Linkdown: 3/29/23 – The Top Piedmont Barbecue Restaurants Edition

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Monk: With the recent closures of Richard’s Bar-B-Que in Salisbury and Rick’s Smokehouse as well as Smiley’s BBQ in Lexington, John Tanner shares his updated list of top 10 Piedmont barbecue restaurants.

Off the top, I haven’t tried Dickie Do’s in Haw River or Real Q in Winston-Salem (though I should remedy that), so can’t comment on those. But the rest of the joints on the list I have no qualms with, though while I enjoyed both I was surprised that he liked Clark’s Barbecue in Kernersville and College Barbecue in Salisbury so much.

The qualm that I do have is the lack of inclusion of The Barbecue Center in Lexington, though John acknowledges he may be in the minority here and links to his story for reference on his experience and thinking. Regardless, John Tanner is a well-trusted source on barbecue and NC barbecue in particular, so head on over and check out his list.

Native News

The land where BBQ King in Charlotte sits is up for sale for $4.2M

The latest Jon G’s pop-up is today at Vaulted Oak Brewing

Lewis Donald of Sweet Lew’s BBQ is one of the pitmasters at the Pinehurst Barbecue Festival

Leroy’s Taco Shop, the taco concept from Jake Wood of Lawrence Barbecue, opened this past weekend

Non-Native News

Houston’s best barbecue restaurants near NRG Stadium for Final Four attendees this weekend

Two big barbecue festivals this weekend: the Houston BBQ Festival and Hogs for the Cause in New Orleans

The history behind Hogs for the Cause, which turns 15 this year

Hurtado Barbecue is bringing brisket birria tacos to Texas Rangers stadium

News you can use: don’t serve a pork butt sitting out accidentally for 12 hours

Robert Sietsema enjoyed Boots and Bones in Jersey City, which features the first pitmaster from Blue Smoke

Buc-ee’s gets a fossil named after it

Linkdown: 3/8/23 – The “Cooking with Gas” Edition

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Monk: Southern Living readers pick their favorite barbecue in each state in the South for the annual “Best in the South” issue. While Robert Moss provides a foreword, please remember that this is a reader chosen list and not his South’s Top 50 Barbecue Joints list. So address your ire at the masses and not Moss’ inbox.

Moss does note that half of the 14 are repeat, with the other half being new to the list. For North Carolina, the reader’s pick this year was Lexington Barbecue but it was not a repeat winner as last year’s choice was Buxton Hall Barbecue.

Check out the Southern Living reader’s pick at the link below.

Native News

Steve and Gerri Grady get profiled in the local paper, the Mount Olive Tribune

Eat Raleigh checks in at Longleaf Swine and they are also a fan

Congrats to Black Powder Smokehouse on their Asheboro location, their second store

Midwood Smokehouse is doing pork versions of birria tacos

Tickets are now on sale for the Pinehurst Barbecue Festival taking place Labor Day weekend

Non-Native News

Hector Garate of Palmira BBQ is headed to Austin later this month for a collaboration with Interstellar BBQ

Sweatman’s Barbecue in Holly Hill has made the switch to gas

Howard Conyers is hosting The Roots of BBQ Invitational Memorial Day weekend in Paxville, SC (ticket link)

NYC BBQ checks out the relocated Pig Beach in Queens and found that “the quality has not declined a bit even with the big changes the past few months”

Memphis in May will be back at Tom Lee Park for this year’s event

Linkdown: 9/9/20

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Food & Wine Magazine released a huge barbecue blitz last week just in time for Labor Day

From writer Caroline Schnapp reflecting on her childhood in Durham at local institution Bullock’s Bar-B-Q to an unassuming barbecue joint in Alabama between a race track and a Bass Pro Shop

…to tips and recipes for the home smoker from the different types of sauces

…what spices to use to make a rub

…to which cuts of meat to smoke. Plus a whole lot more in the original link.

Native News

Raleigh Magazine has the latest on the still-about-to-be-booming Raleigh barbecue scene; the article notes that Ed Mitchell’s new venture The Preserve hopes to finish its kitchen soon for takeout and that Friendship Barbecue is not moving forward

Sam Jones BBQ’s Raleigh location is on track for a November opening

The Gaston Gazette profiles the Webb family of Red Brides Barbecue Lodge in addition to two other non-barbecue families in the area

Behind The Redneck BBQ Lab in Johnston County is a brother/sister duo with some serious competition barbecue pedigree

The last chance to claim your #SummerofCue t-shirt is today by 3pm

Non-Native News

Fresh off the release of Chef’s Table: BBQ, Rodney Scott’s got a book coming out next year titled “Rodney Scott’s World of BBQ: Every Day Is a Good Day” that is co-written with Lolis Eric Elie; you can pre-order it now (h/t Robert Moss’s The Cue Sheet)

Scott also shares his favorite places to eat in Charleston

The Charleston Post and Courier writes up the SC Midlands barbecue restaurants like Big T Bar-B-Q, True BBQ, and Hite’s BBQ, who were all featured in the Food & Wine 50 states article

RIP Mike Wilson of Saw’s BBQ, who recently passed away unexpectedly; he spent his adult life in the Birmingham area but grew up in Charlotte

Chicago restaurants are also pivoting to barbecue during the pandemic

Birria, a meat stew traditionally made from goat meat, but occasionally made from beef or mutton, is having a moment in San Antonio

I look forward to continuing to follow this story about John T. Edge and how the Southern Foodways Alliance will move forward