Photo Gallery: Beer, Bourbon, and BBQ Festival – Charlotte, NC

As I previously mentioned, the Beer, Bourbon, and BBQ Festival is more about beer and bourbon than barbecue. And inbetween rain showers, Speedy and I had our fill on some decent bourbons and craft beer (although curiously not any local Charlotte breweries), as well as a little barbecue. Though, to be honest, the barbecue selection was a little lacking and could use some work in future events (need a barbecue consultant?). Nonetheless, the event is a pretty fun time, even if you end up having to dodge some raindrops here and there.

-Monk

Linkdown: 5/13/14

– North Carolina is #2 on TripAdvisor’s “Top 10 States for BBQ.” Sure, I guess I can buy that. #1 on the list? Georgia…wait, what?

– Speaking of Georgia, here’s an interview with native son Myron Mixon from Conde Nast Traveler

– Statesville has a place that serves both eastern and western NC barbecue

– Another list of barbecue around the world, entitled “From the Philippines to Australia, a Gorgeous Look at BBQ Around the World”

– Eater’s guide to eating brisket in NYC, including Barbecue Bros fave Mighty Quinn’s

– Unfortunately, you need a subscription to read the whole article on barbecue styles in the Houston area, but there are these two fantastic sentences just before the paywall:

There are a lot of different styles in the United States, but the two barbecue heavyweights are North Carolina and Texas. Barbecue folks in Kansas City and Memphis are going to take umbrage at that statement, but that’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it.

A recap of last week’s Getting Jiggy with the Piggy last weekend in Concord

– The Wide Open Bluegrass Festival, as well as the Whole Hog Barbecue Championship that takes place alongside it, will remain in Raleigh until at least 2018 

– Alton Brown’s favorite barbecue is…North Carolina barbecue (specifically eastern; question and answer is at 2:13 of the linked video). 

Tacos faced barbecue in this final round of Food Network’s “Regional Foods Face-Off” bracket. Spoiler alert: barbecue won.

Congratulations, barbecue! You are the pride of the South. If you think about it, what’s more American than barbecue? It was born and bred in the United States. And even though there are different types of barbecuing methods, preparations and sauces, which are very often hotly contested between states, at the end of the day it’s easy to bring together a crowd of family and friends when there’s a barbecue nearby. And with summer just around the corner, it’s time to pull out those grills and dust off those barbecue pits because grilling season is ahead!

– Not sure how long it’s been up, but the website for Ed Mitchell’s ‘Que is live and you can take a look at the menu here; full plates include both chopped and pulled eastern Carolina whole hog as well as chopped bbq turkey, brisket, ribs, fried chicken, and bbq half-chickens. The original opening was in April, but hopefully we’ll hear more details soon

Charlotte Barbecue Joint Big Board – May 2014

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Big shakeup at the number one spot in our Charlotte leader board. We’ve added 5 reviews to the Charlotte rankings since December and Boone’s Bar-B-Que Kitchen, a food truck run by a Dan “Boone” Gibson, who helped create the original Mac’s Speed Shop and Queen City Q, takes the top spot with it’s moist, tender, smokey barbecue with a perfect bark. It’s high quality brisket and sausage only help to solidify it’s ranking. Speedy and I will be revisiting Midwood Smokehouse soon for a proper re-review, and it will be interesting to see just how it stacks up on its second official review. The next best hope to challenge the top spot is Kyle Fletcher’s in Gastonia, which we have yet to review despite it winning the Charlotte Observer Barbecue Bracket in spring 2013.

What other Charlotte area joints should we check out? Feel free to weigh in on your favorite in the comments and if you present a strong enough case we will try to head there next.

-Monk

  1. Boone’s Bar-B-Que Kitchen (food truck) new
  2. Midwood Smokehouse
  3. Queen City Q
  4. Sauceman’s
  5. Bill Spoon’s Barbecue
  6. Old Hickory House
  7. Elwood’s Barbecue & Burger Bar new
  8. Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Q (Concord) new
  9. Smoke & Go Bar-B-Que (food truck)
  10. Mac’s Speed Shop
  11. R&R Bar-B-Que new
  12. Lancaster’s BBQ new
  13. Rock Store Bar-B-Q
  14. Moe’s Original Bar-B-Que
  15. McKoy’s Smokehouse and Saloon
  16. Rock Store Bar-B-Q (Mint Hill)
  17. Bobbee-O’s BBQ
  18. Farmer’s BBQ
  19. Bubba’s Barbecue 
  20. JJR’s BBQ Shack
  21. City Smoke
  22. OooWee BBQ (food truck)

Still to review: Kyle Fletcher’s, Bar-B-Q King, Dan the Pig Man (food truck), Q2U, Fort Mill BBQ Co, R.O.’s Bar-B-Que

Previous Big Boards: December 2013July 2013