Bucky’s Bar-B-Q – Greenville, SC

January 18, 2016January 20, 2016 / Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Name: Bucky’s Bar-B-Q
Date: 12/28/15
Address: 1700 Roper Mountain Road, Greenville, SC‎
Order: Monk: pork plate; Speedy: St. Louis rib dinner (link to menu)
Price: Monk: $7.95; Speedy: $13.95

Monk: In the midst of a heck of an undefeated season for the Carolina Panthers, as season ticket holders, Speedy, Mrs. Monk, and I headed down to the ATL to support our team. While our trip actually in Atlanta was a bit whirlwind in nature (and unfortunately included a Panthers L), it at least afforded us a chance to grab barbecue on the way back to NC. Consulting the SC Barbecue Association’s 100 Mile BBQ site, I picked the Roper Mountain Road location of the four Bucky’s Bar-B-Q locations in Greenville.

On a side note: after researching potential joints to hit on the way home, I am officially declaring the stretch of I-85 between Greenville, SC and the NC/SC border to be a barbecue wasteland. Try barbecue restaurants in that part of that state at your peril.

Speedy: Bucky’s has an old school joint feel, with mismatched tables, barbecue paraphernalia on the walls, and a counter to place your order. The menu isn’t very diverse, but in barbecue, sometimes less is more, so Monk and I made sure to order two of the three meats (skipping chicken, obvi).

Monk: Obvi. One nice touch at Bucky’s that I hadn’t seen in many (possibly any thus far) cafeteria-style barbecue restaurants was the chopping of the pork butt in front of you as your order. The pork served from this freshly chopped butt was decently smokey and moist. I tried the table sauces but found that the meat held up on his own and didn’t need it.

Speedy: The ribs were big, meaty, and well seasoned. You could get a nice bite and you didn’t really need to add sauce. They were also cooked membrane off, which is a nice bonus.

Monk: Finally, membrane off! I feel like this is a common complaint at just about every joint we visit where we try ribs.

Speedy: Overall, they tasted like a good rib is supposed to taste, but there wasn’t really anything that made them stand out. Just a solid effort overall.

Monk: The green beans tasted straight out of the can while the mayo slaw was also nothing special. I tasted some of Mrs. Monk’s mac and cheese and it was slightly better. Based on the sides I tasted this day, the focus on Bucky’s is mainly on the meat. Which at a barbecue joint, I guess there could be worse things.

Speedy: That kind of sums up my thoughts, Monk – it was a pretty good meal overall, but not one I’ll be making special trips to replicate.

Ratings:
Atmosphere – 3 hogs
Pork – 3 hogs
Ribs – 3 hogs
Sides – 2.5 hogs
Overall – 3 hogs

Linkdown: 1/13/16

January 13, 2016January 13, 2016 / Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

– Now open as of this past Monday:

Excited to be officially OPEN TODAY at our New Location at the @CrossHillMarket in Columbia SC – Come get it! pic.twitter.com/SDqtJUohBQ

— Midwood Smokehouse (@MidwoodBBQ) January 11, 2016

– Some jerk stole Ashley Christensen’s smoker (a gift from Nick Pihakis) and here’s how to spot it if you happen to come across one similar

This one has bright red, heavy steel latches on the front that my uncle Marty fabricated and installed after the cooker arrived and we discovered that the existing latches were a little light duty for the hard-core nature of the cooker.

It has a large handle on one side that allows a single person to flip a 200-pound pig (which comes in handy in the middle of the night when all of your whiskey-drinking “assisting” pals have passed out in lawn chairs by the fire barrel). It also has a wood compartment on the trailer, sick-shiny chrome rims, and three chimneys.

– Marie, Let’s Eat! visits Peak Brothers Bar-B-Q in Waverly, KY and has his favorite meal of his Kentucky trip

– In praise of barbecue chicken, the so-called “second fiddle of the barbecue world”, by Robert Moss

– The Panthers are selling a 15-1 burger topped with 15 oz of pulled pork for $15.01 at this weekend’s game (h/t)

– You can earn $1000 and help Home Team BBQ of Charleston by finding and turning in a missing notebook with key information on their upcoming location

$1000 REWARD FOR THE RETURN OF THIS NOTEBOOK. I WILL WRITE A CHECK. PLEASE RETWEET. WOULD BE MUCH OBLIGED. pic.twitter.com/PXJNeGbbet

— Home Team BBQ (@htbbq) January 11, 2016

Treehouse Whiskey and Fork – Charlotte, NC

January 4, 2016January 4, 2016 / Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Name: Treehouse Whiskey and Fork
Date: 12/22/15
Address: 4423 Sharon Rd, Charlotte, NC 28211
Order: Large plate (pork, brisket, ribs, sausage) with coleslaw, tater tots, and jalapeno cheddar biscuit; smoked backyard wings, skillet cornbread, and buffalo shrimp; 5 beers (link)
Price: $72 (for 3)

Monk: Happy Birthday, Speedy!

Speedy: Thanks, bro.

Monk: So on the night of his actual birthday, Speedy chose Treehouse Whiskey & Fork, a Charlotte restaurant in SouthPark of which I was unaware of just how much a barbecue joint it actually was – it describes itself on its website as “a new take on BBQ and New American Style cooking”.

Speedy: I had been a couple times before, but hadn’t really had the barbecue, so thought this was a good time to bring Monk (and friend of the blog Susong) in for reinforcements. Little did I know, we’d have an additional soldier on our squad, but more on that later. Anyway, the atmosphere at Treehouse is really great – even down to the tree literally in the middle of the restaurant. A large bar, good beer and whiskey selection, and large outdoor patio make this a great place for grabbing drinks with friends. But is it a good place for ‘cue?

Monk: Somehow, I missed the tree in the middle of the restaurant. As for the food, the pork was not bad, with smokey pieces of bark mixed in with mostly moist pork. Not bad, but maybe a little on the bland side. The brisket, on the other hand, didn’t have the fat properly rendered and was poorly smoked. Just bad.

Speedy: The ribs were definitely baby backs, and a little on the small side. They were slathered in sauce and a little overcooked, making it hard to get a good bite. They did have a decent flavor, but not the best ribs in my opinion. The sausage had good flavor, but not enough snap to the casing. The flavor made up for that, though, and I’d order the sausage again. The wings were pretty good. In Charlotte, it’s pretty rare to find smoked wings instead of fried, so I really appreciate them when I can get them. These weren’t the best smoked wings, but worth re-ordering. While not barbecue, the buffalo shrimp were awesome.

Monk: The large plate came with a jalapeno cheddar biscuit but we ordered some skillet cornbread in order to get that fix. The tots and the slaw that came with the meal were standard, and of course Speedy stayed away from the mayo slaw.

Speedy: OK – enough ‘cue talk. Now we need to tell you about the Mont-dawg. The Mont-dawg was a super drunk golfer who was there with some friends after a round of golf earlier that day. He took a liking to our group, buying us a round of Fireball shots. However, he REALLY took a liking to a group of 16-year old girls sitting near us. While he didn’t buy them shots, he did ask them if they’d be willing to babysit his three kids. Mont-dawg also successfully guessed Monk’s real name, got left by his friends, ran off a waitress, refused us buying him a shot (because “y’all – I make a ton of money.”) I wish I could remember all the rest of the Mont-dawg quotes, but alas, there was too much. But big shout out to the Mont-dawg, wherever you are. This one’s for you…

Ratings:
Atmosphere – 4 hogs (specifically because of Mont-dawg; your mileage may vary)
Pork – 3 hogs
Brisket – 1.5 hogs
Ribs – 2 hogs
Sausage – 3 hogs
Wings – 3 hogs
Sides – 3.5 hogs
Overall – 2.5 hogs

Troutman’s Bar-B-Que – Denton, NC

December 7, 2015January 4, 2016 / Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Name: Troutman’s Barbecue
Date: 11/28/15
Address: 18466 NC-109, Denton, NC 27239
Order: Medium chopped pork plate with bbq slaw, fries, hush puppies, and Cheerwine
Price: $8.65

Monk: Much like Rudy I am a father of a toddler and similar to how Mrs. Rudy lured him to a pumpkin patch with the promise of barbecue, Mrs. Monk promised me barbecue if we went to a Christmas Train (yes, this is actually a thing). Located in a modest brick building off highway 109 in the small town of Denton, Troutman’s Barbecue is a 40+ year old joint that is True Cue certified, which means that it smokes pork shoulders over wood (unlike the disappointing but similarly named Troutman’s in Concord).

Denton is a little over 20 miles southeast of Lexington #1 and Troutman’s styles its barbecue accordingly. Beverage options include Cheerwine from the fountain and barbecue is served in either a tray (with slaw and hush puppies) or a plate (with slaw, hush puppies, and fries) – both keeping in line with the Lexington way of doing things.

Even at the dinner hour, Troutman’s served a pork that was moist and not at all dried out. I found it to be a decent version of Lexington-style barbecue, and it paired nicely with the excellent red slaw as well as the Texas Pete found on the table. The hush puppies were perfectly cooked orbs served in a basket hot out of the fryer with just the right amount of sweetness.

Rudy: I’ve eaten at Troutman’s several times going to Badin Lake outside of Denton. I’ve always had a good meal there. The most important thing is that I have found consistency with them. Every time I go, I know it’s going to be a good meal. It may not be the best barbecue you’ll ever eat, but I’ve never been disappointed.

Monk: So Troutman’s Barbecue turned out to be a nice find, and all in all I was pretty satisfied with the meal which was solid but not spectacular. And based on Rudy’s account, if I were to head there again I would likely find it to be of similar quality which is kind of a nice, reassuring thought. While I was appreciative that Mrs. Monk threw me a bone by getting barbecue after the Christmas Train, thankfully after this we should be good for a few months until Spring and strawberry picking season.

Ratings:
Atmosphere – 3.5 hogs
Pork – 3.5 hogs
Sides – 3.5 hogs
Overall – 3.5 hogs