Nashville

Linkdown: 11/25/15

/ Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

– CNN calls the combination of barbecue and  football a “rapturous experience” and calls out places in some rivalry games this coming weekend including Allen & Son, Stamey’s, and Raleigh’s The Pit

– “Dipped” chicken is available at some some barbecue restaurants in NC including Bar-B-Q King in Charlotte and Lancaster’s BBQ in Mooresville and Huntersville

– Missed this a few weeks back but Southern Foodways weighed in on Calvin Trillin’s New Yorker article on NC barbecue

– We’ll lay off him since the Panthers are 10-0 and he only joined the team in week 4, but Jared Allen favors KC barbecue over NC

CM: You played in Kansas City for a while. Let’s talk barbecue.
JA: I know Charlotte’s probably going to hate me for this, hands down I think Kansas City has the best barbecue in the world. They have a variety. You can go to Arthur Bryant’s up there and get kind of the Carolina style, the more vinegar-y, and I’m not huge on the vinegar. Although it is nice because it’s not as smoky, but for some reason when I think I’m going to get barbecue, I plan on being really miserably full at the end of it. You know? [Editor’s note: The Panthers are 9-0. Nobody here can hate you. Unless you talk smack about Price’s.]

The good part out here is that I’m not miserably full. It’s not that heavy; it’s a lighter barbecue. But yeah, barbecue is great.

– In “so what” news, eastern NC barbecue is ruled healthier than its Lexington counterpart

– Making the South Carolina specialty

 

Linkdown: 5/27/15

/ Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

– TripAdvisor has come out with their annual huh? list of best barbecue states and places

– The Greenville (SC) Barbecue Tour will launch June 6 and run every Saturday

– Texas BBQ Treasure Hunt has some thoughts (for and against) about Aaron Franklin winning a James Beard Award

– Speaking of Franklin, you can watch the first episode of his new PBS show online

– India gets a barbecue food truck

– Sean Brock’s most under-the-radar eating experience in Nashville is Mary’s Old Fashioned Pit Barbecue

– TMBBQ’s thoughts on The 100 Best Barbecue Restaurants in America

– Food Republic has a list of barbecue festivals across the country over the next few months

– Marie, Let’s Eat! continues his tour of Alabama barbecue: Betty’s Bar-B-Q in Anniston, AL and Bob Sykes Bar-B-Q in Bessemer, AL

– As a follow up from the AP Stylebook, Our State Magazine’s editor’s thoughts on “barbecue” as a noun rather than a verb

– A couple of good recent barbecue articles from Our State Magazine

Peg Leg Porker – Nashville, TN

/ Barbecue Bros / 4 Comments

IMG_2268

Name: Peg Leg Porker
Date: 3/20/15
Address: 903 Gleaves St., Nashville, TN
Order: Peg Leg Hot wings, ½ rack ribs (dry), Brunswick stew, fries (link to menu)
Price: ~$20

Speedy: I recently took a trip to Nashville to see the greatest band of all-time, The Beach Boys, live at one of the greatest music venues ever, the Ryman. My bud Drew is well aware of my love of ‘cue, so wanted to take me to a new place that has become his favorite joint in town – Peg Leg Porker.

Monk: Beach Boys and barbecue? Talk about “good vibrations” am I right?

Speedy: *Face palm* We arrived on Friday night to a sizable crowd. Peg leg has a decent sized dining room and a large bar. There’s a counter for ordering, and you just sit wherever you can find a seat, which was more difficult than anticipated as there was a pretty big line ahead of us. I really liked the atmosphere – it’s not a typical old-timey joint by any means, but it doesn’t have any pretentiousness about it. I really dug it.

Monk: If there’s anything that Speedy won’t stand for, its pretentiousness. Looking at you, Panera.

Speedy: I had trouble deciding what to order, but ultimately went with the dry ribs (I always prefer dry, given the option) and the smoked wings, as I knew I would be able to snake some pulled pork from someone else in our party.

After getting the meal, I first tried a bit of pork. I was pretty pleased. It’s no secret that I prefer chopped to pulled, and I would like to have seen a little bit more bark in there, but the smoke flavor was evident. I think it could’ve used a little tang from a vinegar based dip, but that may just be my North Carolina roots talking.

Monk: So did the pork have a particular style in the cut of meat and/or sauce? Tennessee is definitely a pork state but I’m curious if it was whole hog or shoulders and if it was sauced any.

Speedy: You know, Monk, unfortunately, I didn’t get to interview the pitmaster, but it did seem like pulled shoulder meat to me. It came unsauced, but there was a spicy and regular red sauce available. I tried the spicy and it was decent.

The ribs were really good. They had the right amount of dry rub – accentuating but not eliminating the flavor of the meat. They were cooked perfectly – tender without falling of the bone. The ribs were certainly the star of the show.

Monk: So would you call this a good version of the Memphis-style rib?

Speedy: Yes, absolutely. I think it can be difficult to have dry ribs not taste like dry meat, but here, the meat was tender and juicy, even though it wasn’t saucy.

The wings were also really good. They were served as full wings, smoked and tossed in hot buffalo sauce. I was really happy with that, as I get annoyed when barbecue joints serve fried wings.

Peg Leg gets a small bonus in terms of sides for offering Brunswick stew, which was very good. But those points are subsequently lost due to the lack of hushpuppies. And of course, they had white slaw instead of red, which I didn’t touch.

Overall, I enjoyed my meal at Peg Leg Porker. It’s the best ‘cue I’ve had in Nashville, which, unfortunately doesn’t say much, despite Travel & Leisure’s ludicrous article. However, I expect that this is not my last trip to Peg Leg Porker.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 4 hogs
Pork – 3 hogs
Ribs – 4 hogs
Wings – 3.5 hog
Sides – 3 hogs
Overall – 3.5 Hogs
Peg Leg Porker on Urbanspoon

IMG_2267 IMG_2266 IMG_2264 IMG_2262 IMG_2261 IMG_2260 IMG_2274

Linkdown: 5/28/14

/ Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

– Here’s What You Need to Know About North Carolina Barbecue according to Southern Living

– Buxton Hall is getting ready:

– The Pit Durham, who have a sign that reads “No Weapons. No Concealed Firearms” on its front door, was unfortunately  robbed at gunpoint by three men a few Sundays ago, luckily no one was injured

– Garden and Gun Magazine’s recommendations for finding barbecue in NYC includes Mighty Quinn’s, BrisketTown in Brooklyn, and Arrogant Swine

– Marie, Let’s Eat! visits Brooks Barbeque in Muscle Shoals, which he would “happily rank Brooks alongside Brick Pit in Mobile as the two best barbecue restaurants in the state, and top ten in the country.”

– A short profile on Garland and Amanda Hudgins, a SC couple who teach barbecue classes and compete (and occasionally win) in competitions

– Myron Mixon, never afraid to mince words, believes that most cooking shows on tv are too complicated (h/t bbqboard)

Barbecue is not that way. There’s fire and smoke and you can take some ingredients out of your pantry and then you’re cooking. It’s a style that relates so much more to common people.

– La Barbecue tops The Austin American-Statesman’s Matthew Odam’s list of best barbecue in Austin

– Big Wayner’s got some great photos from this year’s Memphis in May

– Well, this certainly is a list: CBS Local’s list of best barbecue in Charlotte

– Another week, another confounding barbecue list: Nashville is Travel and Leisure’s best city for barbecue in the US. Plus, there are no NC cities on the list, but it does include such barbecue meccas such as Denver, Providence and Orlando in the top 20 list.