High Point

Linkdown: 1/30/25 – The Joy and the Sadness Edition

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Featured

Monk: Congrats to the 2025 James Beard Award Semifinalists! They were announced a little over a week ago, and from a barbecue standpoint Christopher Prieto of Prime Barbecue was the only pitmaster from North Carolina nominated. This was his first nomination.

Impressively, Robbie Robinson of City Limits Barbeque in West Columbia was nominated for a second time – perhaps the first time someone from the barbecue world has been nominated two years in an row. That’s big time.

https://twitter.com/EaterCarolinas/status/1882089244937871864

By my count, there were 8 nominations from the barbecue world. The Southeast made up 2 of those, as did Texas. The remaining nominations were from California, Mid-Atlantic, South, and in the Outstanding Restaurateur category. The full list is available here.

  • Outstanding Restaurateur – Daisy Ryan and Greg Ryan, Companion Hospitality (Bell’s, Bar Le Cote, Priedite BBQ, and others), Los Alamos, CA
  • Best Chef: California – Darryl Bell, Stateline Road Smokehouse, Napa, CA
  • Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic – Fernando Gonzalez, 2Fifty Barbeque, Riverdale, MD and Washington, DC
  • Best Chef: South – Jordan Wright, Wright’s Barbecue, Johnson, AR
  • Best Chef: Southeast – Christopher Prieto, Prime Barbecue, Knightdale, NC;
  • Best Chef: Southeast – Robbie Robinson, City Limits Barbeque, West Columbia, SC
  • Best Chef: Texas – Fasicka Hicks and Patrick Hicks, Smoke’N Ash BBQ, Arlington, TX
  • Best Chef: Texas – Evan LeRoy, LeRoy and Lewis Barbecue, Austin, TX

Nominees for the 35h Annual James Beard Award will be announced on Wednesday, April 2, and winners will be announced at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony on Monday, June 16. Will someone from the barbecue world win Best Chef? Stay tuned and we’ll find out in a couple of months.

Native News

On the sad side of things, a trio of stories from the world of North Carolina barbecue:

Kyle Fletcher of Kyle Fletcher’s Barbecue in Lowell passed away earlier this year and leaves behind a “legacy of kindness”

Short Sugar’s in Reidsville has closed after 75 years in business

And to add to the misery, Kepley’s in the Barbecue Bros hometown of High Point will close next month after 75 years open

Biscuits Brisket & Beer is the Barbecue Option in High Point’s First Food Hall

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Name: Biscuits Brisket & Beer
Date: 8/27/23
Address: 275 N Elm St, High Point, NC 27262
Order: Big Gull – 1/4 lb brisket, 1/4 lb turkey, 1 link beef sausage, 1 buttermilk biscuit, 1 biscuit topping (link to menu)
Pricing: $$

Monk: High Point has a food hall now. For those not in the know, a food hall is basically a fancy food court with food truck pricing but without the need to brave the elements while eating. Of the handful of current stalls at the Stock + Grain, Biscuits Brisket & Beer specializes in brisket, biscuits, and yep, you guessed it…beer (it’s not just a clever name).

Let’s start with the brisket. It was decently smoked with a nice bark on what is certainly a gasser smoker. The fat cap could have used a bit of trimming, and it also may not have been the freshest brisket.

But they do have other options – I tried turkey and sausage as part of the “Big Gull” platter. The turkey was tasty enough and not dried out. The sausage was almost certainly not made in house but was also decent. At this point, I would classify all of the meats as “fine but not outstanding.”

As for the biscuit, it was a little bit underwhelming considering its in the name. I would have not been surprised had it come out of a can, and fans of biscuits in High Point should stick with The Biscuit Factory or even Biscuitville. The fried green tomato was tasty enough but were fried from frozen along with a batch of french fries. However, when I put the fried green tomato inside of the biscuit, I wasn’t complaining.

As for the beer, this was on a Sunday morning meal so I didn’t try any but it looked like they had a good selection of local craft cans.

High Point has a few newer barbecue options between Biscuits Brisket & Beer and Sweet Old Bill’s as well as the superior Black Powder Smokehouse in nearby Jamestown. Brisket Biscuit & Beer is a decent option when you’re with a group who can’t decide what they want and go to a food hall, but it wouldn’t be the first option in town for my money.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3 hogs
Brisket – 2.5 hogs
Sides – 3 hogs
Overall – 2.5 hogs

Linkdown: 7/27/22

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Native News

Phar Mill Brewing and BBQ in Harrisburg has an opening date for their downtown Concord location

Pitmaster Stuart Henderson from Noble Smoke captured in action

Lawyer Duane Bryant has opened DK Bones Barbeque in High Point in the middle of a food dessert

Lechon Latin BBQ makes Eater Carolinas’ latest Heatmap

Spectrum 1 checks in on Barvecue

Non-Native News

King BBQ from the owners of Jackrabbit Filly will offer “Chinese-style barbecue with a heavy influence of North Carolina”

World of Flavor with Big Moe Cason premiered on National Geographic this past Monday and the first episode takes place in Charleston and features visits to Rodney Scott’s BBQ and Lewis Barbecue as well as Moe cooking at last year’s Holy Smokes BBQ Festival

https://twitter.com/Moecasonbbq/status/1549914323614662657

Congrats to Palmira BBQ on one year

Robert Moss reviews Palmira BBQ for the Charleston Post and Courier

Scotty’s Whole Hog Barbecue, which smokes eastern NC whole hog, is featured in this feature on Minnesota barbecue from Texas Monthly

Adrian Miller checks in on Jones BBQ for what is likely the last time in the Jones sisters era

BBQuest is coming back for a third season

Congrats to Panther City BBQ on their recent Guinness World Record

Linkdown: 4/6/22

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Featured

Going into Monday night’s NCAA Championship game, Governor Roy Cooper made a bet with Kansas Governor Laura Kelly as governors tend to do in these types of situations. The wager? Kansas City steaks vs Wilber’s BBQ. You may be aware that UNC lost to Kansas 69 to 72 after leading by 15 at the half, surrendering the largest lead in NCAA championship game history. You absolutely hate to see it.

John Tanner blames UNC’s NCAA Championship loss Monday night on said barbecue bet. Wilber’s gave Kansas players too much motivation!

Meanwhile, a few days earlier, the Duke-UNC Final Four matchup on Saturday night inspired a barbecue bet of its own between Durham County and Orange County sheriffs. No word or photos have surfaced yet of Durham County sheriffs ordering barbecue in UNC gear, but I look forward to that update.

Native News

The latest from the parking lot dispute between Noble Smoke and The Good Life

Sweet Old Bill’s and Biscuit Brisket & Beer are food options when visiting High Point

Seoul Food Meat Co has opened a fast casual Korean wing concept in SouthPark: Bit by Seoul

Non-Native News

Tales from the Pits gives the lowdown on the “rib cut” from Hite’s BBQ in West Columbia

Last week’s Smoke Sheet featured a story from Bryan Suddith on whole hog and Rodney Scott’s BBQ

The State Line Celebration at Carowinds will run on select dates April 9-May 8 and will feature both NC and SC barbecue

Duke’s Barbecue of Beaufort is one of four options to get barbecue in Beaufort County, SC

Houston’s newest barbecue restaurant J-Bar-M BBQ impresses

Ever wonder why barbecue joints are covered in stickers?