NC

Linkdown: 7/6/22

/ Barbecue Bros / 1 Comment

Monk: After a 2 month break to recap season 3 of “BBQ Brawl,” we’re back with a roundup of the latest barbecue news in North Carolina and beyond.

Featured

Catching up on some of the NC barbecue posts the past couple of months from Friend of the Blog John Tanner, he was making the rounds in eastern NC during the spring starting with a return trip to Parker’s Barbecue in Wilson where he enjoyed the barbecue but particularly the fried chicken

He then headed to Marty’s BBQ across town and did a head-to-head comparison with his meal at Parker’s

He followed up those meals with another return trip to Grady’s BBQ which, despite John’s near persistent drum beating, is still not a UNESCO world heritage site

John also visited Southport Smokehouse and Leland Smokehouse in the Wilmington-area and came away resolved to eating seafood at the beach in the future

But that was followed by the best pork of his trip (and contender for best in eastern NC according to him) at Stephenson’s Bar-B-Q in Willow Springs

John then swing through the Piedmont and hit up Stamey’s Barbecue in Greensboro which, while he had a fine meal, he was surprised to learn that hush puppies didn’t come with the meal

When news of Richard’s Bar-B-Q in Salisbury closing later this month, he also spun some words reflecting on the pending loss of yet another True ‘Cue joint

Native News

Congrats to Grady’s BBQ on 36 years open

Elliot Moss has parted ways with Buxton Hall Barbecue, according to his Instagram post, but will be staying in Asheville and has another restaurant in the works; as for barbecue: “I’m NOT done with BBQ. My passion for BBQ will live on forever. I’ll be doing some bbq traveling & cooking. Stay tuned”

ICYMI, our latest Lexington (NC) Barbecue Rankings

Charlotte Barbecue News from the Second Quarter of 2022

/ Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Monk: The biggest barbecue news in Charlotte from April to June was surely the inaugural edition of the Carolina BBQ Festival held in late May. You can revisit my recap of the memorable day here:

The festival sold out of all tickets for this year’s edition and Lewis Donald has some big plans for next year. More news on that front should be coming in the next few days or weeks according to a recent Instagram post. Follow them on Instagram to find out as soon as its posted.

The rest of the Charlotte barbecue news from the past 3 months:

April

4/4 In news you don’t like to see, Noble Smoke and a neighboring business The Good Life got involved in a parking dispute

4/5 The owners of Seoul Food Meat Co open a fast casual wing-focused restaurant in South Park

4/25 Axios Charlotte names The Smoke Pit as one of the recommended places to eat when in Concord just north of Charlotte

May

5/10 The inaugural Carolina BBQ Festival officially sells out weeks ahead of its debut

5/24 The Carolina BBQ Festival in photos

5/25 Sweet Lew’s BBQ makes this list from Thrillist on the “57 American barbecue joints to visit right now”

June

6/1 We collaborate with our friends at The Smoke Sheet to recap the Carolina BBQ Festival

6/3 The fan favorite G’s Burger is taken off the Jon G’s Barbecue menu for a “short hiatus”

6/5 Midwood Smokehouse and Jon G’s Barbecue are two of the 13 barbecue restaurants included in Cheerwine’s Carolina ‘Cue Tour

6/5 Not to be outdone, Gaston County launches a barbecue trail of their own. The Gaston County Cue Trail has 7 barbecue restaurants on the list, the oldest of which even opened back in 1946

6/25 Sweet Lew’s BBQ collaborates with Chef Corey Siegel on a sandwich pop-up

6/26 Jon G’s Barbecue headed to Charleston for a pop-up with Palmira BBQ at Hobcaw Brewing

6/30 The Charlotte Observer posts their latest list of Charlotte-area barbecue joints; some good, some not so good on the list but that’s a reflection of Charlotte barbecue more than anything else.

Friday Find: WRAL’s Out and About Visits Prime Barbecue

/ Barbecue Bros / 1 Comment

Monk: WRAL’s Out and About has been visiting barbecue joints this summer, and in this video they sit down with Christopher Prieto of Prime Barbecue in Knightdale, who runs through his menu and approach to barbecue.

Description: Christopher Prieto has been studying barbecue all his life. The Texas native opened his first restaurant, Prime BBQ, in Knightdale Station in 2020. Full story here.

Friday Find: Full-Time Eater Mark Wiens Explores Lexington-style Barbecue

/ Barbecue Bros / 1 Comment

Monk: You may recall Mark Wiens from his whole hog journey in eastern North Carolina I featured a couple months back. He’s back, and featuring Lexington-style barbecue. While he hit up 5 whole hog joints in his eastern NC video, he focuses on just two restaurants here: Lexington Barbecue and Stamey’s Barbecue in Greensboro. While I’m of course always happy to see Lexington Barbecue featured, I like that Mark also visited Stamey’s and met with fourth generation owner/operator Craver Stamey and many of the Vietnamese pitmasters and kitchen staff who have worked for Stamey’ for years.

Description: LEXINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA – There are two main styles of North Carolina BBQ, the whole hog and vinegar based sauce in Eastern North Carolina (watch the full video here: https://youtu.be/3u3KJOqrZsQ) and the pork shoulder bbq with ketchup based sauce in Lexington, North Carolina. Today we’re going to eat, learn about, and fully experience Lexington style North Carolina BBQ!

Lexington Barbecue (https://goo.gl/maps/WN8DFKw7UDJ6Qiaf6) – Right in the heart of Lexington, North Carolina, Lexington Barbecue is known to be one of the best places for bbq in North Carolina. They slow smoke pork shoulders using a time proven process. The pork is ready, it’s chopped, mixed with sauce, and you can specify the different chopped coarseness you prefer. Along with outstanding pork barbecue, you have to order the hush puppies, which are little deep fried corn fritters that go perfectly with any bbq meal.

Stamey’s Barbecue (https://goo.gl/maps/4uzT92ErRGEip6PM7) – Next up on this tour of Western North Carolina bbq, we drove over to Greensboro, North Carolina to eat at Stamey’s Barbecue, again one of the most renowned bbq institutions in North Carolina. Their recipe is similar and again they make use of pork shoulders. Pork was fantastic, so tender and smoky with a depth of flavor and all the sides were incredibly tasty. It was another day of delicious food in North Carolina and experiencing the incredible barbecue culture of the Carolinas.