Linkdown: 9/18/24 – The Pig Pickin’ Edition

Featured

Good news: the Annual Mallard Creek Barbecue returns for its 93rd iteration on Thursday, October 24! And after a couple years hiatus, dine-in eating returns! Mark your calendars.

Native News

File under “things you love to see”: Old Colony Smokehouse in Edenton has added whole hog barbecue to its daily menu

Speaking of whole hog, the Carolina Barbecue Festival is hosting a new fall event: the Fall Pig Pickin’ will take place on Sunday, October 6th from 12-4

Sam Jones will be at the Louisburg College’s Norris Theatre this Thursday at 7pm for an event that is free to the public

In this video on the Kevin’s BBQ Joints Instagram page, Michael Letchworth from Sam Jones BBQ walks through the whole hog process

Ronald Simmons from Master Blend Family Farms recaps this year’s Pinehurst Barbecue Festival

Congrats to The Smoke Pit for winning The CharlotteFive Readers’ Choice for Best Barbecue in Charlotte

Linkdown: 1/24/24 – The Buc-ee’s Coming to Mebane Edition

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Monk: Daniel Vaughn (aka BBQ Snob), Barbecue Editor for Texas Monthly, made a trip to North Carolina last week (with a jag up to Norfolk) to taste what the Old North State has to currently offer in terms of Texas barbecue. Long story short, he was “blown away” by the “staggeringly good” barbecue he tasted on this trip. The stops he called out:

  • Jon G’s Barbecue – Peachland
  • Dampf Good BBQ – Cary
  • Old Colony Smokehouse – Edenton
  • Lawrence Barbecue – Durham
  • Sweet Lew’s BBQ – Charlotte
  • Union Barbecue – Charlotte
  • Redwood Smoke – Norfolk, VA

For the Charlotte area, no surprise that he remains a fan of Jon G’s, but good to see Sweet Lew’s gets a shoutout as well as newcomer Union Barbecue, whom I haven’t had a chance to try yet. Dampf Good and Old Colony are on my list as well for NC.

You may recall that Vaughn did a similar trip through South Carolina and Georgia last summer where he praised City Limits Barbeque in West Columbia and Fork Grove Barbecue in Anderson among others. I would expect a similar story in the next week or so about North Carolina, and I can’t wait to read it.

Native News

At Morris Barbeque in Hookerton in the 60s, Joe the Monkey was a regular fixture

Firehawk Brewpub is hosting a 5 course, family-style dinner featuring the smoked specialties of Chefs Scott Blackwood and Chris Coleman as well as cocktails from Mixologist Bob Peters; tickets available here

New hours for Clyde Cooper’s in Raleigh

ICYMI Buc-ees is coming to Mebane

Non-Native News

Daniel Vaughn remembers John Brotherton

City Limits Barbeque is selling their own pimento cheese now

Direct-heat ribs vs smoked ribs: who you got???

Linkdown: 8/31/22

Featured

Monk: Our prolific friend of the blog John Tanner has been at it again making the rounds in eastern NC recently, so let’s follow along in envy to some of the better places from his recent trip.

Wilber’s BBQ in Goldsboro has been back for a couple of years now but in his first dining room meal in some years, John and co. are wowed

Martelle’s Feed House is a restaurant with a buffet that includes great ribs and fantastic barbecue, located in the tiny town of Englehard (pop. 155), a (according to Wikipedia) “fishing community in Lake Landing Township on the mainland of Hyde County, North Carolina” near the Pimlico Sound

John also tried out Old Colony Smokehouse in Edenton, “a fine addition to eastern North Carolina” where they hold onto old traditions but also incorporate new trends

John passes on the buffet at Captain Bob’s Restaurant and Catering in Hertford for a pork plate but immediately regrets that decision

One of the highlights of his trip was a visit to Sid’s Catering in Beaulaville, a small town in southeast North Carolina

Non-Native News

Things are looking dicey for turkeys this Thanksgiving; this is from Heim BBQ

The BBQuest Eater Heat Map

Dispatches from the Tales from the Pits BBQ + Bourbon road trip

Linkdown: 4/27/22

Native News

At Port-A-Pit BBQ in Statesville, they serve the public as well as help the community fundraise

BBQ King gets a segment on Spectrum News 1

Old Colony Smokehouse looks like it should be added to my list

The Smoke Pit is one of the recommended places to eat when in Concord just north of Charlotte

The best barbecue places in Eastern NC according to WNCT’s analysis of TripAdvisor data

Get tickets to the Carolina BBQ Festival while you can

Non-Native News

The first in a series of articles from the great Hanna Raskin leading up to the Southern Foodways Alliance Fall Symposium on Barbecue. Can’t wait to read the rest.

John Lewis has brought “border food” to the lowcountry with Rancho Luis

I know nothing about any of these restaurants in NoVa, but here you go

Another national list

The famed Tootsie Tomanetz of Snow’s BBQ celebrated her 87th birthday last Thursday