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Linkdown: 10/12/22 – The “Noted North Carolinian, Texas Pete” Edition

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Monk: Fascinating story first brought to our attention by the excellent NC Rabbit Hole newsletter by Jeremy Markovich. And relevant because Texas Pete has a long history with NC barbecue: “[The history section on the Texas Pete website] goes on to say that basically, during the depression, the Garner family wanted some spicier sauce to serve at their barbecue stand. The sauce outlived the stand.”

Also fascinating: Jeremy first brought this to our attention (culling information from a publicly available lawsuit, but still) but has since been aggregated out of credit. He breaks it down in the following Twitter thread.

The story has since been picked up by The Huffington Post, USA Today, Business Insider/Food Insider, and the Nexstar-owned news stations like High Point’s Fox 8.

In any case, I urge you to support Jeremy and NC Rabbit Hole for not only this but lots of other fascinating, NC-focused stories.

Native News

The last bit on Texas Pete (for now), an Our State Magazine story on its history from 2017

Mac’s Speed Shop’s latest location in Concord will also feature live music

A short video on Cook Out from Food Insider

The Barbecue Festival is coming up on October 22

Non-Native News

John Mueller’s barbecue joint at the Granary didn’t come to fruition before he passed, but his friend Jeff Ancira is keeping his memory alive with BBQ at the Granary

Heirloom Market is still found on Eater Atlanta’s 38 Essential Restaurants lis

The Houston Chronicle Top 100 List features several barbecue restaurants, including Brett’s BBQ Shop

Voting Ends later today in this poll from City Limits Barbeque

Linkdown: 10/5/22 – The Expansion and Collaboration Edition

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Monk: Expansion and collaboration is the name of the game in several of this week’s links. From smaller stalls from Midwood Smokehouse and Johnny Rogers BBQ & Burgers to various upcoming collaborations involving Brandon Belfer of Fumar, Lewis Donald of Sweet Lew’s BBQ, Garren Kirkman of Jon G’s Barbecue, and Jake Wood of Lawrence Barbecue, hopefully news of this nature will start to become more and more common.

Native News

Fumar (formerly Smokeshow Barbecue) is teasing a Tex-Mex pizza collaboration with Salud

Fumar’s permanent location is in front of Petty Thieves Brewing in North Charlotte

Chef Johnnie Gale is collaborating with Lewis Donald of Sweet Lew’s BBQ on November 3 as part of the Louisiana x Charlotte chef series

Midwood Smokehouse is coming soon to the Charlotte airport

Johnny Rogers BBQ & Burgers is one of the six local vendors opening today at Gibson Mill Market

The revised version of D.G. Martin’s “North Carolina’s Roadside Eateries” is almost ready to go after a 2- year delay, and several barbecue restaurants were lost along the way

The Wood, Fire, Smoke Festival is coming to downtown Lenoir this Saturday: The reimagined festival is a celebration of Lenoir’s furniture heritage and commitment to art, design, and innovation. Skilled craftsmen, artisans, and chefs will converge in downtown to carve with chainsaws, pour molten metal, and cook delicious barbecue.

A short profile on Holy Smoke author John Shelton Reed from Axios Raleigh

Lawrence Barbecue is teasing a “PRETTY RADICAL ANNOUNCEMNT” with Jon G’s

Speaking of which, “Meat Jon G”

Non-Native News

“World of Flavor with Big Moe Cason” season 1 is now on Disney+; read our first impressions here

Adrian Miller accepted the Barbecue Hall of Fame’s “Impact Award” on behalf of the innumerable “Unsung Black Barbecuce Cooks” who never got their due recognition

Joe-B-Q BBQ – Maxton, NC

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Name: Joe-B-Q BBQ
Date: 9/22/22
Address: 140 Triska Dr, Maxton, NC 28364
Order: Barbecue plate with slaw and fries (link to menu)
Pricing: $

Monk: Located just a few minutes off I-74 just past Laurinburg headed east, Joe-B-Q BBQ has popped up on my beach travels previously because it was indicated by the Great NC BBQ Map (RIP) as cooking over wood or coals. Off the exit you go past the Campbell Soup Factory (which recently celebrated 40 years open) to a standalone house-looking structure

Inside the restaurant, I was greeted by who I presume to be the Joe in “Joe-B-Q” and placed my order at the register before sitting in the small dining. The modest dining room has some decorations which represent Joe’s Lumbee Native American heritage.

The pork I was presented in the takeout container was fresh and not overly smoky. Based on some internet research I believe that’s due to cooking over charcoal instead of wood coals. Somewhat reminiscent of the not overly smoky flavor from B’s Barbecue in Greenville, although Joe-B-Q cooks pok butts instead of whole hog.

The hush puppies were slightly sweet just the way I like ’em and were freshly fried along with the fries. The mayo-based cole slaw was fine.

Joe-B-Q BBQ’s menu also includes seafood and burgers, but if you find yourself craving barbecue it will more than do the job.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3 hogs
Pork – 3.5 hogs
Sides – 3.5 hogs
Overall – 3.5 Hogs

Linkdown: 9/28/22 – The Old School Icons and Impressive Newcomers Edition

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Monk: For the first time in 3 years, Contributing barbecue editor Robert F. Moss presents his list of the South’s Top 50 Barbecue Joints. And of course, a lot has changed. There’s the little matter of the global pandemic that has wreaked havoc on the restaurant business for the past 2.5 years and has probably accelerated some restaurant closings that might have been able to hang on a little longer. But notably, the only closure from the 2019 version of the list is Bryan Furman’s B’s Cracklin’ Barbeque in Atlanta and Savannah. Fear not, as Bryan Furman BBQ is in the works.

As expected, there’s also a decidedly Texas bent to the list which reflects the national trend. Even in proud barbecue states like North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia is represented by Texas-style joints.

Note that this differs from the annual “South’s Best” Reader’s list published in the spring.

By the Numbers:

  • Texas: 15
  • South Carolina: 9
  • North Carolina: 8
  • Tennessee: 6
  • Alabama: 3
  • Georgia: 3
  • Missouri: 2
  • Arkansas: 1
  • Florida: 1
  • Kentucky: 1
  • Maryland: 1

Not surprisingly, Texas tops the list with 15 entries. Texas barbecue is rapidly becoming the national barbecue style and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. This lost provides a good roadmap of places I still need to try, such as Valentina’s, Burnt Bean, Blood Bros, Tejas among many others.

South Carolina takes second with 9 joints and while Moss is a SC-based writer, I’m a little surprised its so well represented on the list. However, I am especially happy to see Palmira BBQ in Charleston make the list.

North Carolina takes home the bronze with 8 joints including newer-school joints like Prime Barbecue and Sam Jones Barbecue alongside classics like Skylight Inn, Stamey’s, Lexington #1, and Grady’s.

Locally, no Charlotte-area joints make the list and in particular I’m surprised that Jon G’s Barbecue is not on the list. Not only because I’m such a fan but also because Moss wrote so glowingly about it after his visit. The same could be said for Lawrence Barbecue, for that matter. If I had to guess, it probably came down to Jon G’s, Lawrence, Palmira, and Prime Barbecue in Knightdale, NC for two spots on the list.

Barbecue lists are inherently controversial but with Robert Moss you know he’s at least doing the leg work and traveling to each of these joints in his list. Some slight SC-bias aside, it’s a very solid list.

What are your thoughts? What joints did Moss not included? How many of the list have you been to? I’ve been to a respectable-but-still-lacking 18 of the 50.