Pigstock BBQ Competition and Bluegrass Festival is this upcoming weekend at Shooting Star Horse Farm in Greensboro
Butts-N-Such opened last weekend in the former A&G Barbecue & Chicken in Carolina Beach
Jon G’s featured in QC Exclusive
Holiday pre-orders are live
Mustard-sauce barbecue and hash and rice are two iconic Midlands SC dishes
The Fox brothers of Fox Bros Bar-B-Q in Atlanta are originally from the Houston area
Gift guides are coming
Name: Sam Jones BBQ
Date: 10/16/21
Address: 502 W Lenoir St, Raleigh, NC 27601
Order: Jones Family Original BBQ Tray (link to menu)
Pricing: $$
Monk: Long time readers know that Skylight Inn in Ayden, NC has been on my to-do list for years and sadly it still remains on my to-do list in 2021. Regardless of the fact that I am not in that part of NC pretty much ever, I’ve thankfully been able to try the Jones family barbecue a couple of times in Charlotte over the years. The first time was at Midwood Smokehouse in 2013 when Sam Jones smoked a hog for a Midwood Smokehouse Sunday Supper even that also included an airing of the SFA documentary on Skylight Inn. The second time was at Free Range Brewing Pig Picking in 2017 that doubled as a viewing party for his Order/Fire documentary. Both times, the whole hog was life changing.
Since then, Sam Jones opened his first namesake restaurant in Winterville before opening a second location in Raleigh late last year. It was to be part of Raleigh’s supposed barbecue boom that was short-circuited by the pandemic. Thankfully Sam Jones BBQ persevered along with Prime Barbecue, Longleaf Swine, and Lawrence Barbecue.
After visiting the NC State campus with Lady Monk and the Monkettes, we made the short trip downtown to Lenoir Street. Though the lot for the restaurant is not very big, we found street parking right in front of the restaurant fairly easily. We waited in a short line and ordered at the front and not before too long a Jones Family Original BBQ Tray was placed in front of me.
Which I quickly turned into this to mimic what they do at Skylight Inn:
By now, everyone knows about the legendary whole hog with crispy bits of skin chopped in the way that the Jones family does it. The pork at Sam Jones BBQ in Raleigh lives up to that standard, although the skin could have been just a tad crispier. Just a minor nitpick in otherwise flawless whole hog barbecue.
Going in, I had wondered most about the corn bread. Theirs is a denser, non-sweet version that likely won’t ever be my favorite version of cornmeal served with barbecue. However, I can respect that its serving a different purpose than the sweeter corn meal in the hush puppies I’m used to in the Piedmont.
The mayo-based coleslaw was sweet and paired nicely with the cue and some Texas Pete.
It’s looking like 2022 will be the year I am able to finally make my pilgrimage to Ayden and I’ll likely stop by the original Sam Jones BBQ in nearby Winterville as well. Sam Jones BBQ’s outpost in Raleigh only made me anticipate that upcoming trip even more.
Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3 hogs
Pork – 4.5 hogs
Sides – 4 hogs
Overall – 4.5 hogs
Listen on: Apple | TheBBQPodcast.com
Monk: The Tales from the Pit guys react to the release of the much-anticipated Texas Monthly Top 50 list last Monday with an instant reaction pod.
They start off by recounting the top 10 and comparing it to their predictions (they both got 8/10) before naming the rest of the top 50. Then they end by naming some of the ones that missed the cut but are favorites of them as well as some stats. Good discussion as always.
Description: The much anticipated 2021 Texas Monthly Top 50 BBQ List has finally arrived! Hear our thoughts on the top ten, the list overall, and some fun facts and tidbits about the long awaited list that always has BBQ nerds talking.
Congratulations to all of the great spots that made the list, and make sure you go out and support all of your favorite local BBQ regardless of whether they’re on a list or not.
Not to be outdone by the recent introduction of the BBQ Bowl between Campbell College and Gardner-Webb University in NC, The Battle of the Bones rivalry between Memphis and UAB and the spectacular ribs trophy you see below is coming back!
As a result of the latest rounds of conference alignment, the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB) will be joining the University of Memphis in the American Athletic Conference (AAC) as a part of a massive expansion with 5 other schools that will expand the conference to 14 teams. Of course, this is just the latest domino to fall after Texas and Oklahoma announced its move to the SEC which led to Cincinnati, Central Florida, and Houston leaving the AAC to join the Big 12.
Regardless of all that, clearly the main takeaway here is that The Battle for the Bones is back, baby! Or kind of…there might be a chance that the original trophy (which reportedly weighs almost a 100 pounds) is lost somehow? That appears to be the rumor according to some tweets I’ve seen on the internet. Surely the internet wouldn’t lead me astray, would it?
Regardless, let’s either find that ribs trophy or create a near-facsimile and get this rivalry back on track. AAC fever, baby!
A lucky reporter is going to get to experience some Peachland Saturdays at Jon G’s
While Pik N Pig rebuilds its restaurant in Carthage damaged by fire, they were at the NC State Fair in Raleigh serving barbecue out of their log cabin booth as they have done since 2006
Potential new NC flag?
Must read thread from Evan LeRoy in the wake of being named #5 in Texas Monthly’s Top 50
Bobby’s BBQ in Fountain Inn, SC celebrated 3 years open last weekend
Denver-based Smōk recently opened its 3rd location (and first outside of Denver) in Fort Collins, CO
Rusty’s Bar-B-Q in Leeds, AL was recently revisited by John Tanner
Pig Beach has opened a Queens location in Astoria