking it at the original location. From what I understand, the barbecue is smoked at the original location daily and then shipped out to all of the other locations so there’s a chance the fried chicken and lackluster brunswick stew colored that previous visit. In any case, this was well worth the short jaunt off the highway.

–Monk

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3.5 hogs
Pork – 4 hogs
Sides – 3 hogs
Overall – 3.5 hogs

City Barbeque – Cary, NC

January 12, 2015January 9, 2015 / Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Name: City Barbeque
Date: 11/14/14 and 1/7/15
Address: 1305 Kildaire Farm Road, Cary, NC 27511
Order: Lil City (Combo plate with pork and brisket), gumbo and hushpuppies (link to menu)
Price: $10

Speedy: Look – I know City Barbeque is a small chain (though they don’t franchise) and I know they use a gasser (though it is a Southern Pride), but I had a hankering for ‘cue one day and I had driven past this place before, so I decided to stop in. And I’m glad I did.

City Barbeque sits as a stand alone building in a good sized shopping center. It’s Southern Pride smoker is attached to the building, such that the wood is put in from the outside, but there’s a door on the smoker inside the building as well. The restaurant has a modern feel. You order at the counter, and the meat is then cut or pulled and you take your seat. The order method makes it seem like it’s trying to be old school, but it kind of falls flat on that aspect. It’s not a bad atmosphere, per se, but not my fav.

City serves all kinds of ‘cue – pork, brisket, sausage, chicken, turkey, and ribs. It definitely has a newer feel. Both times I’ve been, I’ve avoided the ribs (as I’ve been in business-wear) and opted for an off-menu (but often ordered) Lil City, which is a half portion of brisket and half portion of pulled pork. I’ve had three sides total in two trips – the gumbo (never before seen as a ‘cue side), hush puppies, and vinegar slaw.

The pork has a really nice bark and is pretty tender. I could use a little more smoke, but the flavor is there. There is a station with several sauces available (kind of like the salsa bar at Moe’s), one of which is a vinegar sauce. I think adding a bit of this enhances the flavor, but overall, the pork is good.

The brisket, I think, is a little bit better. It is also plenty tender with great bark. There might be slightly too much tug, but I’m nitpicking a bit. I also think it could use a little more pepper in the rub to give a little more bit to the bark, but overall, I think it’s a very good brisket – especially for North Carolina.

The sides are top notch. The hush puppies are perfect. The slaw, which contains carrots and peppers in addition to the cabbage, is strong, and the gumbo is great (note: I’m a sucker for gumbo at all times, so having it available as a side here is a huge bonus). Overall, I couldn’t be happier with the sides.

Monk: Hmm…I’m not sure how I feel about gumbo at a barbecue place, but at least it was good. Sounds like City Barbeque (a chain started in Ohio) is worth a try next time I’m with all of the other relocated yanks in Cary.

Speedy: I definitely want to go back some time for dinner to check out both the ribs and the sausage, but overall, City Barbeque is a really good meal. It doesn’t have the down home feel of the old-timey ‘cue joints, and it does use a gas smoker instead of a stick burner, but these guys understand how to smoke meat. I’ll definitely be back.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 2 hogs
Pork – 3 hogs
Brisket – 3.5 hogs
Sides – 4 hogs
Overall – 3.5 Hogs

Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue – Kansas City, MO

September 15, 2014September 10, 2014 / Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Name: Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue
Date: 7/26/14
Address: 101 W 22nd St, Kansas City, MO
Order: Burnt ends appetizer, BBQ combo lunch with crown prime beef rib and sliced brisket (link to menu)
Price: ~$30

Speedy: I recently took a trip to visit a college friend in Kansas City, so of course had to check out the barbecue while I was there. We unfortunately had a fairly packed schedule, so waiting in line at Arthur Bryant’s or Oklahoma Joe’s wasn’t in the cards, but fortunately, there’s plenty of ‘cue to choose from in the city. Going in, I had never heard of Jack Stack, but if the smell outside was any indication, I was in for a treat.

Jack Stack isn’t your old school barbecue joint – and by that I mean there’s a hostess and waitresses. It definitely has a more modern feel. There are pros and cons to this – mostly that you can buy beer, but the barbecue generally isn’t quite as good. It’s a tough trade-off to make, but I happily ordered a local brew upon seating.

The menu at Jack Stack is pretty diverse, so I was pretty happy when our group decided to order the burnt end appetizer, meaning I could try something else as my entree. I was surprised to see on the menu that they offered beef, pork, ham, and sausage burnt ends, as I had only heard of beef (which is what we ordered). I’d be curious to know other people’s experiences with non-beef burnt ends.

The burnt ends came and were gone very quickly. They were served with a spicy and non-spicy sauce, but I’m a man so I only had the spicy. It was really, really good. Overall, the burnt ends were pretty good but not the best I’d had, which was a little disappointing. I was hoping to have been blown away. I would like to have had a little more bark to the meat, but overall, it was enjoyable. It’s worth noting that I would be thrilled to have these burnt ends in NC, but I don’t think they are better than what you can get at Midwood Smokehouse.

The brisket came sauced, which my man Rudy says is a bad sign. I don’t think it was used to cover old brisket, because there was a good tug to it – just not quite as much smoke as I’d like. In NC, this brisket would be considered good to very good, but in Texas (and I’m assuming Kansas City), it was just average.

The beef rib, however, was another story. It was fantastic. I flip flopped over ordering it due to the additional $8 cost, but am glad I did. It was amazingly tender, had great flavor, and was by far the highlight of the meal. I thought it came damn close to the best beef rib I’ve ever tasted (at Black’s Barbecue). This is definitely the order if you come to Jack Stack.

I honestly don’t remember anything about the sides, so I’ll leave that as an N/A. If you care, then you’re reading the wrong site.

Monk: So what’s the final verdict? Did you regret not being able to wait in line at one of the more well known joints or were you pleased with this taste of KC barbecue? I also want to point out that this is the first official Barbecue Bros review in Mizzourah.

Speedy: I do. If I get the chance to go back to KC, I definitely want to check out one of the more known places. To me, I feel like if there’s great ‘cue there, the wait would be worth it. Overall, it was a good meal, but I did expect a bit more.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3.5 hogs
Burnt Ends – 3 hogs
Brisket – 3 hogs
Beef rib – 4.5 hogs
Overall – 3.5 Hogs

Midwood Smokehouse – Charlotte, NC (RE-REVIEW)

June 30, 2014July 31, 2014 / Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Name: Midwood Smokehouse
Date: 5/26/14
Location: 1401 Central Avenue, Charlotte, NC
Order: Pig Out Combo Platter (chopped pork, beef brisket, St. Louis style pork ribs, and hickory smoked sausage), bbq slaw, bbq baked beans, and hush puppies (link to menu)
Bill: $31

Speedy: Happy two year blogaversary, Monk!

Monk: And a happy blogaversary to you too, Speedy! What is the present for a two year blogaversary? Bacon?

Speedy: Might be a little early for that. Let’s call it the hushpuppy anniversary.

Anyway, Monk and I have a few spots in our Charlotte that are kind of go-to spots for a nice barbecue meal. We probably frequent Queen City Q and Midwood Smokehouse the most, but I’d probably consider Midwood Smokehouse my favorite in Charlotte. When Monk recently moved a food truck ahead of the Smokehouse on the Charlotte Big Board, I thought it was time for a re-review. The reasons for the re-review are two-fold: 1) our initial review was completed shortly after starting the blog (I mean, we ordered smoked turkey for chrissake), and I think Midwood itself has improved, including adding their awesome burnt ends to the menu full time (or so we thought).

Monk: To clarify, they do have burnt ends on the menu full time but they don’t allow you to choose that as one of the meats in the combo platter we were ordering. Which didn’t matter anyways, because they happened to be out of them that night. Undeterred (well, mostly me, not so much Speedy), we chose our four meats for the Pig Out Combo Platter – chopped pork, brisket, sausage and St. Louis ribs. No smoked turkey this time!

Speedy: I’m not sure if my take on this meal was colored by the lack of burnt ends, but the overall experience was not as good as I was expecting. The pork is very good, but I remember it having a considerably smokier flavor. Don’t get me wrong – you could still taste the smoke, but it used to be the smokiest pork I’d ever tasted, which I actually liked. The brisket was actually better than I remember. Monk and I ordered a mix between fatty and lean, which was a mistake. The fatty brisket was awesome, and included a really nice bark, but the lean was pretty dry. It’s still among the best brisket that I’ve found in NC, but shying away from the lean is the right play.

Monk: Fatty is definitely the way to go, and I agree that the brisket has improved considerably in the two years since our last official review. I may go as far as to say it just may be the best brisket in Charlotte. Although after eating a few slices I noted to Speedy that it seemed a little dry only to realize that was because he had taken all of the fatty slices! Et tu, Speedy?

The sausage had a nice snap and great flavor, but I assume that it’s not made in house. I haven’t heard or read otherwise so can’t be sure, but in any case it’s still a very solid sausage for North Carolina. Ribs are less so my jam than Speedy, but they had a good amount of tenderness and provided the right amount of tug, not falling off the bone with each bite.

Speedy: Rating barbecue restaurants can be hard. This was certainly not the best meal I’ve had at Midwood Smokehouse, but that’s what separates the good from the great. Overall, this was a good meal from a very good joint. But I just can’t say it was great…

Monk: We experienced this last fall at one of our favorite joints ever, Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge in Shelby. We went in fully expecting a slam-dunk 5 hog review but that particular experience didn’t measure up, so we just couldn’t do it. Still, Midwood Smokehouse is our favorite brick and mortar barbecue joint in town, and I think I can speak for Speedy that we would highly recommend it to anyone looking for good and occasionally great barbecue in Charlotte.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 4 hogs
Pork – 3.5 hogs
Brisket – 4 hogs
Sausage – 3 hogs
Ribs – 3 hogs
Sides – 3.5 hogs
Overall – 3.5 Hogs