Midwood Smokehouse

Linkdown: 5/6/15

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– Charlotte Agenda’s 12 things they learned from a short conversation with pitmaster Matt Barry and owner Frank Scibelli

(1) Midwood Smokehouse will open more restaurants. Frank is about to ton it with the sale of Bad Daddy’s. $21 million. He struck me as incredibly smart and he’ll use some of this cash to open more locations. Sounds like Columbia, SC is in the cards for 2016 and a Southpark location could happen soon(ish). I tried to grill him about the Bad Daddy’s sale and Southpark location, but as charming as I am, he didn’t give me anything juicy.

– Marie, Let’s Eat! visits Golden Rule Bar-B-Que, one of the oldest restaurants in the southeast, dating back to 1891

– The Smoking Ho reviews Aaron Franklin’s new book Franklin Barbecue: A Meat Smoking Manifesto

– Q 4 Fun reviews The Ultimate Book of BBQ by NC pitmaster Christopher Prieto

– Daniel Vaughn helped Sam Jones smoke a whole hog at BBQ on the Neuse this past weekend

– Robert Moss’s list of underrated SC barbecue for First We Feast

– Speaking of Robert Moss, his new book Barbecue Lover’s the Carolinas is out tomorrow

Linkdown: 4/29/15

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– Et tu, Scott Avett?

Where is your favorite place in North Carolina? And where is your favorite place to eat North Carolina ‘cue?
Scott Avett: We travel so much, but North Carolina is a great place to come home to. It’s all terrific from the mountains to the coast. I was raised on Lexington barbecue, but I would have to say Skylight Inn in Eastern N.C. is the best on the planet after the experience I had a few weeks ago.

– Queen City Q will be serving their barbecue at the upcoming Wells Fargo Championship

– USA Today’s 10Best has a reader’s choice vote for best southern barbecue; vote once per day here until May 25 although they left off some crucial ones

– A barbecue round table on the state of American barbecue with several prominent barbecue writers and minds

– Elon University’s student paper review Stokely’s BBQ in Burlington

– The last Memphis-area barbecue joint for Marie, Let’s Eat! is Germantown Commissary

– One man’s thoughts on barbecue snobbery

In conclusion, let’s just all agree to eat more barbecue. Tell the barbecue snobs to take a hike and chill out. You can compete against someone if you enjoy that kind of thing. It won’t bother me (as long as I get to eat some of it). In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy the kind of barbecue sauce I like and you can enjoy the kind of barbecue sauce you like — mustard, mayonnaise, tomato — it makes no difference to me. Everyone will be happy, and as John Steinbeck once wrote, “Once again the world was spinning in greased grooves.”

– At Midway BBQ in Buffalo, SC (south east of Spartanburg), Amy and Jay Allen are keeping the barbecue tradition of her father alive and hash is the best seller on the menu

– Brisket prices are headed back down

– A burger chain that was owned by the same restaurant group as Midwood Smokehouse was sold yesterday but in other news a Columbia, SC location is coming!

Owner Frank Scibelli and his team will now focus on new concepts and growing Midwood Smokehouse, which will expand to Columbia, S.C., where they’re currently working out a lease. And there’s no need to worry Midwood Smokehouse will be sold anytime soon, he says. For the near future, at least, it will stay a Charlotte restaurant.

– For those that will be in Asheville this weekend

Linkdown: 4/15/15

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– San Francisco gets (presumably) its first Lexington-style barbecue joint, Rusty’s Southern

Prior to the restaurant’s opening, the Olsons and Rubio did restaurant recon by visiting various barbecue joints in the Carolinas, including Wayne Monk’s famous, Beard Award-winning Lexington Barbecue in Lexington, NC. They were so impressed with Monk’s barbecue that this is the style they decided to emulate.

– 150 years ago, Raleigh did not burn. Why? Barbecue.

Union Gen. William T. Sherman stormed back into Raleigh on Monday, 150 years from the day the city was captured at the Civil War’s end, but there were a few differences this time.

Unlike the situation on April 13, 1865, this Sherman had to wait for permission to enter the North Carolina Executive Mansion. But just as he did then, Sherman reassured Raleighites that he had no intention of burning the city, a fate some Confederate cities had suffered during his drive through Georgia and the Carolinas.

“Raleigh, I didn’t burn it,” said Sherman, played by actor Ira David Wood III. “You want to know why? Barbecue.”

– Speaking of Raleigh:

– The Come-See-Me Festival in Rock Hill features the 8th annual Barbecue Cook-Off

– Barbecue beef and brisket has started to invade the Cape Fear region in eastern NC

– In DC, three Republican congressmen filed with the Federal Election Commission Tuesday an “Americans for BBQ” fundraising committee.

– Things are continuing to shape up at the Ballantyne Midwood Smokehouse

Linkdown: 4/8/15

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– If you are still wanting to participate in a barbecue-related bracket, Red Clay Soul’s Georgia barbecue bracket is down to the Final Four and voting ends at 10pm ET tonight

– The latest in Arrogant Swine’s Serious Eats series examines the sounds of being the boss, and ends on a really great note about his assistant Roland

My assistant Roland came from the Doe Fund, a halfway house for the homeless. Mistakes from a previous life guaranteed that his resume was heading into the trash can everywhere he looked. Even his parole officer called me, asking if I was sure I wanted to have him around. In Roland I found a student, one who was eager not only to work but also develop a passion for cooking whole hog barbecue. If you ever walk by the Swine at 2 a.m. and smell the smoke from our burning oak logs, wave towards the pit room. You’ll likely see Roland smile and wave right back.

Towards the end of 2014, Time Out magazine compiled a top 100 list of dishes around New York City. In the meat section stood our whole hog barbecue. I posted a picture of Roland for all the world to see. Here was a man who before the Swine never worked a day in the kitchen, competing head to head with the best and most talented chefs in the world. He looked triumphant, and I was bursting with pride.

– Burger Mary takes a deeper look at The Joint, a Texas-style barbecue joint in New Orleans

– Mac’s Speed Shop on South Blvd is one of Charlotte Five’s Top 10 places to have a beer outside in Charlotte

– Old Hickory House closed its N. Tryon location last Saturday but sounds like they could be reopening at a new location at some point

Serving a packed house this week shows them the support from the community, hoping they decide to reopen somewhere else.

“We’re just going to take it easy for a little while, probably get back into it. Where, I don’t know, but somewhere local,” said Carter.

– Wendell man Christopher Prieto has released a barbecue and smoking book, entitled Southern Living Ultimate Book of BBQ

– More coverage on Midwood Smokehouse’s upcoming Charlotte location in Ballantyne

– Bob Garner’s (aka the Minister of Barbecue Culture at Raleigh’s The Pit) latest book reviewed

– Several barbecue restaurants are deemed the best restaurant in each NC county by Charleston Food Bloggers including The Smoke Pit in Cabarrus, Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge in Cleveland, Lexington Barbecue in Davidson (duh), Tarheel Bar-B-Q in Gates, and Parker’s Barbecue in Pitt

– Once again, congrats to Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge for their championship in Garden and Gun’s Ultimate Barbecue Bracket