Monk: The Friday’s Forever YouTube channel explores the Old Hampton Store & Barbeque as well as the art gallery on the property in this first person video. The barbecue portion of the video starts at 9:05.
Description: IN THIS EPISODE → Join us on this journey through the Old Hampton Store & BBQ and discover why it’s such a special place. Whether you’re a history buff, a foodie, or a music lover, the Old Hampton Store & BBQ has something for everyone. Don’t miss out on the delicious food, historic charm, and lively entertainment of this unique destination in Linville NC!
Monk: Daniel Vaughn (aka BBQ Snob), Barbecue Editor for Texas Monthly, made a trip to North Carolina last week (with a jag up to Norfolk) to taste what the Old North State has to currently offer in terms of Texas barbecue. Long story short, he was “blown away” by the “staggeringly good” barbecue he tasted on this trip. The stops he called out:
For the Charlotte area, no surprise that he remains a fan of Jon G’s, but good to see Sweet Lew’s gets a shoutout as well as newcomer Union Barbecue, whom I haven’t had a chance to try yet. Dampf Good and Old Colony are on my list as well for NC.
You may recall that Vaughn did a similar trip through South Carolina and Georgia last summer where he praised City Limits Barbeque in West Columbia and Fork Grove Barbecue in Anderson among others. I would expect a similar story in the next week or so about North Carolina, and I can’t wait to read it.
Firehawk Brewpub is hosting a 5 course, family-style dinner featuring the smoked specialties of Chefs Scott Blackwood and Chris Coleman as well as cocktails from Mixologist Bob Peters; tickets available here
Monk: I hope you all are staying healthy and enjoying your holidays with friends and family. This will be the last post of the year from us, and we’ll be back in the new year to continue year #13 for the Barbecue Bros.
The Monk family went to Disney World in February and if you find yourself in a similar position and are craving barbecue, Monk has some tips and what (and what not) to eat.
We’re up to 348 reviews on the site now, and in 2023 we added 21 more. Not quite our most productive year in terms of restaurant reviews, but I was consciously trying to diversify the types of posts on the site.
A few new and notable North Carolina barbecue restaurants. Longleaf Swine technically opened in Raleigh in November 2022 but Monk checked it out a few months later in January of this year and loved their classic take on eastern NC whole hog. Firehawk Brewpub opened closer to home just west of Charlotte in Mount Holly, and shows a lot of promise between the wood-smoked barbecue and their craft beer.
Speaking of eastern NC whole hog, all three Bros visited Wilson County Barbecue in Portland, Maine on a rainy afternoon in June and found it to be fairly legit.
On two separate Charleston visits, Monk hit a number of spots including Rancho Lewis (from Lewis Barbecue’s John Lewis), Rodney Scott’s BBQ, Melvin’s BBQ, and Swig and Swine.
The Monk family also traveled to Alabama this summer to see family and do a camp drop off, and hit a couple of spots in Birmingham: Dreamland Barbecue and SAW’s BBQ.
In terms of book reviews, “Smokestack Lightning” is a seminal book from the early 2000’s by Lolis Eric Elie, who co-wrote Rodney Scott’s barbecue book a few years ago. “Ed Mitchell’s Barbeque” was co-written by Ed and his son Ryan along with native-North Carolinian Zella Palmer.
Monk: It’s hard to believe that our last Charlotte best of post came way back in 2019. Then, I speculated that perhaps some big names could open second (or even third) outposts of established barbecue restaurants in Charlotte, but that hasn’t happened. No Bryan Furman, no Sam Jones, no Rodney Scott. In my mind, only one legit barbecue restaurant has opened since then (more on that later). In terms of announcements 2024 will have at least one promising new barbecue joint in the form of Edmar Simoes (formerly of Sauceman’s and Noble Smoke) bringing true ‘cue to Resident Culture Brewing.
Unfortunately, a couple of longtime barbecue joints on the 2019 list did close: Bill Spoon’s closed in September 2020 after 57 years in operation while honorable mention Buddy’s Bar-B-Que in Belmont closed in February 2022 after 25 years open.
Hopefully this trend does not continue because if longtime restaurants keep closing while newer restaurants don’t quite stack up, that does not pose well for Charlotte barbecue in the near term. Which would mean Charlotte is nowhere near being on the path to following in the barbecue footsteps of Charleston (much less Houston). Something to keep an eye on in 2024.
Midwood Smokehouse did open a location in Raleigh this year, but otherwise seems to have smartly slowed down when it comes to expansion. That allows them to maintain consistency of barbecue being pumped out of the onsite J&R Oyler wood-fired smokers at each site. Multiple locations midwoodsmokehouse.com
Firehawk Brewpub is the new kid on the block this time around. Opening in the spring of 2023 in Mount Holly just minutes away from the US National Whitewater Center west of Charlotte, they are not only cranking out legit wood-smoked barbecue but they’re also brewing some darn good beer as well. All in a nice setting along the banks of Dutchman’s Creek, an offshoot of the Catawba River. 309 N Main St, Mt Holly, NC 28120 firehawkbrewpub.com
Sweet Lew’s BBQ recently celebrated 5 years open, a nice milestone for the ever-changing Belmont neighborhood restaurant. They continue to be a mainstay in that neighborhood aiming to “feed the people” and recently introduced a “Mill Town Meal” where a rotating main item will be available for $5. With the quality that they have been producing for half a decade, that’s a nice price for what will surely be some delicious dishes. 923 Belmont Ave, Charlotte, NC 28205 sweetlewsbbq.com
Noble Smoke expanded in 2022, but ever so slightly with a stall at Optimist Hall Food Hall. The barbecue for both locations is smoked at their original location, a barbecue palace in West Charlotte, to maintain quality. 2216 Freedom Dr, Charlotte, NC 28208 noblesmokebarbecue.com
Jon G’s Barbecue still remains the best of the best in Charlotte. They are remarkable in their consistency of product, whether it be at the restaurant in Peachland or their weekly food truck services around the greater Charlotte area. Kelly and Jon have made Barbecue Saturdays in Peachland a destination event worthy of travelers from all across the southeast and even United States. 116 Glenn Falls St, Peachland, NC 28133jongsbarbecue.com
We use cookies to optimize our website and our service.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
