No matter what you celebrate – Christmas, Festivus, Kwanzaa, Chrismukkah (although not this year), or something else entirely – we would like to wish you happy holidays. Thanks for reading!
Rudy, Speed, and Monk
The Barbecue Bros
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Bubba’s Barbecue – Charlotte, NC
Name: Bubba’s Barbecue
Date: 12/13/13
Address: 4400 Sunset Rd, Charlotte, NC 28216
Order: Speedy: Rib plate with slaw, fries, hush puppies, and Cheerwine; Monk: “Hungry plate” – chopped pork plate with slaw, bbq beans, hush puppies, and Cheerwine (link to menu)
Price: Speedy: ~$22; Monk: ~$14
Monk: In a 2011 reader’s poll, Bubba’s Barbecue was named the third best barbecue joint in NC by Southern Living Reader’s. This was a mistake. But first, a little history. Similar to Bill Spoon’s, Bubba’s Barbecue cooks whole hog eastern NC barbecue in a town smack in the middle of the Piedmont. And this is no coincidence – according to Bob Garner’s Big Book of Barbecue, “[n]ot long after banker turned restaurateur [sic] Ralph Miller bought the venerable Spoon’s Barbecue on Charlotte’s South Boulevard in 1986, he changed the name to Bubba’s. In 1994, Miller moved Bubba’s to the present location on Sunset Road.” While Bubba’s cooks eastern NC-style barbecue, you won’t find a fire pit out back. That’s because Bubba’s cooks their whole hogs in two electric pits. And in light of recently taking the True ‘Cue Pledge, I must proclaim it to be faux ‘cue. FAUX ‘CUE I SAY!
Speedy: Yes. This really just shows that the readers of Southern Living magazine cannot be trusted. In fact, I did a little research (by which I mean looked on wikipedia) and found out that Southern Living magazine is published in Alabama – a state that’s only famous in barbecue terms for producing the most disgusting barbecue sauce on the planet.
I did like the first thing the waitress said to us when she came to take our order – “barbecue or ribs?” So of course Monk and I ordered both. The food came out relatively shortly and the plates were rather large portions.
Monk: I guess that’s what happen when you order a “Hungry plate” portion (for pork at least). The pork was chopped fairly fine – almost minced – and had a decent texture but very little smoke to it. Which is probably as expected when we are talking about barbecue cooked in an electric smoker.
Speedy: The ribs were huge and meaty; however, a lot of that was because the fat was not properly rendered out of the rib and the ribs weren’t trimmed at all. Call me a diva if you want, but a good rib bone has been trimmed of the cartilage and is cooked to pull (but not fall) clean off the bone. When I finish a rib, I don’t want to see anything left on the rib. This was not the case here. Also, while I appreciate a good rib sauce, I prefer a lighter sauce and a nice rub, which I think allows the flavors of the meat to come through more. The rib at Bubba’s was all about the sauce – it came dripping and the ribs tasted as if no rub was used at all. Overall, it was a very disappointing rib experience.
Monk: Hush puppies came in a tray for the table and you could get more if you wanted – we never did (not a good sign). The slaw was mustard-based a la Spoon’s and the barbecue beans were nothing special. In fact, “nothing special” pretty much sums up our trip to Bubba’s Barbecue. In fact, the best thing about it was probably the joint feel of the dining room and the decorative pigs out front.
Speedy: Monk and I like to try lots of different barbecue joints, but I think both of us going in knew that Bubba’s wasn’t going to stack up against some of our favorites. In the end, I think we really made a mistake going there. Barbecue is one of my favorite things on the planet, but when it’s done wrong, it just makes me sad. There aren’t enough meals in this life to waste on mediocre ‘cue.
Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3 hogs
Pork – 2.5 hogs
Ribs – 2 hogs
Sides – 2 Hogs
Overall – 2 Hogs
Welcome to our new Tumblr followers!
We’re not quite sure what happened, but there has literally (ok, figuratively) been an explosion in followers over the past few days.
In any case, welcome! Feel free to peruse our reviews of all barbecue restaurants (including our rankings of Charlotte-area joints) and check out our progress to review every joint on the NC Historical Barbecue Trail. Also, you are free to ask us a question on barbecue or even just life.
Finally, don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to keep up to date on all things Barbecue Bros. Speedy likes to post daily updates from his dream journal. Kidding. Or am I…
Thanks!
-Monk
Q Barbeque – Richmond, VA
Name: Q Barbeque
Date: 11/15/13
Location: 2077 Walmart Way, Midlothian, VA 23113
Order: Three meat plate (pork, brisket, ribs) with two sides (collard greens, hush puppies), Cheerwine (link to menu)
Bill: $20.53
Speedy: So the other weekend, I went up to visit the bro in DC. As I was driving up, I thought this was a great opportunity to stop by Q Barbeque, a small Richmond based chain owned and operated by pitmaster Tuffy Stone. As a big fan of BBQ Pitmasters (and because of Tuffy’s recent win at the Jack Daniels barbecue contest), I was super excited to try it out.
Due to some pre-meal research, I had read about what a Q Barbeque restaurant looks like, but I can’t say that seeing a barbecue restaurant in a strip mall that basically looks like a Chipotle instills much confidence that it will be any good. I will say that Q Barbeque is EXTREMELY clean and organized. After placing your order and paying at the counter, you’re given a number and a cup to get your drink and find a seat.
In order to try as much as possible, I ordered the three meat plate with two sides and got a drink to go with it. When filling my drink, I was pleasantly surprised to find Cheerwine in the fountain – the meal was off to a good start. After a short wait, the food was brought out to my table.
Monk: Nice touch to have Cheerwine available, and in the fountain no less. Definitely unexpected for a joint in Richmond.
Speedy: I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of portion, but the sizes were decent. The three meat plate was too much for one person, but probably not enough for two. The plate came with three rib bones, a small portion of pulled pork, and a small portion of chopped brisket. Along with the sides, a bun and a pickle spear were also included. Everything looked really appetizing – the ribs were cut perfectly and the pork and brisket were both uniform in color and pull/chop. The only thing left to do was dig in.
Monk: Over $20 for one person with no beers seems pricey, but I guess if you get more than a meal’s worth of food it’s not so bad.
Speedy: I agree with that, but there was no reason for me to order that much food for just myself except for the fact that I owe it to the readers to sample everything. Well everything except the chicken. Hopefully none of our readers would even think about ordering chicken here.
I first tried the pork without any of the optional sauce on the table. I was worried that it would be dry, but it really wasn’t at all. It had a bit of smoke flavor, but lacked the tanginess that I like that comes along with a vinegar based dip. Overall though, I was pleased with the flavor. I did add some of the spicy sauce to see what it tasted like, and I didn’t think it really added much.
Next I tried the ribs. They were lightly sauced and cooked almost perfectly. The ribs were tender, but not so much that they fell off the bone. Whatever rub was used was fantastic. I think these ribs were probably the third best that I’ve ever tried – behind only Rendezvous and 12 Bones. The ribs didn’t need any additional sauce at all. In the end, I was disappointed that I only had three bones.
Monk: Wow, that is some high praise.
Speedy: The final meat on my plate was the beef brisket. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m no brisket expert, but I have eaten brisket at several places in Texas. And maybe I don’t know what beef brisket is “supposed” to taste like, but I can’t say I’ve ever had better brisket than the portion I had a Q barbeque. It was tender, perfectly seasoned, and required no additional sauce. In fact, I didn’t want to put sauce on for fear of affecting the taste. I just can’t say enough about how good this brisket was. It is literally so good that I will likely play a role in my fly or drive decision next time I head up to DC. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
Usually, we just glaze over the sides here, which is appropriate for the hush puppies (which were fine, but not worth talking about). However, the collard greens were superb. They tasted more of pork than greens thanks to the bacon cooked in. I’m sure these collards are terrible for you, but it’s really what barbecue sides should taste like.
My first thought after the meal was to text Monk to tell him how good it was.
Monk: …which I can confirm he did. Thanks for thinking of me, Speedy!
Speedy: My second was that of fear. Q Barbeque looks like a place that would cook with gas (based strictly on appearance), so I was concerned that my credibility would come into question for gushing so much over not true barbecue. However, I drove around the side of the building to check it out as I was leaving and was very pleased to see a large pile of wood, which I’m assuming was for cooking. I definitely tasted a good amount of smoke in my meal, so it tasted wood smoked.
Monk: If this is true (and it sounds like there is no reason to believe otherwise), I am glad to learn that Tuffy isn’t taking any shortcuts. Now, off to plan my next trip up to DC via Richmond…
Speedy: Overall, I was very pleased with my meal at Q Barbeque. I knew Tuffy Stone was a great competition pitmaster, but I’m happy to report that it definitely translates to the restaurant. If you’re in the Richmond area, Q Barbeque is not to be missed.
Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3.5 hogs
Pork – 3 hogs
Brisket – 5 hogs
Ribs – 4.5 hogs
Sides – 4 hogs
Overall – 4.5 hogs
