Monk: Andrew and Bryan look back on their meals and experiences in 2023 (both memorable and not), take stock of the current landscape in barbecue, and outline their plans for 2024.
Description: 2023 was another great year for BBQ and more. Tune in for a rundown on some of our most memorable meals and experiences, discussion on the current and future BBQ landscape, and our plans for 2024!
Monk: I hope you all are staying healthy and enjoying your holidays with friends and family. This will be the last post of the year from us, and we’ll be back in the new year to continue year #13 for the Barbecue Bros.
This year, I started doing some writing for The Smoke Sheet weekly barbecue newsletter and my favorite featured post was on Buxton Hall’s closing. If you want to read it as well as more original writing, subscribe to The Smoke Sheet.
In the below post, our reviews from over the years were linked if you want to take a walk down memory lane.
In case you missed it, we also published our first Charlotte barbecue joints top 5 in four years just last week.
The Monk family went to Disney World in February and if you find yourself in a similar position and are craving barbecue, Monk has some tips and what (and what not) to eat.
Speedy took a BrisketU class in Nashville, which he recommended.
Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge in Shelby is still a must-stop for barbecue lovers heading to western NC.
We’re up to 348 reviews on the site now, and in 2023 we added 21 more. Not quite our most productive year in terms of restaurant reviews, but I was consciously trying to diversify the types of posts on the site.
A few new and notable North Carolina barbecue restaurants. Longleaf Swine technically opened in Raleigh in November 2022 but Monk checked it out a few months later in January of this year and loved their classic take on eastern NC whole hog. Firehawk Brewpub opened closer to home just west of Charlotte in Mount Holly, and shows a lot of promise between the wood-smoked barbecue and their craft beer.
Speaking of eastern NC whole hog, all three Bros visited Wilson County Barbecue in Portland, Maine on a rainy afternoon in June and found it to be fairly legit.
On two separate Charleston visits, Monk hit a number of spots including Rancho Lewis (from Lewis Barbecue’s John Lewis), Rodney Scott’s BBQ, Melvin’s BBQ, and Swig and Swine.
The Monk family also traveled to Alabama this summer to see family and do a camp drop off, and hit a couple of spots in Birmingham: Dreamland Barbecue and SAW’s BBQ.
In terms of book reviews, “Smokestack Lightning” is a seminal book from the early 2000’s by Lolis Eric Elie, who co-wrote Rodney Scott’s barbecue book a few years ago. “Ed Mitchell’s Barbeque” was co-written by Ed and his son Ryan along with native-North Carolinian Zella Palmer.
In terms of product reviews, we had some notable ones for the backyard grill.
Monk: It’s hard to believe that our last Charlotte best of post came way back in 2019. Then, I speculated that perhaps some big names could open second (or even third) outposts of established barbecue restaurants in Charlotte, but that hasn’t happened. No Bryan Furman, no Sam Jones, no Rodney Scott. In my mind, only one legit barbecue restaurant has opened since then (more on that later). In terms of announcements 2024 will have at least one promising new barbecue joint in the form of Edmar Simoes (formerly of Sauceman’s and Noble Smoke) bringing true ‘cue to Resident Culture Brewing.
Unfortunately, a couple of longtime barbecue joints on the 2019 list did close: Bill Spoon’s closed in September 2020 after 57 years in operation while honorable mention Buddy’s Bar-B-Que in Belmont closed in February 2022 after 25 years open.
Hopefully this trend does not continue because if longtime restaurants keep closing while newer restaurants don’t quite stack up, that does not pose well for Charlotte barbecue in the near term. Which would mean Charlotte is nowhere near being on the path to following in the barbecue footsteps of Charleston (much less Houston). Something to keep an eye on in 2024.
Honorable Mention: The Smoke Pit
Midwood Smokehouse did open a location in Raleigh this year, but otherwise seems to have smartly slowed down when it comes to expansion. That allows them to maintain consistency of barbecue being pumped out of the onsite J&R Oyler wood-fired smokers at each site. Multiple locations midwoodsmokehouse.com
Firehawk Brewpub is the new kid on the block this time around. Opening in the spring of 2023 in Mount Holly just minutes away from the US National Whitewater Center west of Charlotte, they are not only cranking out legit wood-smoked barbecue but they’re also brewing some darn good beer as well. All in a nice setting along the banks of Dutchman’s Creek, an offshoot of the Catawba River. 309 N Main St, Mt Holly, NC 28120 firehawkbrewpub.com
Sweet Lew’s BBQ recently celebrated 5 years open, a nice milestone for the ever-changing Belmont neighborhood restaurant. They continue to be a mainstay in that neighborhood aiming to “feed the people” and recently introduced a “Mill Town Meal” where a rotating main item will be available for $5. With the quality that they have been producing for half a decade, that’s a nice price for what will surely be some delicious dishes. 923 Belmont Ave, Charlotte, NC 28205 sweetlewsbbq.com
Noble Smoke expanded in 2022, but ever so slightly with a stall at Optimist Hall Food Hall. The barbecue for both locations is smoked at their original location, a barbecue palace in West Charlotte, to maintain quality. 2216 Freedom Dr, Charlotte, NC 28208 noblesmokebarbecue.com
Jon G’s Barbecue still remains the best of the best in Charlotte. They are remarkable in their consistency of product, whether it be at the restaurant in Peachland or their weekly food truck services around the greater Charlotte area. Kelly and Jon have made Barbecue Saturdays in Peachland a destination event worthy of travelers from all across the southeast and even United States. 116 Glenn Falls St, Peachland, NC 28133 jongsbarbecue.com
Monk: We previously featured Food YouTuber Mark Wiens when he traveled to Lexington and Pitt County in eastern NC. For this video, he stops outside of Charleston, SC for a backyard barbecue featuring chicken, pork, ribs, collards, and hash, a South Carolina specialty dish.
Description: CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA – We’re just outside Charleston, South Carolina, and on Sunday, I was invited over to my friend John Haney’s (alveronbbqco8462) house for a real deal southern barbecue. It was an incredible experience, watching John and bbq and all of his side dishes including collard greens and the greatest bbq mac n cheese you’ll ever have.
Additionally, in South Carolina is the only place you’ll find hash, a mixture of all the pig bits including the face made into a stew. There’s ketchup based hash and mustard based hash, and we had a full lesson on South Carolina hash.
John Haney (Alveron BBQ) makes the best bbq grills in the United States all hand made – so definitely hit him up: (alveronbbqco8462) and he also one of the greatest legends of American bbq.
Huge thank you to John and his family for hosting my family and I on this amazing Sunday meal.