GA

Linkdown: 9/1/21

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Sadly, for the second year in a row the Mallard Creek Barbecue has been cancelled due to the Coronavirus. The Mallard Creek Barbecue is by far the oldest barbecue tradition in Charlotte, so its a shame that the 91st edition of it will have to wait another year. Assuming that’s the case, I’ll be there but will be missing their slightly controversial version of Brunswick stew come the 4th Thursday of October.

Native News

Jon G’s gets the Axios Charlotte bump

“On Barbecue” by John Shelton Reed gets reviewed by Star News Online

Smokeshow BBQ will be smoking Guatemalan Churrasco this Friday at Salty Parrot Brewing in Charlotte

Shaw’s Barbecue in Williamston is profiled by WNCT’s People & Places

Non-Native News

Secondhand Smoke is continuing the Pete’s BBQ tradition in Rock Hill and will be open this Labor Day Weekend; Pete’s BBQ served every Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day weekend for 55 years before closing in 2018

John T Edge explores the vernacular of Fresh Air Bar-B-Que’s architecture

In Houston, barbecue pop-ups are all the rage

Scott’s Bar-B-Q is featured in the first episode of “Backroad Bites” from South Carolina Education TV, which is back for a third season

The BBQ Review checks out The Southern Belly in Columbia, SC

Prayers up to Louisiana

Linkdown: 8/25/21

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After taking the summer off to recap Food Network’s BBQ Brawl, we’re back with our weekly rundown of barbecue news. We start by first celebrating the fantastic folks over at Bar-B-Q King in Lincolnton, who we featured on the blog earlier this week ahead of their big 50th anniversary coming up September 1.

At the risk of repeating myself, its fantastic to be celebrating a milestone in longevity as opposed to mourning the closing of yet another classic NC barbecue joint, which Kathleen Purvis so eloquently did in a story for Garden & Gun in 2019 (third link). Let’s hope it continues to be more of the former and less of the latter.

Native News

The Charlotte Observer covers Bar-B-Q King’s upcoming 50th anniversary

…as does WBTV who had owners Steve and Keith on TV

..which is a nice contrast from this story from Kathleen Purvis originally from 2 years ago

Buxton Hall Barbecue reopened last week with brisket on the menu (but thankfully keeping whole hog on as well)

Southern Smoke BBQ is collaborating with Wilmington’s Flying Machine Brewing Company on an upcoming beer

Mac’s Speed Shop is expanding to Fort Mill

Cheerwine has some thoughts

After founder Jim Early’s passing earlier this year, the North Carolina Barbecue Society plans to keep things moving

Non-Native News

Congrats to Fox Bros Bar-B-Q on 14 years!

Jiyeon Lee of Heirloom Market BBQ discusses their Korean-influenced sides

John Tanner checks in at The Federalist Pig in DC, whose upcoming Hyattsville location will smoke with all wood

Both Martin’s and Peg Leg Porker make this diary of Nick Solares

Eddie Jackson describes Flay as a “mentor” and “great friend” after working with him on BBQ Brawl

https://twitter.com/BeefLovingTX/status/1428401868477190146

Speaking of BBQ Brawl, ICYMI from last week

Randy’s Bar-B-Q – Savannah, GA

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Name: Randy’s Bar-B-Q
Date: 6/25/21
Address: 750 Wheaton St, Savannah, GA 31401
Order: Large ribs
Pricing: $

Monk: The Monk family had occasion to spend a few nights in Savannah recently and ahead of that trip, I performed my customary barbecue research and pickings seemed to be a little slim.

B’s Cracklin’ Barbecue closed their location there late last year as Bryan Furman plans his next move in Atlanta’s westside.

Wiley’s Championship BBQ placed #2 by Southern Living readers in the 2020 poll, but its competition lineage gave me slight pause.

Unfortunately, Savannah hasn’t had a barbecue renaissance like Charleston, a city 2 hours north on Highway 17 that it so often gets compared to.

Finally, I settled upon Randy’s Bar-B-Q via True Cue’s Georgia list and despite their having no real social media presence I dropped off the wife and kids in downtown Savannah and made the short trek a few blocks outside of the eastern edge of historic downtown.

Randy’s is a black-owned barbecue joint run by Randolph Frazier, and they have quite the local following. I arrived to a line of 20-25 people which is apparently not unusual for a lunch crowd.

Unfortunately, they were out of chicken so all I went with a half rack of ribs, which came drenched in their bright orangey/yellow sauce and placed on slices of wheat bread (surely they must have been out of white).

Randy’s Bar-B-Q smokes their meat in smokers just outside of the small cubic brick building that was painted once upon a time by Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) students. This building is rather small and Randy’s is takeout only.

The ribs were well smoked and while the tangy sauce wasn’t my favorite, I recognized that Randy wasn’t catering to my taste but instead that of the community in which Randy’s serves.

Randy’s Bar-B-Q is worth a stop not only because of their smoked meats but also to step outside of your barbecue comfort zone.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – N/A
Ribs – 4 hogs
Overall – 4 hogs

Linkdown: 5/5/21

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Featured

Congrats to the first class of Kingsford Charcoal’s Preserve the Pit Fellowship. If you recall, the winners of this inaugural class will receive a “grant along with immersive training and one-on-one mentorship with industry leaders throughout 2021 to turn their business aspirations into a reality.” And it’s an impressive list of mentors from which they’ll get advice: Kevin Bludso, Dr. Howard Conyers, Devita Davison, Bryan Furman, Rashad Jones and Amy Mills. I look forward to seeing what happens for each of these fellows as a result of this direct mentorship. The winners ae:

  • Cory & Tarra Davis – Grand Rapids, Mich.: Owners of Daddy Pete’s BBQ since 2012, Cory and Tarra Davis have a passion for barbecue that they share with their friends, family and community. Through the fellowship, their goal is to build a stronger foundation for their business operations to ensure their restaurant continues to successfully operate beyond their generation.
  • Chef Shalamar Lane – Carson, Calif.: As the head chef and owner of My Father’s Barbeque, Shalamar brings southern hospitality to California by using delicious barbecue as a way to bring people together. As a result of the mentorship, she hopes to improve her management skills to further her business’ success and continue to teach her employees and community about the history of barbecue.
  • Ronald Simmons – Kenansville, N.C.: Ronald and his family own Master Blend Family Farms, LLC, which provides whole hogs and premium pork products to restaurants and private owned businesses in his community. They’ve hosted farm tours in collaboration with several local schools and hope to transition one of the farms, which has been in the family for over a century, into a farm school and develop a whole hog barbecue station to share their heritage of barbecue and create a path of opportunity for future generations.

And in more good news, the response to the initial call for fellows was so overwhelming that an additional 10 pitmasters were selected to receive a one-time $7,500 grant. Those winners are:

  • Melissa Cottingham – Melnificent Wingz (Los Angeles, Calif.)
  • Aaron Gonerway – Plates By the Pound BBQ (Denver, Colo.)
  • Pamela Henry – Pam’s Magic Cauldron (Smyrna, Ga.)
  • Daniel Hammond – Smoky Soul Barbecue Chicago (Chicago, Ill.)
  • Brandon Norman – Memphis Original BBQ (Atoka, Tenn.)
  • Demetris R. – Making The CuTX (Newport, Vt.)
  • Erica Roby – Blue Smoke Blaire (Dayton, Ohio)
  • Christopher Simmons – The Qulinary Oasis BBQ (DeSoto, Texas)
  • Gerald Vinnett – Big Papi’s Smokehouse (Destrehan, La.)
  • Eddie Wright– Eddie Wright BBQ (Jackson, Miss.)

Native News

Newly drafted Chiefs WR Cornell Powell will remain an Eastern Carolina boy at heart: “All I’m going to say is that I haven’t been to Kansas City and had their barbecue yet but, I have North Carolina barbecue number 1 right now,” said Powell.

Despite the shaky opening to his article, D.G. Martin pays tribute Backyard BBQ Pit and Grady’s BBQ, who both were featured in “Black Smoke”

Grady’s BBQ get a brief profile in the blog Because of Them We Can

Sam Jones’ Whole Hog BBQ book is listed as one of Huckberry’s “6 Barbecue Books for the Budding Pitmaster”

Non-Native News

John Tanner visits Ace Biscuit & Barbecue for both a lunch a well as breakfast

…he also checks out Beale’s Brewery, who smokes wood the old fashioned way and were conferred True ‘Cue status by John

Rodney Scott continues the publicity tour of his recent book

Houston is the best city in the country for barbecue...at least in terms of the number of barbecue restaurants on TripAdvisor

New sign for la Barbecue

RIP Scot Hudson of Hudson’s Hickory House BBQ of Douglasville, GA