Monk: In East Durham, NC, Mike De Los Santos started doing barbecue sauces and rubs that mixed Hispanic and black flavors as a hobby but then a family tragedy refocused him to eventually open a brick and mortar restaurant called Mike D’s BBQ Smokehouse. Last December, his wood-smoked barbecue joint earned Best New North Carolina Barbecue from Eater Carolinas.
Description: Mike De Los Santos brings his award-winning barbecue and rubs to a brick-and-mortar destination in East Durham.
Monk: The Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest was held this past weekend in Memphis, and The Shed yet again took home the Grand Champion and Whole Hog titles. The Grand Champion title was the third for the 17-time competition team from Ocean Springs, MS led by brother and sister Brad Orrison and Brooke Lewis.
The full list of winners in other categories are on their website. Of note, Big Bob Gibson and Chris Lilly took home yet another Pork Shoulder title.
Of note, the upstart barbecue competition SmokeSlam also took place the same weekend at Tom Lee Park, the former site of the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest.
Here were the winners of SmokeSlam:
Friends of the blog The Low and Slow Barbecue Show featured Jon G’s Barbecue
Union Barbecue is a newer barbecue food truck in Charlotte native Holden Sasser
Pizza Peel in the Plaza Midwood is closing after a decade open and is turning into an Improper Pig
Mike D’s BBQ in east Durham but got a couple of lifelines through a Rapid Recovery loan from The NC Rural Center
City Limits Barbeque has been testing out pork steaks
Smoke Queen Barbecue is run by Winnie Yee-Lakhani and was recently featured by J.C. Reid in a recent profile
After last week’s tornadoes, many Houston restaurants are still without power including Gatlin’s BBQ and Feges BBQ
Daniel Vaughn digs up the first article on Franklin Barbecue
Monk: Robert Moss dropped his annual top barbecue joint list for Southern Living, and of the 50, eight were North Carolina barbecue joints while another nine were from South Carolina. The North Carolina joints were:
Even with some decent representation from the Carolinas, there were a few I felt could’ve made the list based on what Robert Moss had written previously; Jon G’s Barbecue and Lawrence Barbecue in particular.
A Texas barbecue joint made the #1 spot on the list, and while I won’t spoil just who it was just know it is a very familiar joint to most. You just know that Texas Monthly Barbecue Editor Daniel Vaughn would have to gloat:
Have you read the list yet? Who else should have made it, be it from North Carolina or elsewhere?
Mike D’s BBQ Smokehouse & Retail in Durham is one of Eater Carolinas’ hottest restaurants in September
Meet Sweet Lew next Monday through Unpretentious Palate
Robert Moss stopped by Prime Barbecue recently for some lechon whole hog
Do you know the difference between western and eastern NC barbecue?
J.C. Reid on the two-meat plate
John Tanner has some thoughts on the recent Southern Living Top 50 List
Congrats to Lewis Barbecue Greenville on 1 year open
The origin story of Fox Brothers Barbecue, who recently celebrated 22 years