barbecue

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

The Women of Red Bridges School Behind the Food

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Monk: Fans of old school barbecue in Cleveland county have been relying upon Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge in Shelby for Piedmont-style barbecue for nearly 80 years. While originally started by Red Bridges in 1946, the restaurant is really a story of matriarchs. Red’s wife Lyttle continued to run the business after his passing in 1966, working over 12 hours each day until she retired at the age of 80. Today her daughter Debbie and granddaughter Natalie continue to carry the torch, with the same pits and same recipes.

In the below video, Al from Behind the Food TV gets schooled by Debbie, Natalie, and the men of Red Bridges Barbecue during an overnight smoke as they cook barbecue in temporary mobile pits that they used while their brick masonry pits were being repaired after a pit fire in the fall of 2024.

Along the way, we get a comprehensive history of the restaurant, Debbie’s choice of the restaurant over a modeling career, and how Natalie has slowly drug the restaurant into the 21st century as her mom has technically retired. Al also gets to prep the hush puppies and the barbecue slaw in the part of the kitchen known as “The Slaw Room.”

Needless to say, this was a very thorough schooling by the women of Red Bridges.

Description: In this epic story, the 2nd and 3rd generations of women running Red Bridges BBQ in Western North Carolina show me their almost 80 year-old tradition of cooking Shelby, NC style BBQ – and share the journey of all 3 generations of strong women defending their BBQ traditions.

Linkdown: 1/30/25 – The Joy and the Sadness Edition

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Featured

Monk: Congrats to the 2025 James Beard Award Semifinalists! They were announced a little over a week ago, and from a barbecue standpoint Christopher Prieto of Prime Barbecue was the only pitmaster from North Carolina nominated. This was his first nomination.

Impressively, Robbie Robinson of City Limits Barbeque in West Columbia was nominated for a second time – perhaps the first time someone from the barbecue world has been nominated two years in an row. That’s big time.

https://twitter.com/EaterCarolinas/status/1882089244937871864

By my count, there were 8 nominations from the barbecue world. The Southeast made up 2 of those, as did Texas. The remaining nominations were from California, Mid-Atlantic, South, and in the Outstanding Restaurateur category. The full list is available here.

  • Outstanding Restaurateur – Daisy Ryan and Greg Ryan, Companion Hospitality (Bell’s, Bar Le Cote, Priedite BBQ, and others), Los Alamos, CA
  • Best Chef: California – Darryl Bell, Stateline Road Smokehouse, Napa, CA
  • Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic – Fernando Gonzalez, 2Fifty Barbeque, Riverdale, MD and Washington, DC
  • Best Chef: South – Jordan Wright, Wright’s Barbecue, Johnson, AR
  • Best Chef: Southeast – Christopher Prieto, Prime Barbecue, Knightdale, NC;
  • Best Chef: Southeast – Robbie Robinson, City Limits Barbeque, West Columbia, SC
  • Best Chef: Texas – Fasicka Hicks and Patrick Hicks, Smoke’N Ash BBQ, Arlington, TX
  • Best Chef: Texas – Evan LeRoy, LeRoy and Lewis Barbecue, Austin, TX

Nominees for the 35h Annual James Beard Award will be announced on Wednesday, April 2, and winners will be announced at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony on Monday, June 16. Will someone from the barbecue world win Best Chef? Stay tuned and we’ll find out in a couple of months.

Native News

On the sad side of things, a trio of stories from the world of North Carolina barbecue:

Kyle Fletcher of Kyle Fletcher’s Barbecue in Lowell passed away earlier this year and leaves behind a “legacy of kindness”

Short Sugar’s in Reidsville has closed after 75 years in business

And to add to the misery, Kepley’s in the Barbecue Bros hometown of High Point will close next month after 75 years open

The 11 Best Barbecue Bites I ate in 2024

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Monk: The back half of the year saw a little less barbecue than normal for me, but nonetheless I still had some great bites in 2024. In no particular order, here are the 11 best things I ate this year:

Beef Cheek from Palmira Barbecue in Charleston (review)

I’m not the only fan of Palmira Barbecue, as Daniel Vaughn named them the best Texas barbecue outside of Texas. But I got to check them out a few weeks after opening their West Ashley restaurant in January of this year, and left impressed.

Sweet and savory kolaches at Jon G’s Barbecue in Peachland

My love for Jon G’s is well documented, but I really love the kolaches they now serve for breakfast at their restaurant in Peachland while you wait.

Barbecue Hash over Carolina Gold Rice from City Limits BBQ at the Carolina BBQ Festival (recap)

I have been meaning to get to City Limits Q for years, and in 2025 I will remedy that at the earliest. I did at least get a taste at this past spring’s Carolina BBQ Festival.

Smoked Burger from Southern Smoke at the Carolina BBQ Festival (recap)

A smoked burger served by Matthew Register and the rest of the Register family? Well you can hardly beat that.

Beef tenderloin over campfire in Deep Gap, NC

More of the “live fire cooking” variety versus traditional barbecue, but the beef tenderloin cooked over a campfire while camping with the youngest Monkette and a bunch of neighborhood dads was definitely one of the highlights of my year.

Beef Fat Caramel Wings from Lawrence Barbecue at the Jon G’s Jubilee (recap)

These wings were the best things I ate this year, hands down.

Whole Hog from Elliott Moss at the Jon G’s Jubilee (recap)

The brewery and smokehouse is still under construction in Florence, SC, but I got to have Elliott Moss’ whole hog not once but twice this year. This was a pleasant surprise.

Carnitas from Union Barbecue (review)

Union Barbecue is my new favorite Charlotte barbecue joint, and I will be their biggest cheerleader in 2025. HEY EVERYBODY, COME WITH ME TO UNION BARBECUE’S NEXT POP-UP, WHEREVER THAT MAY BE.

Texas Trinity at Matt’s BBQ in Portland, OR (review)

Really enjoyed the Texas Trinity from Matt’s BBQ in Portland after a morning hike at Wahkeena Falls. Matt’s BBQ was also named to Daniel Vaughn’s top 50 Texas barbecue joints outside of Texas list.

Frito Pie from Fumar (review)

I look forward to checking out more from Fumar in the new year. This Frito pie will be a must order just about every time from now on, though.

Whole hog from Live Fire Feasts

For our neighborhood pool here in Charlotte, I hosted a whole hog party in October catered by Craig Morrow and the fantastic crew at Live Fire Feasts out of Rock Hill, SC. Highly recommend checking them out if you like delicious food cooked over live fire in the Charlotte metro area.

Honorable mention: Whole hog from Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog BBQ at Chief’s, Beef Rib Croissant from Jon G’s Barbecue at the Jon G’s Jubilee

What was your favorite barbecue bites this year?