Monk: After nearly a year of various stages of lockdown and a big spike in COVID cases in January, the first quarter of 2021 had mostly positive news as restaurants managed through relaxed restrictions starting in March.
Here in Charlotte, restaurants are finding new and different ways to diversify their food offerings to attract customers and some are even in expansion mode. Let’s hope that trend continues into Q2.
January
1/5 North State BBQ announces it is opening a second location in Lake Norman off Statesville Rd
1/10 RayNathan’s in Gastonia celebrated their 2 year anniversary
1/13 Sweet Lew’s BBQ hires its first “barbecue apprentice” in Keywon Dooling from the local culinary school at Central Piedmont Community College
1/29 Jon G’s Barbecue gets their first national magazine feature
February
2/7 Pitmasters from Bobby’s BBQ, City Limits Barbeque, and Fork Grove BBQ have a “barbecue Saturday Texas BBQ Pitmaster Meatman meat-up” meet up at Jon G’s Barbecue
2/12 Jon G’s Barbecue introduces some awesome Coors Banquet Beer-inspired t-shirts
2/15 Noble Smoke launches taco kits now available every Tuesday
2/16 Bar-B-Q King makes this list of “50 must-try cheap eats in Charlotte under $10” from Axios Charlotte (formerly Charlotte Agenda)
2/24: Axios Charlotte posts their list of the 4 best barbecue spots in Charlotte, with another 4 worth the drive; we even get a brief shoutout in reference to Jon G’s
March
3/1 Jon G’s Barbecue acquired their restaurant one year ago on 3/1; they would open for business about 3 months later
3/2 Roddey’s BBQ food truck in Rock Hill changes locations
3/3 Noble Smoke introduces the “Mini Mary,” a smaller version of their “Miss Mary” platter that feeds 4
3/4 Sweet Lew’s Barbeque and Midwood Smokehouse make the Eater list for Charlotte
3/9 Mac’s Speed Shop and Noble Smoke have two of the best patios in Charlotte
3/12 Sweet Lew’s Barbeque announces a “Bootcamp and BBQ” event on April 17
3/19 Noble Smoke introduces “The Noble Smoke Pitmaster Experience” where you can learn from their pitmasters for the somewhat steep price of $500 a spot; the initial spots have since sold out
“We are offering an exclusive opportunity to learn the step-by-step process of smoking meat first-hand from our pitmasters, Stuart and Ed. You get to take home the meats of your labor which includes a whole brisket and pork butt (5 lbs each). But that’s not all! 3 sauces, a hat, a pitmaster t-shirt, lunch, and a post-smoke beer are also included.“
3/19 Charlotte-based Mac’s Hospitality Group, the parent company of Mac’s Speed Shop, eyes growth across the Southeast in the Carolinas, Tennessee and Florida under the leadership of recently-hired president Shang Skipper
3/19 Crave Hot Dogs & BBQ will open a location of its fast casual concept in Concord in the coming weeks