at Scott’s Bar-B-Que
One more…
pork
Little Richard’s BBQ – Winston-Salem, NC (now Real Q)
Name: Little Richard’s BBQ
Date: 9/24/13
Address: 4885 Country Club Rd, Winston-Salem, NC 27104
Order: Chopped barbecue plate with slaw, fries, and hush puppies (link to menu)
Bill: $7.29
A mid-week work trip from Raleigh, NC to Bristol, VA had me driving through my old stomping grounds in Winston-Salem, which seemed like a perfect time to stop by Little Richard’s BBQ – Winston-Salem’s most famous barbecue restaurant and a stop on the NC Historic BBQ trail. I hadn’t eaten at Little Richard’s all that often – it’s not terribly convenient to Wake Forest’s campus – and honestly, growing up so close to Lexington, I spent many years of my life taking great barbecue for granted. However, I was excited to go because, if memory served me well, I was in for a treat.
Little Richard’s is your classic old-school Lexington style barbecue joint. You walk in, seat yourself, and a waitress comes to see you immediately. There are menus on the table, but if you’re like me, you don’t need one. The order is easy – chopped barbecue plate with slaw, fries, and hush puppies.
The food is brought out nearly immediately, and it’s time to dig in. The pork is good, but I do think it could use a bit more smoke on it. It’s perfectly tender with the right amount of dip applied, but the flavor doesn’t quite stack up to some of the top joints. It’s still quite good and I certainly wasn’t disappointed, but it simply does not compare favorably to most of the places in Lexington.
The sides, however, are a different story. For my money, the slaw and hush puppies were perfect. The slaw had the perfect amount of tang and was served at the right temperate – refrigerator cold to contrast the hot chopped pork. The hush puppies are shaped as small round balls and have just the right amount of sweetness. The crinkle fries are pretty standard and are a bit of an afterthought of the meal.
One thing I must mention is that Little Richard’s is cash only, which can be slightly inconvenient. However, this shouldn’t stop people from going. If you’re in Winston-Salem and looking for barbecue, Little Richard’s is the place to go.
-Speedy
Ratings:
Atmosphere – 4 hogs
Pork – 4 hogs
Sides – 5 hogs
Overall – 4 hogs
Hursey’s Bar-B-Q – Burlington, NC
Name: Hursey’s Bar-B-Q
Date: 9/5/13
Address: 1834 South Church St., Burlington, NC 27215
Order: BBQ & Chicken combo platter with slaw, hush puppies, fries (link to menu)
Price: $6.70
My latest stop on the Historic NC Barbecue Trail was Hursey’s Bar-B-Q in Burlington, NC, a town familiar to anyone who regularly drives between Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill and Greensboro or Charlotte. Not to be confused with the fast food version of this restaurant in Graham off I-85/I-40 (housed in what I believe is an old Hardee’s), this joint is off Church Street near downtown Burlington in a brick building where it has resided since 1960.
Burlington is located in the piedmont between Greensboro and Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill but Hursey’s cooks open pit eastern NC style barbecue with a slight kick to its vinegar sauce. It has a nice chop and moistness to it, but lacked a little smoke. The table side dip was nice, if not essential. I ordered the BBQ & chicken combo since it was the special of the day and lo and behold received a thigh and drum of fried chicken. Which was actually pretty good, just not exactly what I was expecting. I should have clarified with the waitress before ordering or just gotten only barbecue in the first place.
The hush puppies were little orbs cooked to golden brown perfection but what really set it off was that they were served with honey butter (!!). If you have ever had perfect hush puppies with honey butter, then you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t – well man, you just haven’t lived. The slaw was mayo based and average – not much to write about it. The fries were fries.
In keeping with the eastern NC theme, my wife got the BBQ & brunswick stew combo and found the brunswick stew to be disappointingly bad cooked with what tasted like store-bought vegetables. Which was unfortunate since for the most part we enjoyed our visit there.
Hursey’s is just a few minutes off the highway and worth checking out if you are heading from the Research Triangle towards Greensboro or Charlotte. Just don’t mess with the brunswick stew.
-Monk
Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3.5 Hogs
Pork – 3.5 Hogs
Sides – 2.5 Hogs
Overall – 3 Hogs
Farmer’s BBQ – Charlotte, NC
Name: Farmer’s BBQ
Date: 8/21/13
Address: 2700 W Mallard Creek Church, Charlotte, NC 28262
Order: Lexington tray with hush puppies and drink (link to menu)
Price: $8.10
Farmer’s BBQ is located in a Highland Creek shopping center just north of the Charlotte University Research business park. Inside, the restaurant’s utilitarian guts is in stark contrast to its brick facade. With slightly-dated booths and tables on either side, you walk up to a counter to order and the food is brought to you shortly after. Yelpers have noted the restaurant’s “dinginess” in their reviews but I wasn’t bothered by the cleanliness (or lack thereof).
Farmer’s does Lexington-style trays (in addition to other meats not tasted such as chopped chicken, brisket, and baby back ribs), so naturally this is what I ordered. While I was waiting I did see the owner/manager hand-chopping the pork and the food even came in a Lexington-style tray – both positive signs. As for the pork itself, while it was moist and had a good texture it lacked smoke and was ultimately bland. I added some of the eastern NC vinegar sauce and while it was better in terms of flavor, the smoke was still missed. Curiously the eastern sauce was referred to as “dip,” a term reserved for Lexington-style table sauce, of which there was none. The red slaw was also slightly bland while the hush puppies were decent if unspectacular.
At this point in our mission to taste and rank the best barbecue joints in Charlotte, I don’t expect to find anything that will shake up the top of the rankings too much. In any case, you never know when you might be surprised. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case with Farmer’s BBQ so you’ll have to go somewhere else if you are looking for great barbecue in Charlotte.
-Monk
Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 2 Hogs
Pork – 2.5 Hogs
Sides – 2.5 Hogs
Overall – 2.5 Hogs
