Matt Register of Southern Smoke in Garland, NC joined recently joined the OG Podcast to discuss among other things, barbecue and the Gettin’ Piggy With It Festival taking place in Raleigh on May 18th. But not before talking his allegiance to both NC State and Tennessee Volunteers (albeit in different ways). And in a few weeks, Southern Smoke will be opening for dinner on Fridays in addition to the current lunch service on Thursdays and Fridays.
In the below YouTube vid, Matt joins the podcast at roughly the 1:18 mark for a fun, informal chat.
Monk: The back half of the year saw a little less barbecue than normal for me, but nonetheless I still had some great bites in 2024. In no particular order, here are the 11 best things I ate this year:
Beef Cheek from Palmira Barbecue in Charleston (review)
I’m not the only fan of Palmira Barbecue, as Daniel Vaughn named them the best Texas barbecue outside of Texas. But I got to check them out a few weeks after opening their West Ashley restaurant in January of this year, and left impressed.
Sweet and savory kolaches at Jon G’s Barbecue in Peachland
My love for Jon G’s is well documented, but I really love the kolaches they now serve for breakfast at their restaurant in Peachland while you wait.
Barbecue Hash over Carolina Gold Rice from City Limits BBQ at the Carolina BBQ Festival (recap)
I have been meaning to get to City Limits Q for years, and in 2025 I will remedy that at the earliest. I did at least get a taste at this past spring’s Carolina BBQ Festival.
Smoked Burger from Southern Smoke at the Carolina BBQ Festival (recap)
A smoked burger served by Matthew Register and the rest of the Register family? Well you can hardly beat that.
Beef tenderloin over campfire in Deep Gap, NC
More of the “live fire cooking” variety versus traditional barbecue, but the beef tenderloin cooked over a campfire while camping with the youngest Monkette and a bunch of neighborhood dads was definitely one of the highlights of my year.
Beef Fat Caramel Wings from Lawrence Barbecue at the Jon G’s Jubilee (recap)
These wings were the best things I ate this year, hands down.
Whole Hog from Elliott Moss at the Jon G’s Jubilee (recap)
The brewery and smokehouse is still under construction in Florence, SC, but I got to have Elliott Moss’ whole hog not once but twice this year. This was a pleasant surprise.
Union Barbecue is my new favorite Charlotte barbecue joint, and I will be their biggest cheerleader in 2025. HEY EVERYBODY, COME WITH ME TO UNION BARBECUE’S NEXT POP-UP, WHEREVER THAT MAY BE.
Texas Trinity at Matt’s BBQ in Portland, OR (review)
I look forward to checking out more from Fumar in the new year. This Frito pie will be a must order just about every time from now on, though.
Whole hog from Live Fire Feasts
For our neighborhood pool here in Charlotte, I hosted a whole hog party in October catered by Craig Morrow and the fantastic crew at Live Fire Feasts out of Rock Hill, SC. Highly recommend checking them out if you like delicious food cooked over live fire in the Charlotte metro area.
Note: a version of this article originally appeared last month in The Smoke Sheet, a fantastic national barbecue newsletter that I regularly contribute to. For more information on how to subscribe, visit bbqnewsletter.com.
Monk: For this year’s edition of the Carolina BBQ Festival, while some pitmasters were new and the festival changed locations from Camp North End to Uptown (not to mention it was now part of the Charlotte SHOUT! Festival), not too much changed in terms of the quality of the barbecue served from two years ago when I went to the first edition of the festival.
Speedy: Well, here was one other big change: your boy Speedy made an appearance! I happened to be in town to catch a couple final Charlotte Hornets games as a season ticket holder and Monk’s Spring Break travels aligned with us going to the festival on Saturday.
On the drive in, Monk gave me a rundown of the scene (i.e. the pitmasters) before the festival, and I must say I was pretty excited about the volume of talent from all across the great state of North Carolina (oh, and the lesser Carolina as well). We arrived to beautiful weather on a warm Saturday, checked-in, got our wristbands for some refreshing beverages, were issued our silverware, and we were off to explore the smoked meats across Victoria Yards.
Monk: Elliott Moss made his third straight appearance at the Carolina BBQ Festival and while he is now under his own banner of Moss & Moore Barbecue instead of Buxton Hall Barbecue, he brought his ever-familiar whole hog. They may have been out of slider buns for us but with a few dashes of vinegar-pepper sauce in a cardboard boat this whole hog was reminiscent of the pork from Buxton Hall, of which we are both big fans.
Moss did give me a little bit of an indication of what will be next for him as he posted last month that he would be leaving Asheville this spring, but I will leave the details of the forthcoming announcement up to him. What I will say is that it looks like he is staying in the Carolinas and will still be cooking whole hog barbecue. More to come from Moss in the coming weeks and months.
Speedy: Walking up to Jon G’s Barbecue tent, I saw a heavenly site – a tower of beef rib bones – and I knew we were in for a treat. Beef rib slider with pickled onions on a potato roll? Yes please! The bar is high for Jon G’s and they did not disappoint. This sammie is what dreams are made of, and this is my winner for bite of the day.
Monk: I always enjoy catching up with Matthew Register of Southern Smoke BBQ at barbecue festivals, and for this festival it was a family affair with his wife and three kids in tow helping him serve some delicious smoked cheese burger sliders. Despite some issues with wood, Register more than delivered on this burger and was one of two non-traditional barbecue bites that stood out on the afternoon.
Speedy: I am on record as saying that any item that is not strictly smoked meat is secondary in the barbecue setting, but City Limits Barbeque made me question that stance with the pork belly hash and Carolina gold rice. I would easily eat a generous portion of this as a whole meal and might even be willing to venture to Columbia some time to check out the full experience at the James Beard Award finalist for Best Chef: Southeast, which was announced just days before the festival.
Monk: While they were out of consommé by the time I got there, the mini smoked brisket quesabirria taco with avocado salsa from Lawrence Barbecue was still one of the highlights of the festival for me. This was the other standout change of pace bite from the more traditional barbecue served throughout the festival. It’s also a nice crossover of Lawrence Barbecue with owner Jake Wood’s sister concept Leroy’s Tacos. Both are worth making the trip to Durham for a visit, or perhaps Wood’s upcoming barbecue festival next month in Raleigh, Gettin’ Piggy With It, another great collection of Carolinas barbecue talent.
Speedy: Monk had been raving to me privately about Sweet Lew’s sausage game for a while, so I was pumped to get to sample a link at the festival – and it did not disappoint. The sausage was flavorful and smoked perfectly, and did not crumble. The man knows what he’s doing around a sausage stuffer.
Monk: Phew! The Barbecue Bros attendance at this year’s Carolina BBQ Festival came together at the last minute (big thanks to friend of the blog Chigger Willard of The Low and Slow Barbecue Show) but thankfully Speedy and I were able to make it happen.
It’s such a great festival in large part due to the effort by Lewis Donald along with so many others. Next year, I can’t recommend enough for anyone within driving distance (or even beyond like in Speedy’s case) to make the trip to Charlotte and attend because there’s not too many other instances where you can taste so much good barbecue from throughout the Carolinas in one afternoon.
Monk: Garren’s turning 40 in late June and throwing a heckuva party at Jon G’s! The Jon G’s Jubilee will bring in town Jake Wood of Lawrence Barbecue in Durham as well as the N. Sea Oyster Co from the Topsail Beach area. Charlotte’s Divine Barrel Brewing will provide the beer with ice cream from Wadesboro’s Brown Creek Creamery, who Jon G’s uses for cheeses in their sausages. Tickets will surely go fast for this so if interested, I’d recommend you act quickly.
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