Name: College Barbecue Date: 2/21/22 Address: 117 Statesville Blvd, Salisbury, NC 28144 Order: Small chopped barbecue tray, Cheerwine (link to menu) Pricing: $
Monk: Reviving an old pastime of mine, I used a banker’s holiday as an excuse to try out a new barbecue restaurant out of town. Looking to stay within an hour or so, I realized that Salisbury had another True ‘Cue-approved joint besides Richard’s an pointed my GPS to College Barbecue.
As I parked, I exited the car and got whiffs of wood smoke in the air. Good start, to be sure. Luckily, at this lunch hour the youngest Monkette and I found the last booth and as is the case with a classic NC barbecue joint had a drink and our order with the waitress within minutes.
As we waited for our food (chopped tray for me, kid’s cut up hot dog for her), the sounds of cleavers slamming down on a wood barbecue block filled the restaurant. Great sign number two.
Unfortunately, that optimism was quite met by the barbecue itself. I ordered extra brown but even still did not detect much wood smoke on the chopped pork. Or flavor, if I’m being honest. Only after a few dashes of the table dip and Texas Pete did I feel that the pork started to come to life. Even the red slaw was a bit on the bland side. puppies
The small tray only came with two hush puppies, though they were on the larger side to the point of splitting one with the Monkette. They were fresh but more on the savory end of the savory-vs-sweet spectrum.
College Barbecue has been smoking barbecue over Hickory wood coals since 1965 just a hop-skip-and-a-jump from nearby Catawba College where they presumably get their name from. If you’re in Salisbury, you couldn’t be blamed for going to there but next time my money would be going to Richard’s.
North Carolina has lost another classic barbecue joint; Smiley’s Lexington BBQ officially closed this past weekend as a result of the NC DOT widening of Winston Road. Restaurant owner Steve Yountz and his wife, Tena, have no official plans to relocate the restaurant as of now but are not ruling it out either, depending on how much money they get from the state. For now, they are going to take some time to evaluate their options.
The building housing Smiley’s has been a barbecue restaurant for over 70 years and according to Yountz, ““It’s the oldest pit-cooking restaurant in Lexington. We’re still using the original pits.” Before Yountz opened Smiley’s in 2002, it operated as Southern Barbecue from 1963 to 1998 and started as Dan’s in the 1950’s.
This NC DOT project, first announced in 2018 and not set to begin until July 2023, actually has two victims as Speedy’s Barbecue the next block over is also closing due to the road widening.
Through the Preserve the Pit fellowship, Ron Simmons of Master Blend Farms in Kenansville was able to add 56 acres to his family farm and add barbecue catering as a side gig
Congrats to Garren and Kelly from Jon G’s, who 2 years ago on Sunday closed on the former Barbee’s Barbecue location, which they would open in June 2020 just a few months into the pandemic
Non-Native News
Texas barbecue James Beard semifinalists
Congrats to Damien Brockway of Distant Relatives, Quy Hoang of Blood Bros BBQ, Esaul Ramos of 2M Smokehouse, and Ernest Servantes & David Kirkland of Burnt Bean Co. for being named James Beard semifinalists for best chef (Texas). TX BBQ, baby! https://t.co/WFnGUkHJc7
Should we call this the Memphis Airport Barbecue Challenge?
Here's the challenge: I have limited carry-on luggage space and 4 gallon-sized freezer bags to fill with #barbecue before I go to the #Memphis airport. Where should I go and what should I get?
Name: Noble Smoke Date: 2/12/22 Address: 2216 Freedom Dr, Charlotte, NC 28208 Order: Little bit of everything (link to menu) Pricing: $$
Rudy: It’s not every day that some of the Barbecue Bros are able to get together and eat barbecue. Nowadays there has to be a big event to cause it and a couple weeks ago we had a big event! Monk was turning 40 and becoming a man, which gave us a great excuse to get together and celebrate that momentous occasion with some great food. I had heard lots of great reviews of Noble Smoke and was looking forward to trying it out. So upon landing in Charlotte, I headed straight for the restaurant to meet up with Monk and others. In full disclosure, I worked at Jimmy Noble’s restaurant in High Point back in high school, but they didn’t give me an employee discount this day.
Reading the website before I came, it said to make sure you arrive early because they can have long lines, so I wasn’t sure what to expect as far as space. We sat outside, which was a fantastic set up after flying in from snowy Michigan. I am not sure if they have expanded since putting that on their site, but it looked like there was plenty of seating inside and outside and plenty of parking. I was really impressed with their setup.
Monk: I was honored that Rudy made the trip, though it made a lot more sense when he said it hadn’t been above freezing in Michigan in about a month. Regardless, we were treated to clear sunny skies and a high of 69 the day of my 40th birthday party, so it was a nice and perfect day to eat on Noble Smoke’s huge patio.
Rudy: We had a large group so we ordered a little bit of everything from the menu. My main dish was a chopped pork sandwich with western slaw. I added their Lexington style sauce to get a traditional sandwich feel. I really liked the fresh bun and slaw but thought the best part was the barbecue (as it should be). Very traditional barbecue with great flavor and plenty of moisture. It was exactly what I was expecting and hoping for.
Monk: Unfortunately, we ran out of time for me to show Rudy the Lexington-style brick pits in the smokehouse where they smoke the pork shoulders in but I’m glad the sammie hit the spot.
Rudy: The brisket was next and it was a good effort for brisket outside of Texas but wasn’t what I was used to after living in Austin for so many years. I like having more flavor on the bark and would have preferred for it to be trimmed a bit more than it was to remove some of the excess fat that did not render all the way down. Similar review for the sausage, good effort but didn’t get all the way there for me. Again, I would have preferred a bit more flavor, but I was also glad that I tried it and it was better than average.
For me, the best part by far was the sides. Normally when you say that about a barbecue place, it is usually a slight to the meat but that is not the case here; the sides are just that good! We had hushpuppies, mac and cheese, collards, pickled veggies, and brussel sprouts. Any one of them would have been a great side that would have stood on their own, but by far the brussel sprouts were the best. Not only were they cooked perfectly, they also came with a great dipping sauce, and there were a ton of them in an order. Great value and great food.
Monk: We may have gone a little overboard on the sides but I agree that Noble Smoke executes all of them at an extremely high level. Next time I’d recommend Rudy try the creamed corn but honestly I’m just happy that I got to share a barbecue meal with Rudy for the first time in a couple of years. And also that it was significantly better than the last two times we had barbecue in Ohio in 2020 at Ray Ray’s Hog Pit and Rudy’s Smokehouse.
Rudy: Overall I was very pleased with my experience at Noble Smoke. I don’t have the depth of experiences with Charlotte barbecue that Monk does, so I don’t know how it compares or ranks with other places around the city. But I thought the atmosphere was great, the food was great, and most importantly, the friends were great!
Monk: The local Fox affiliate for the Barbecue Bros’ hometown of High Point (where Rudy both interned and worked for a brief time) recently took a trip to the town of Welcome in neighboring Davidson County to visit the underrated Rick’s Smokehouse. Owner Rick Matthews gave Chad Tucker a behind the scenes look as he prepped barbecue chicken.
On my visit to Rick’s Smokehouse back in February 2020, I found them to be admirably carrying on the Lexington barbecue tradition despite being a relatively newer restaurant that opened in 2009. This piece covers the pit fire that burned the restaurant down in 2010 but they thankfully rebuilt and are seemingly thriving. I hope to make it back someday soon.
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