– The Battleground Ave location of Stamey’s will reopen in the next few weeks after a fire last summer and has even added a drive-thru
– A visit to Keaton’s Barbecue in Cleveland, NC near Statesville, known for their spicy chicken
– Keaton’s also gets a write up in this month’s Our State
If you want the wonder of Keaton’s Barbecue chicken, you have to work for it. https://t.co/Ah7AR4u8E4 pic.twitter.com/gAJrK01zZd
— Our State Magazine (@ourstatemag) July 3, 2017
– The Fayetteville Observer reviews Buddy’s Bar-B-Q, an eastern NC joint which opened 72 years ago in 1945
– Eater jumps on the “Charleston as a barbecue hotspot bandwagon”
Why Charleston is suddenly America’s vital new barbecue town https://t.co/lw6mYIZnUV pic.twitter.com/ETEx0jjAWI
— Eater (@Eater) June 29, 2017
– Stick with me here: Tim Carman of The Washington Post says that the brisket at Hill Country, which just recently switched off the gas assist on their Ole Hickory smoker, is “as good or better than Franklin’s”
– Austin 360’s Matthew Odam then takes exception to that statement
Look, I’ve never been to Hill Country barbecue in D.C., or the flagship in Manhattan opened by a man with Texas roots who modeled his restaurant on Kreuz Market in his family’s hometown of Lockhart. But I don’t need to to know that the brisket there, or anywhere in D.C., can’t touch that at Franklin Barbecue.
– The Washington Post then responds back immediately, calling Odam’s take “food chauvinism”
– Scott Moore, the pitmaster at Tejas Chocolate, writes about the experience After Texas Monthly, or ATM, when they were named a top 10 joint
– The Christian Science Monitor takes a macro view of barbecue today, starting from its roots up through this year’s Memphis in May competition
Barbecuing, of course, has always been bound up in the politics and race of the nation. Six years before colonists dumped tea in Boston Harbor to protest British tariffs, the royalist governor of North Carolina, William Tryon, tried to appease local militiamen by roasting a whole ox. The men responded by tossing the roast in the river, an act of affirmed loyalties hence referred to as the Wilmington Barbecue.
– Barbecue the film is available next week
The wait is over! Barbecue available July 11 in US/Canada. This weekend only, almost 50% off iTunes preorder. Go to https://t.co/dGQWetUGLZ
— Barbecue (@barbecuefilm) July 1, 2017
– A writer for the Virginian-Pilot tools around Greenville, NC and eats barbecue for breakfast, lunch, and dinner
– The legacy of Maurice Bessinger will live on the site of a former Piggie Park location despite a new owner’s wishes, specifically because Bessinger meant for it to
Unfortunately for Daras, he doesn’t own the flagpole-sized plot, though, because Bessinger sold the flag pole and the land it’s sitting on to a Confederate veterans’ group, precisely so he could ensure it would never be taken down.
– Sean Evans of First We Feasts Hot Ones, tries all of the barbecue at the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party
– Food & Wine on the culinary fusion happening in Texas barbecue
The changing faces and plates of Texas BBQ. https://t.co/RHhTcVNnOR pic.twitter.com/Ab2brSng3Y
— Food & Wine (@foodandwine) June 20, 2017
– The latest barbecue stops for Marie, Let’s Eat! are both in Chattanooga: Big Jeff Barbecue and Moe’s Original Bar-B-Que
– The runners up to the Texas Magazine Top 50 BBQ list
– Relevant:
Pairing booze with Texas barbecue can be tricky. @gregmorago asked a few experts to share their suggestions: https://t.co/Ung5wjHtQ3
— Jody Schmal (@jodyschmal) June 21, 2017
It had been about 4 weeks since the latest location of Midwood Smokehouse opened in Park Road Shopping Center’s now bustling Back Lot. That’s about the amount of time I like to give new restaurants to work out their kinks so between that and Father’s Day weekend it made for the perfect occasion to check it out.
On a Friday night it was predictably busy, and owner Frank Scibelli mentioned that for this location they had ordered the largest capacity Oyler smoker available (the same manufacturer they use at all of their other locations). They aren’t cooking to capacity yet but at this location it shouldn’t be too long before they are close.
I tried most of the smoked meats this night via the Chef’s Choice Platter (off menu). The pork, brisket, pork ribs, and burnt ends I had all tried before – but this was my first time experiencing the pork burnt ends. If I’m recalling correctly, they are a Friday night special only and they’ve always been out when I had previously tried to order them. Speaking of specials, Midwood Smokehouse is now offering a beef rib, though only on Saturdays and Sundays so I wasn’t able to try it this night.
While the Ballantyne and Columbia locations of Midwood Smokehouse do smoke a whole hog quartered in their Oyler rotisserie smokers on certain days, the Park Road location is getting a BQ whole hog smoker (the eastern North Carolina brand used by Sam Jones as well as The Pit) delivered in mid-July. I couldn’t be more excited for that to come and to try Pitmaster Matt Berry’s take on whole hog. I plan to visit shortly after and will report back. Until then, you can expect more of the same from the new location of Midwood Smokehouse, and that definitely ain’t a bad thing.
–Monk