NC

Moe’s Original Bar-B-Que (food truck) – Charlotte, NC

/ Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

IMG_2352
Name: Moe’s Original Bar-B-Que (food truck)
Date: 6/18/15
Order: Smoked chicken platter with slaw, mac and cheese, and a drink (link to menu)
Price: $12.98

We’re clearly on the record of being anti just about any barbecue sauce other than our beloved Lexington-style vinegar sauce (or dip, as we prefer to call it). Thick ketchup-y sauce? Nope. Mustard? Definitely not. A mayo-based white sauce? We (mostly Speedy) don’t prefer a mayo-based slaw and definitely don’t want that stuff anywhere near our pork. The thing is, a white sauce isn’t meant for pork – its really meant for chicken. And at some point I knew I had yet to try it during my barbecue travels. Though the prospects of my first chicken and white sauce coming from a food truck on a 99 degree day could have disastrous results, I figured I’d go for it.

I tried Moe’s Original Bar-B-Que’s Matthews location solo a little over two years ago within a few weeks of it opening and had recently been thinking it would be worth a revisit as it’s not too far from the new casa de Monk. Their food truck in Charlotte began operating just about a month ago and had started making its rounds at the food truck rodeos and local breweries. It operates a limited menu of pork, turkey, and chicken with a handful of sides.

Back to the chicken and white sauce. I had my reservations but they were pretty much erased once I bit into the coarsely pulled chunks of smoked chicken. The white sauce complimented the chicken really well. My one complaint was that I would have liked it to be pulled into smaller chunks. I’m not about to turn my back on my beloved chopped pork, but for a change of pace more of this could be nice.

In terms of sides, the vinaigrette slaw and mac and cheese were just fine. Collards, beans, black-eyed peas, fried green tomatoes, chips, and banana pudding round out the rest of the available sides. More southern than barbecue, but that’s in line with their slogan of “southern soul food revival.”

The Moe’s Original Bar-B-Que food truck has quick service, puts out a solid product, and is worth checking out if you see them around town.

Update: Editor’s note (full disclose – Speedy is acting as editor): This review is the opinion of Monk and Monk only and does not represent the view of the entirety of the Barbecue Bros. At least one of the bros barely even considers chicken barbecue and would never, ever use a mayo based white sauce under any circumstances.

–Monk

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – N/A
Chicken – 3 hogs
Sides – 3 hogs
Overall – 3 hogs

IMG_2357 IMG_2359 IMG_2354 IMG_2360

Linkdown: 6/17/15

/ Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

– Of course barbecue gets a prominent mention in this Eater feature “Destination North Carolina: A Southern Food Road Trip Extravaganza”

– “From Brunswick Stew to Barbecue” is a new cookbook exhibit at UNC’s Wilson Library

– Dispelling some myths around the name and origin, here’s the real history of hush puppies

– Who won at the NC Barbecue Championships this past weekend in Tryon? Also, the big economic impact of the festival on the small mountain town of Tryon

– Shortly after being named to Southern Living’s Top 50 Barbecue Joints, B’s Cracklin Barbecue in Savannah burned to the ground; thankfully neighbors have pitched in to help rebuild

– John Lewis of La Barbecue gets profiled in Garden & Gun Magazine as well as four other “keepers of the flame” – the Monk family (of Lexington Barbecue) and Tyson Ho are also profiled

– La Barbecue, meanwhile, is no longer moving to a permanent space on South Congress in Austin and is instead expanding to dinner

– More coverage from Southern Living’s Top 50 BBQ Joints list from Greenville Online

– Apparently few places in Fayetteville serve chopped barbecue

– A short article on the 12 Bones Smokehouse cookbook

– A couple of barbecue-related gifts for dad on this coming Father’s Day

– Speaking of which, last day to order to get a Great NC BBQ Map in time

Friday Find: A City Built on Barbecue (Gravy Podcast ep 15)

/ Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Many cities claim to be barbecue capitals (Ayden, Lockhart, Austin, Murphysboro, Owensboro, etc) but how many can claim to have barbecue pits attached to its City Hall. For Lexington that’s exactly the case, as barbecue pits were uncovered earlier this year during renovations to City Hall. Sarah Delia of WFAE in Charlotte weaves barbecue, government, and history all into a fantastic report for the Gravy podcast.

The pits belonged to Beck’s Barbecue, an important branch in the Lexington barbecue tree. Alton Beck originally bought the pits from Sid Weaver, a founding father of Lexington-style barbecue and believed to be the first man to make a living off barbecue in the city. Beck was also friends and neighbors with Warner Stamey, who introduced hush puppies to barbecue. Warner’s son Charles (whose son Chip now runs Stamey’s in Greensboro) recalls going to Beck’s as a kid in an interview in the podcast.

The city of Lexington is moving forward with preserving the pits and incorporating them into the design of their new office space with the help of an architecture firm from Charlotte, Shook Kelley. Which I am happy to see, because NC has a trend of moving away from its history (see: the number of gas burning barbecue restaurants, even in Lexington). As John Shelton Reed (co-author of Holy Smoke: The Big Book of North Carolina Barbecue and co-founder of True Cue) notes in the podcast, “I’m not actually sure we [North Carolinians] are all that interested in the history of it…we are [mostly] interested in the food.” Thankfully, in this case North Carolina is taking an important step in not only preserving but also showcasing its barbecue heritage. Hopefully its the start of a trend in the right direction.

–Monk