Monk: This mostly wordless, made-for-social-media video goes back and forth between some pretty great barbecue joints: (in order) Buxton Hall Barbecue, La Barbecue, Skylight Inn, Convenience West, Lexington Barbecue, and Pecan Lodge. Despite the lack of narrative, there are still some pretty great visuals of each joint.
NC
Linkdown: 10/28/20
Featured
This week, Adrian Miller, the James Beard Award-winning author and self-proclaimed “Soul Food Scholar” shared the cover art and preorder link for his forthcoming book entitled “Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue.” As I noted in my recent Barbecue Bros Book Club entry for “North Carolina’s Roadside Eateries” by D.G. Martin, while the John T. Edges and Bob Garners of the world have given us so much in terms of exposing us to places we might never have known about otherwise, it’s well past time to get a different perspective.
I am very much looking forward to reading both this book as well as Rodney Scott’s upcoming book to get just that. “Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue” will be out April 22, 2021 on University of North Carolina Press.
“Black Smoke celebrates the significant contributions that African Americans have made to the American barbecue story. You’ll learn how African Americans honed and popularized a cuisine rooted in Native American culinary tradition, and became its most effective ambassadors. I profile fascinating barbecuers from the past two centuries, look at different aspects of African American barbecue culture, and opine about barbecue’s future.”
Native News
The BBQ Review (@BbqRate) is a Twitter account I just found out about
John Tanner’s BBQ Blog visits The Pit in Raleigh for a solid meal
John Tanner also recently shared his favorite barbecue sauces
Congrats to Warner Stamey, founder of Stameys Barbecue, on his Barbecue Hall of Fame induction!
Non-Native News
Desiree Robinson of Cozy Corner is also a BBQ Hall of Fame inductee
This UPROXX interview with Rodney Scott covers a lot of the basics you may already know
Horn Barbecue has finally opened in Oakland (finally!)
The Drinking Pig by Chef Raheem Sealey is a weekend pop-up in Northeast Miami Dade
Franklin Barbecue has started shipping briskets through Goldbelly
A second location of Pappy’s Smokehouse has opened in the St. Louis area
LeRoy & Lewis has a Patreon account for exclusive content
This week is Texas Monthly BBQ Week
Smiley’s Lexington BBQ – Lexington, NC
Name: Smiley’s Lexington BBQ
Date: 10/1/20
Address: 917 Winston Rd, Lexington, NC 27295
Order: Chopped barbecue sandwich with hush puppies and a Cheerwine (link to menu)
Pricing: $
Monk: Smiley’s Lexington BBQ was an early stop on our barbecue journey, about 5 months into the blog and back when our photos were extremely filtered photos from Instagram. However, both Speedy and I really liked the barbecue and ranked Smiley’s as 4 hogs at the time. As I have been working my way through the Lexington barbecue restaurants for my own rankings, it was almost certainly worth a revisit 8 years later.
Then, word came a little over a year ago that Highway 8 which Smiley’s and Speedy’s both sit on was slated to be widened by the NC DOT and they both would be among the casualties lost (John Tanner certainly had some thoughts). The initial timing I had heard was summer 2020 but with the pandemic throwing a wrinkle in many things, it seems as if Smiley’s has received a temporary stay of execution. I hope it ends up being more permanent but regardless I wanted to make one more stop while I still could.
And I’m so glad I did, because Smiley’s provided an excellent late morning breakfast in my chopped sandwich, hush puppies, and a Cheerwine. The chopped barbecue was fresh, smoky, and topped with a tangy, crunchy red slaw. Just perfectly executed Lexington-style barbecue, with my only complaint was that the sandwich fell apart a bit easily and made for a quick and messy eating experience.
The basket of hush puppies was piping hot and my only regret was that I only had a couple of them and left more than half to waste. I wish that I could have somehow gifted these to someone without making it weird.
As I paid my bill, I asked the waitress if there was any update on the highway widening and she nodded her head side to side, saying that they hadn’t heard anything recently. “We’re just living day to day.”
Make it a point to get to Smiley’s Lexington BBQ while you can.
For more on Smiley’s Lexington BBQ:
BBQ Jew
Marie, Let’s Eat
John Tanner’s Barbecue Blog
Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 4 hogs
Pork – 5 hogs
Sides – 5 hogs
Overall – 5 hogs
Linkdown: 10/21/20
Featured
I was happy to get a text from Garren Kirkman of Jon G’s Barbecue a few weeks back saying that famed Charlotte food writer Kathleen Purvis had finally come to check them out (although he didn’t know it at the time). And the verdict is in: Kathleen agrees with what we’ve been saying for years: Jon G’s is legit, particularly that brisket. Check out the rest of her top 5 at the link below.
Native News
Even with the Barbecue Festival cancelled, the annual release of Fine Swine Wine from Childress Vineyards goes on, with Bob Timberlake once again contributing pig art; “This year’s blend features rich, bright flavors of cherry and ripe strawberry. Soft and smooth tannins provide an enticing pallet for the smoky, Lexington barbecue flavors.”
More coverage on Lexington’s “Lift Up Lexington” event taking place of the annual Barbecue Festival
The Redneck BBQ Lab’s first franchise will be in the former Q Shack location in North Hills in Raleigh under the name “The BBQ Lab”
Mac’s Speed Shop has been handing out free pulled pork for voters in front of the Bojangles Entertainment Complex
Bob Garner joins the Tying It Together podcast with Tim Boyum of Spectrum News to discuss the famed history between barbecue and politics in NC
Check out this tailgate pack from Picnic
Non-Native News
Husk Greenville is now Husk Barbeque
Huey Nash Jr. discusses his late father’s dream to become the first Black food vendor at the State Fair of Texas.
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