Eric Wareheim

Charlotte Barbecue News from the First Quarter of 2023

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Monk: Most of the first quarter of 2023 was on the quieter side in the land of Charlotte barbecue. It was not until the end of March where a new restaurant was announced (the promising-looking Firehawk Brewpub in Mount Holly) or a restaurant announced closure (the land around BBQ King off Wilkinson Boulevard was put up for sale for $4.2M). Will that be a sign of things picking up – hopefully more on the positive side of things? I’ll be keeping my eye out over the next few months.

January

1/9 – Gastonia’s Ray Nathan‘s celebrated their 4 year anniversary in early January

1/27 – The stacked pitmaster lineup for the second Carolina BBQ festival from Lewis Donald of Sweet Lew’s BBQ is announced

February

2/8 – Actor Eric Wareheim recently filmed at Jon G’s Barbecue for an upcoming project; Jake Wood of Lawrence Barbecue was also in the house

2/25 – Robert Moss reports that the chopped pork trailer that sometimes resides outside Jon G’s Barbecue is “absolutely splendid”


2/28 – Big Tiny’s BBQ in Mooresville gets the Only in NC treatment

March

3/7 – Midwood Smokehouse is doing their spin on birria tacos with pork

3/14 – Noble Smoke‘s Optimist Hall location celebrated one year open in March

3/16 – Firehawk Brewpub, a brewpub with a True ‘Cue barbecue joint attached, is announced to be coming to Mount Holly in early April

3/18 – Fumar comes back from an extended hiatus

3/21 – The land where BBQ King in Charlotte sits is up for sale for $4.2M

Linkdown: 2/15/23 – The Pik-N-Pig Reopens! Edition

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Monk: In more good classic NC barbecue news, Pik-N-Pig, the Carthage barbecue joint located at an airfield, has finally reopened as of last Thursday. It had been closed for repairs due to a fire in May 2021.

According to this article from the Sandhill Sentinel, due to the new floor plan the amount of seating has doubled and the kitchen is nearly three times the size of the previous one. There is now a dedicated smokehouse with three smokers to handle the capacity for their pulled pork, smoked chicken, brisket, and wings.

More FAQs on the restaurant reopening.

Native News

Eric Wareheim recently filmed at Jon G’s Barbecue for an upcoming project; Jake Wood of Lawrence Barbecue was also in the house

Speedy’s Barbecue is finally closing due to the Highway 8 widening, but thankfully they are just relocating to Piedmont Drive in Lexington

JD’s Smokehouse gets profiled in Our State Magazine

Cheerwine and Noda Brewing in Charlotte have collaborated on a new beer called Cheerwine Ale

Non-Native News

Been enjoying “Poker Face” on Peacock and episode 3 took place at a fictional east Texas barbecue joint

Daniel Vaughn recently published a story on the history of wagyu beef in America

Charlotte Barbecue News from the First Quarter of 2022

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Monk: The Charlotte barbecue scene, along with the entire restaurant industry, remains in flux. Longtime Belmont staple Buddy’s BBQ closed in February after 25 years. A second location of Noble Smoke opened in Optimist Hall. The Carolina Barbecue Festival was announced for May and has a chance to put Charlotte on the map. However, no barbecue boom appears on the horizon for Charlotte anytime soon. Here’s a roundup of news from the past 3 months.

January

1/2 Big Tiny’s BBQ expands its hours in the new year

1/3 By popular demand the pizza collab by Jon G’s Barbecue and Salud continued into January

1/4 Noble Smoke is the only barbecue restaurant on Charlotte Magazine’s annual list of the 50 best restaurants in Charlotte

1/10 RayNathan’s celebrates 3 years open

1/20 Garren of Jon G’s Barbecue profiled on the Ministers of Smoke Instagram page

1/21 A fun story from Charlotte Magazine on how Chapel Hill-born fashion designer Alexander Julian got paid in barbecue for designing the original Charlotte Hornets jerseys

February

2/7 Buddy’s BBQ in Belmont closed after 25 years

2/9 Cornelius-based Barvecue has raised $600 million thus far

2/9 The latest barbecue list from Only In Your State includes Jon G’s Barbecue

2/23 Lewis Donald of Sweet Lew’s BBQ announces the Carolina Barbecue Festival to be held May 22 at Camp North End in Charlotte

2/27 Congrats to Garren and Kelly from Jon G’s, who 2 years ago on this date closed on the former Barbee’s Barbecue location, which they would open in June 2020 just a few months into the pandemic

March

3/12 Actor Eric Wareheim made it all the way from LA to Jon G’s Barbecue for a Barbecue Saturday

3/14 Noble Smoke‘s second location at Optimist Hall opens; it was originally scheduled to open on 3/2

3/22 Noble Smoke is involved in a bit of controversy when a miscommunication between its landlord and a neighboring business kicks off a brouhaha

3/24 Noble Smoke and Jim Noble’s official response. As of this writing I have not seen whether an agreement has been reached.

Linkdown: 3/16/22

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Native News

A couple of the pitmasters for the upcoming Carolina Barbecue Festival in Charlotte on May 22nd: Bryan Furman and Matthew Register

Not to be outdone, the Pinehurst Barbecue Festival has been announcing pitmasters for the Prieto Pitmaster Invitational at its festival, including Brandon Shepard of Shepard Barbecue, Melanie Dunia of The Pit, Ron Simmons of Master Blend Family Farms, and Lewis Donald of Sweet Lew’s BBQ

Noble Smoke’s stall has opened at Optimist Hall as of Monday, 3/14

Jon G’s will be smoking meat for a barbecue and wine event on the last day of the Charlotte Wine & Food Festival

Pretty cool: actor Eric Wareheim made it all the way from LA to Peachland for a Barbecue Saturday last weekend

Non-Native News

Blake’s BBQ has its final days in the trailer this week

In Austin for SXSW?

The latest reader-generated list from Southern Living