The Improper Pig – Charlotte, NC

January 5, 2015January 10, 2015 / Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Name: The Improper Pig
Date: 12/19/14
Address: 110 S Sharon Amity Rd Charlotte, NC 28211
Order: Monk: Cotswold platter with pulled pork, sliced brisket, asian slaw, and sweet potato hash; Speedy: Half rack of St. Louis ribs with collards (link to menu)
Price: Monk: $12; Speedy: $14

Monk: If memory serves, The Improper Pig might be the first new barbecue restaurant to open in Charlotte since City Smoke over 2.5 years ago (whose disappointment by Speedy in part led to the creation of this blog). It is brought to you by the same folks who run The Pizza Peel and local franchises of The Flying Biscuit and Moe’s and is located in a former Mama Fu’s in the Cotswold shopping center (interestingly, they kept the wok to use in several of their barbecue dishes). So you know that Speedy and I had to check it out at first opportunity.

Speedy: The restaurant certainly has a “new school” feel. Without knowing anything about it, you wouldn’t guess barbecue restaurant walking in. It is not well lit and you’re greeted by a hostess. You can see into the kitchen, including the smoker. While the restaurant isn’t overly pricey, it has more of an upscale feel than your typical ‘cue joint. In order to sample as wide a variety as possible, Monk ordered a Cotswold platter (two-meat combo) with pork and brisket and I ordered the half rack of ribs. We also talked Mrs. Monk into upgrading to the Cotswold platter in order to allow us to try to sausage as well.

Monk: The Improper Pig (great name, btw) and its pitmaster Will Bigham utilize a Southern Pride gasser, which as Speedy alluded to is visible in the kitchen. While it is a shame that they are going this route, it’s not completely unexpected. That’s not to say that you can’t get good meat out of one of these, but you unfortunately you can pretty much tell that they are using a gasser in the pork and brisket. They both have some bark but neither is as smokey as I would have liked. Seeing as this was maybe the second week of the restaurant being open, Speedy and I discussed that they still might be figuring things out with the smoker, so we tried to be somewhat understanding. And to be fair, what they did serve that night wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t great yet.

Speedy: The ribs were somewhat disappointing as well. While they were tender and had decent flavor, they were cooked and served with the membrane still attached, and it was noticeable. I know people have different opinions on this, but I just don’t enjoy eating the membrane, as I think it’s harder to chew. The andouille sausage was decent, but could have used more snap. Overall, I just think that all the meats were overcooked, which was particularly noticeable with the brisket and ribs. It could just be that the pit masters were still figuring out the intricacies of the smoker, so I’ll go back and try again in a month or two. Like Monk, I didn’t dislike any of the meats, but I also wasn’t overly impressed.

Monk: On this night, the sides may have been the best part of the meal, though they aren’t your regular barbecue sides. They don’t have hush puppies or traditional cornbread on the menu, instead going with a small corn biscuit which I could have taken or left. The house slaw was mayo-based, so I went with the asian slaw which was quite good (and a nod to the asian spin on some of their barbecue dishes). The sweet potato hash was essentially mashed sweet potatoes and was different but I enjoyed it. Most of the rest of their sides looked worthy of an order in the future, with nearly all being vegetarian friendly.

Speedy: I thought the collards were really good as well. I’m on record as saying I don’t like taking sides into account when judging a ‘cue joint, but here, they were good enough to really add to the meal. There are also several non-traditional menu items that I’d like to try, including the asian inspired tacos and southern egg rolls. So while The Improper Pig doesn’t top the list of Charlotte barbecue joints, I’ll definitely be back.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3 hogs
Pork – 3 hogs
Brisket – 2.5 hogs
Ribs – 2.5 hogs
Sides – 4 hogs
Overall – 3 Hogs

521 BBQ and Grill – Tega Cay, SC

December 15, 2014January 26, 2015 / Barbecue Bros / 2 Comments

Name: 521 BBQ and Grill
Date: 11/29/14
Address: 1135 Stonecrest Blvd, Suite 101, Tega Cay, SC 29708
Order: Pork and rib barbecue combo plate (link to menu)
Price: ~$16

Last time I tried to use a Livingsocial coupon for 521 BBQ and Grill, Speedy and I ended up at the wrong location mostly – ok, completely – due to my lack of reading the small print. Well, on the day of expiration Mrs. Monk, the Monkette, and I made a trip back out to Fort Mill specifically to try the other, slightly closer location.

Of the two locations, I think I liked this building slightly more. What it lacks in traditional barbecue shack-iness – though the original is located at the end of a strip mall it looks the part of a shack (this one is also located in a strip mall but has more of a sports bar vibe) – it makes up for in beer and flat screen tv’s with sports (though I didn’t partake of any beer on this particular day).

And as it turns out, the other thing I liked slightly more at this location was the food. The pork had more smoke and some nice bark mixed in (~~again, for a gasser~~ Update: they use a FEC 150 wood pellet smoker). It also wasn’t as dry as the other location, while still being a tad on the drier end of the spectrum. Similar to the other location, I added the vinegar-based sauce and that greatly helped its cause. I didn’t order the ribs last time around but did on this trip. I found that I mostly agreed with Speedy’s take on them – they were meaty and I liked the sauce, though I could take or leave the finishing of them on the grill.

The sides were more or less the same as the other location, with the scratch-made hush puppies again being the highlight. The crinkle cut fries were standard but solid, the beans seemed a little bit like an afterthought and may have been straight out of a can, and the red slaw still had too much ketchup that made it more sweet than tangy.

I didn’t mention it last time, but the combo plate gives you a ton of food, enough for a to-go box and a second meal the next day. So you definitely get a lot of food for the price.

At the Tega Cay location of 521 BBQ and Grill, the food is decent and the service was friendly but I don’t know if I would consider it worth the drive from NoDa. Though for options in Fort Mill, you could probably do a lot worse.

–Monk

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

Sugarfire Smoke House – St. Louis, MO

November 17, 2014November 17, 2014 / Barbecue Bros / 1 Comment

Name: Sugarfire Smoke House
Date: 10/28/14
Address: 9200 Olive Blvd, St. Louis, MO
Order: Combo plate with pork and brisket, collards and fries (link to menu)
Price: $14

Speedy: I recently found myself in St. Louis for a brief work trip. So of course I reached out to friend of the blog and St. Louis native Johnny of Barbecue Rankings in order to figure out where to go. Johnny rattled off a bunch of places (most notably Bogart’s and Pappy’s), but unfortunately, those are the type of places that sell out before dinner time and were too far away from my client for lunch. The only place on Johnny’s list that was logistically feasible was Sugarfire Smoke House. It wasn’t a place he had been, but was on his list (editor’s note: Johnny has since been as well), so I figured it was worth checking out. So I forced my work team to take a trip with me for a long lunch one day.

Monk: Wow, such power Speedy doth yield…

Speedy: Though St. Louis is known for its ribs, I decided to go with the pork and brisket combo plate, as I felt like that would give me a good feel for the restaurant. I added a sausage link to my meal as well, but wasn’t able to try it, as it ended up having cheese in it (which I do not tolerate).

Monk: I can attest that Speedy does not tolerate cheese. Or any dairy, for that matter.

Speedy: The brisket was solid. I had a nice, fatty slice with decent bark on the outside. It wasn’t too dry, but I wasn’t overwhelmed with the flavor. Rudy always says that a great brisket needs no sauce, but I felt like this did. Sugarfire has quite a selection of sauces, but I stuck with the traditional spicy sauce, which was good.

I felt pretty similarly about the pulled pork. It had a nice bark, but could have used a little more smoke on it. The spicy sauce went well with the pork as well, and, overall, it was enjoyable.

Monk: Though both may have been enjoyable, it seems a little dubious to me that they both required sauce. Not exactly a ringing endorsement…

Speedy: I’m not much into sides, but Sugarfire is actually known for having great sides – particularly the mac & cheese, which I didn’t sample (obviously). For my money, the collards were great. I was surprised to have such goods collards outside the South, so kudos to Sugarfire for that.

I also feel it’s important to note that Sugarfire is famous for its odd barbecue creations. For example, one of my co-workers had chorizo stuffed pork tenderloin with chorizo gravy. It looked amazing, and my co-worker confirmed as much. I think if I ever take a trip back, that’s the route I’ll take. Either way, I do think Sugarfire Smoke House is worth checking out, though there are probably better options in the area.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3.5 hogs
Pork – 2.5 hogs
Brisket – 3 hogs
Sides – 4 hogs
Overall – 3 Hogs

Switzerland Cafe and General Store – Little Switzerland, NC

September 1, 2014September 1, 2014 / Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Name: Switzerland Cafe and General Store
Date: 7/18/14
Address: 9440 State Highway 226A, Pisgah National Forest, Marion, NC 28752
Order: Speedy: Cafe Barbeque Platter; Monk: The Whole Trout (link to menu)
Price: Speedy: $10.25; Monk: $11.45

Monk: After we left 12 Bones in Arden, Speedy and I headed to Switzerland Cafe and General Store in Little Switzerland. Side note: who else knew that there was a Little Switzerland in North Carolina? Show of hands? No one else? ANYWAYS, in case you were wondering it is located just off the intersection of Highway 226A and the Blue Ridge Parkway, near Marion. Switzerland Cafe was the most recent addition to the NC Historical Barbecue Trail, essentially replacing Deano’s in Mocksville. And next to Herb’s in Murphy, I’m willing to bet its the most remotely located.

Speedy: We went on a rainy/foggy afternoon, so we really couldn’t see that well where we were driving. To say it’s off the beaten path is an understatement. Now this could be a good thing, as a joint has to attract business to stay open, and the more remote it is, the harder it is to attract business. However, whenever a barbecue joint’s main attraction is something other than the ‘cue, I’m skeptical.

Monk: Before ordering, we checked out the smoker located in a colorfully decorated shack out back. We stumbled upon a couple of workers checking on some pork butts in the smoker and got to check it out a little bit. Switzerland Cafe uses a vertical smoker with little more than a pan separating the hickory wood coals from the stack of pork butts. This was definitely a unique technique I haven’t seen in other pits on our barbecue travels.

Speedy: And honestly, I’m not sure it’s a technique I’d recommend. It does keep the direct heat off of the meat, but seems like it would keep some smoke away as well. However, it was a super cool smoker and awesome opportunity to check it out.

But we weren’t there to look at the smoker – it was time to eat. As we had already had a massive barbecue meal at 12 Bones, I decided to stick to the essential – the “barbeque cafe platter,” complete with slaw and baked beans. Digging in, something about the pork was a little off to me. It was plenty tender, but the taste was just not exactly what I expected. It wasn’t bad, but it lacked the expected pork flavor. My best guess is that the odd taste is due to being cooked in the same smoker as the fish.

Monk: Speaking of the fish, I tried “The Whole Trout” appetizer as my dish since it was so unique (not to mention I also was stuffed from 12 Bones). I apparently didn’t read the menu too carefully because as I took a forkful of the trout I was surprised by the fact that it was chilled. I could taste the smoke – unlike the pork cooked over hickory, the fish is cooked over applewood (h/t) – but it was just unexpected and different. I think its worth trying once, but if I ever find myself back I probably won’t order it again.

One of the owners also brought us out a smoked salmon BLT because she wanted us to try, and I took a sliver. Had I been hungrier, I would have eaten the whole thing because that thing was pretty delicious. They also offer a smoked trout BLT, but we didn’t taste that.

Speedy: Overall, Switzerland Cafe was a fine barbecue meal, but likely the last I’ll ever eat there. I think Monk liked it better than I did, but the location is just so remote that it would take an amazing meal to compensate. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t there for me.

But at least we got to check another one off the trail list…

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