Smoke Modern Barbeque – Huntersville, NC

March 9, 2015April 27, 2015 / Barbecue Bros / 2 Comments

Name: Smoke Modern Barbeque
Date: 2/28/15
Address: 16710 Birkdale Commons, Pkwy #103, Huntersville, North Carolina 28078
Order: Two meat Smokin Q Combo (pork and brisket) with slaw and soda (link to menu)
Price: $20

For a state with a, shall we say, lacking barbecue tradition, Colorado at least kinda seems to know what its doing when it comes to barbecue chains. First, Moe’s Original Bar-B-Que expanded into the Charlotte area with its Matthews location a few years back and now Smoke Modern Barbeque has opened a restaurant in Huntersville. Another one is planned in the Ballantyne area of south Charlotte this summer, taking over for the old City Tavern at Stonecrest.

Smoke is nice inside. Like, probably too nice looking. The servers are dressed in all black and the decor is all modern, straight lines (hence the “modern” in the name, I assume). Based on that description, this has to be too nice of a place to actually serve decent barbecue, right?

Well, after my two meat combo I’d say yea, that’s more or less the case. The small-ish serving of coarsely pulled pork had minimal bark and was not all that smokey. Mrs. Monk’s pork sandwich had several huge strands of pork (as well as some unwanted grizzle) that made it tough for her to chrew at times. I will say, at least the bun was a nice substantial potato bun that held up under the weight of the sandwich and slaw. My recommendation to Smoke would be to utilize cleavers to chop up the pork a little more before serving.

The brisket was a little better, if not stellar. It was a bit more thinly sliced than I like but it did have a nice peppery bark, reminiscent of a central Texas-style brisket. My portion came with a mix of lean and fatty, and I would recommend it if you found yourself there. In fact, if I were to go again (likely at the south Charlotte location to try it out once it opens), I’d probably get the brisket but would also try the jalapeno beef sausage which is actually imported from Kiolbassa Meats in San Antonio.

For a nearly $17 combo, its a bit disappointing that you only get one side but I guess that’s to be expected from upscale, yuppie ‘cue. The cider slaw was fine, but I found it odd that Smoke didn’t have any cornmeal options. Neither cornbread nor hush puppies were anywhere to be seen on the menu.

Smoke seems to emphasize their house made sauces available at each table, with our waiter taking us through a “tour of the sauces” since it was our first time there. They had a red vinegar sauce that wasn’t really Lexington style, a thicker sauce recommended for brisket, an even thicker KC Masterpiece-style sauce, and finally a “Georgia Gold” mustard-based sauce. How they came up with that name is a mystery – if Georgia has a mustard sauce tradition that’s news to me.

You might be tempted to check out Smoke Modern Barbecue on a date night because of its modern decor and upscale-iness, however I just can’t recommend it due to its high prices and small portions, not to mention the barbecue itself is a little lacking. Plus, they spell barbecue with a “q” so they obviously can’t be trusted.

–Monk

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3 hogs
Pork – 2 hogs
Brisket – 3 hogs
Sides – 3 hogs
Overall – 2.5 hogs

Hursey’s Bar-B-Q – Graham, NC

February 16, 2015April 27, 2015 / Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Name: Hursey’s Bar-B-Q
Date: 2/14/15
Address: 1234 S Main St, Graham, NC 27253
Order: Two barbecue sandwiches (one slow, one without), large fries, two soft drinks (link to menu)
Price: $11

The newest (and I believe largest) location of Hursey’s Bar-B-Q replaced the previous Graham location, which was located in an old Hardee’s just off I-85/I-40 (if I am remembering that correctly). Many years ago (well before the blog), Mrs. Monk and I stopped there and this past Valentine’s Day we found ourselves stopping by this newer location for a quick bite on our way to Raleigh.

We didn’t get a chance to really check out much of the large barn-shaped establishment due to the fact that we had to get to Raleigh. But from what I could tell it did seem similar to the original location, with the order counter at the front and the dining room off to the side. This one does serve breakfast from 6-11am, as opposed to the other locations that open for lunch starting at 11.

Seeing as we were going to be eating in the car, we went for barbecue sandwiches – mine with slaw, hers without. Unfortunately, hush puppies would have been a 5-10 minute wait (since it was still technically breakfast time when we went) so we had to go with fries instead. The pork in the sandwich was moist and tangy and the crunchy white slaw complemented it nicely. I gobbled it up in just a couple of bites, seeing as I hadn’t eaten much of a breakfast that day. The fries were standard, but we found the large portion to be a bit small for two people to share seeing as how we asked the girl at the counter if they would be enough for two and she said that it would have.

I actually enjoyed this barbecue more than I remembered liking it at the original location. From what I understand, the barbecue is smoked at the original location daily and then shipped out to all of the other locations so there’s a chance the fried chicken and lackluster brunswick stew colored that previous visit. In any case, this was well worth the short jaunt off the highway.

–Monk

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3.5 hogs
Pork – 4 hogs
Sides – 3 hogs
Overall – 3.5 hogs

Mac’s Speed Shop – Charlotte, NC (Steele Creek)

February 2, 2015February 2, 2015 / Barbecue Bros / 5 Comments

Name: Mac’s Speed Shop (Steele Creek)
Date: 1/25/15
Address: 2414 Sandy Porter Rd., Charlotte, NC 28273
Order: Small pork platter with collards and cole slaw (hush puppies included) (link to menu)
Price: $11

Speedy and I have previously lamented Mac’s Speed Shop and how far it had fallen off in our eyes since we first started going there in 2005. This might have something to do with the fact that they’ve gone full franchise, with five locations in the Carolinas from Charlotte to Fayetteville and even Greenville, SC. Franchising can sometimes have the effect of lowering quality across the board, and I’ve felt that to be the case for Mac’s. But hey, when you’re in Fort Mill on a Sunday and have been given the green light for barbecue you take what’s nearby and open at 11am.

Seeing as this was Sunday morning and Speedy and I had just met with the Marie, Let’s Eat! crew at Midwood Smokehouse the night before, I opted for just the pork platter (also, Mrs. Monk wasn’t interested in splitting the combo platter with me). The pulled pork comes pre-sauced with their Carolina BBQ sauce and while it is tender and moist, it isn’t very smokey. Particularly when I compare it to the wood smoked barbecue at Midwood Smokehouse the night before. But, other than the noticeable lack of smoke, the pork was still decently tasty in its own right.

I’ve mentioned before, but I love the hush puppies that Mac’s serves with the side of honey butter on the side. Plus, the hush puppies themselves were hot and fresh out of the fryer. Seeing as how this was two meals of barbecue in two for me, I went with the slightly healthier choices of slaw and collards. The slaw is a mayo and vinegar concoction and is really pretty good. The collards had real nice flavor and when I wasn’t able to finish much of mine Mrs. Monk was more than happy to have them boxed up for leftovers.

As I read back on our review of the original location of Mac’s Speed Shop, I can’t help but feel as if we may have been a touch harsh (though I do remember the brisket being as bad as we rated it). I will say that this location is very reminiscent of the original South Blvd location and that means plenty of tv’s, a good beer list, and a nice looking outdoor patio (not that anyone was out there on a sunny but chilly January morning). On this visit and at this location, I have rated it just a tad higher than our review of South Boulevard. However, you could still do a fair amount better in Charlotte for barbecue and unfortunately it’s not nearly as good as it used to be.

–Monk

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

Hillbilly’s BBQ & Steaks – Lowell, NC

January 26, 2015January 24, 2015 / Barbecue Bros / 2 Comments

Name: Hillbilly’s BBQ & Steaks
Date: 1/15/15
Address: 720 McAdenville Road, Lowell, NC 28098
Order: BBQ pork sandwich with collard greens and sweet tea (hush puppies included) (link to menu)
Price: $8

Monk: When looking for a new barbecue joint to try, I always seek out a wood-smoked joint over a gasser joint (as do most serious barbecue fans). And in general, that rule of thumb has served me pretty well. Unfortunately, Hillbilly’s BBQ & Steaks in Lowell just outside of Gastonia was a rare case of a wood-fired joint that simply let me down.

As I mentioned in our latest Charlotte Big Board, we are going to have to start branching out to surrounding cities and towns to try new local barbecue spots, because barring a wave of new restaurant openings we are very close to running out of ones in Charlotte proper. Hillbilly’s was my first conscious attempt in 2015 to do just that. Call it my barbecue New Year’s resolution.

This Lowell location of Hillbilly’s is the original, opened in 1989, and they have a Gastonia location a few miles away as well. I believe they also used to have a Charlotte joint off Tyvola but that closed many years ago. The open flame pit at Hillbilly’s is interior to the restaurant, similar to what they cook barbecue on at Old Hickory House only just a bit bigger. It is also one of the first things you see at the front entrance. Also similar to Old Hickory House, they cook over hickory wood.

The meal starts off with a tray of fresh hush puppies brought by the waitress, even before you order, albeit with a thick ketchup-y barbecue dipping sauce. They were hot and crispy, and started the meal off right sans sauce. Unfortunately, the barbecue sandwich that followed was slathered in that same thick sauce that masked the red slaw and chopped pork. When I was able to try a piece of unsauced pork, it was slightly dry and honestly pretty bland. I chose collards for my side, but they tasted as though the flavor had been stewed right out of them in a steam tray.

Speedy: So my question, Monk, is where did they go wrong? Was there no rub, was the pork sitting under a heat lamp, was it overcooked? Was the sauce just bad? It sounded so promising…

Rudy: The sauce would have been a red flag for me. Usually when you are loading something up with that much sauce, you are trying to cover up for some inadequacy.

Monk: The sauce, if not commercially made, was a house made impression of one. And if I had to guess, the pork’s lack of seasoning was due to minimal rub applied to the pork. It’s almost as if they wanted the sauce to provide all the flavor, which is never good.

Hillbilly’s BBQ & Steaks goes to show that you can’t always assume a wood-fired joint is going to deliver. Unfortunately I just can’t recommend checking them out, though thankfully this experience will not dissuade me from seeking out more wood-smoked joints in 2015.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3 hogs
Pork – 2 hogs
Sides – 3 hogs
Overall – 2 Hogs