Monk: Queen City Nerve goes deep on the roots of the newly opened Firehawk Brewpub in Mount Holly. While I haven’t made it out there myself (and couldn’t make the media opening due to family commitments), I do plan to make the trip very soon. After reading this article about the barbecue restaurant/fish camp/brewery, I’m even more excited.
With their opening along the banks of Dutchman's Creek in Mount Holly two weeks ago, Firehawk Brewpub is a space that looks to prioritize community, workers … and damn good beer, barbecue and fish camp. https://t.co/nDbmfjj63s
Dana Hanson is a Meat Scientist at NC State and runs their annual barbecue camp, modeled after Texas A&M
There’s no shortage of barbecue experts in North Carolina, but only one hosts the NC State BBQ Camp. That’s Dana Hanson, an NC State Extension meat science specialist who humbly refers to himself as “the meat guy.” https://t.co/SkYWURvY4g
Congrats to Steve Grady of Grady’s BBQ (as well as the rest of the top 10) for making the semi-finalist list for this year’s Barbecue Hall of Fame class! The inductees will be announced later this month on May 24th.
WRAL is a fan of Midwood Smokehouse‘s latest location in Raleigh
Midwood Smokehouse has some new barbecue taco specials Thursdays through Sundays in May for National Barbecue Month
Winners from this year’s Jiggy with the Piggy Challenge in Kannapolis
Congrats to Longleaf Swine for being named Readers’ Choice Awards winner for Best New Restaurant by Wake Living’s readers
Congrats to Prime Barbecue on 3 years open
Panther City BBQ out of Texas will be joining Christopher Prieto in an upcoming Latin-inspired barbecue class
Check out John Tanner’s updated list of best barbecue in Eastern NC
The Lexington Pit Stop EventCombines NASCAR and Barbecue this Memorial Day weekend; it’s a celebration of Lexington’s stock car racing teams and the pit-cooked Lexington-style barbecue for which the town is famous
Non-Native News
Scotty’s Whole Hog Barbecue is switching to a “once and month” pop-up schedule in Minnesota this year, and the next service will be on May 20
Aaron Franklin’s latest book, Smoke, from him and his photographer/collaborator Jordan McKay is now out
At long last, the day has arrived – Aaron Franklin and Jordan McKay's latest book, Smoke, with incredible photography from Wyatt McSpadden, is officially out!
John Tanner’s out of state travels takes him to B. Cooper Barbecue in Austin, Pig Beach in West Palm Beach, and Pig and Pint in Mississippi
Report from the field on Kolacny BBQ House by Bryan from Tales from the Pits
They don't do social media and don't take credit cards at Kolacny BBQ House. Ervin doesn't talk much but his wife Carolyn will chat while she rings you up. Saturdays and Sundays they open at 11 but get there before noon for one of the most unique experiences in Texas BBQ. pic.twitter.com/TK6NNZh2MB
Monk: 2022 marked the ten year anniversary of the blog and its gone by in a flash. We’re going to take the rest of the year off in order to come out strong in 2023, but before we do we want to 1) wish you all a happy holidays and 2) spotlight one last time some of our favorite original content from 2022.
Without further ado…
Original Content
My summer kicked off with a weekly recap of all 8 episodes of the third season of “BBQ Brawl.” While I was happy to get through those two months mostly unscathed, I also checked out a few other barbecue streaming shows throughout the year featuring notable barbecue personalities like Michael Symon’s “BBQ USA,”“World of Flavor with Big Moe Cason,” and the third season of “BBQuest” which added Hardcore Carnivore’s Jess Pryles as a co-host.
We’ve done some updating of our Lexington rankings sadly due to closures but I already know I need to get back to Lexington to try Cafe 71 Smoke House BBQ, which opened this fall in the old Rick’s Smokehouse space.
I also am trying a new post format with the “best barbecue within an hour of [insert major city here].” I’ve started with Charlotte but will work on posts for both Raleigh as well as the eastern part of the state.
We also went to a few festivals this year! May was a busy month in Charlotte with both the Smoke & Grapes event at the Charlotte Wine & Food Festival as well as the successful first annual Carolina BBQ Festival hosted by Lewis Donald of Sweet Lew’s BBQ.
I can’t wait to see what festivals I’ll make it to in 2023.
Reviews
We’re up to 327 reviews on the site now, and in 2022 we added 23 more. Not quite our most productive year, but still an average of nearly 2 per month.
Rudy got to finally try Noble Smoke in Charlotte in February, and left pretty impressed with a 4.5 hog review.
Speedy loved pretty much everything about the relatively new Bringle’s Smoking Oasis in Nashville, from the space to the bar to of course the food (in particular the beef rib and the brisket). Another 4.5 hog meal.
But from the looks of it, Speedy’s favorite meal of the year was at Prime Barbecue in Knightdale when he was back in North Carolina this summer. He gave it our prestigious 5 hog rating, the first since our most recent Jon G’s Barbecue review from 2021.
I got in on the 4.5 hog action with a couple of joints in the Carolinas: Lawrence Barbecue in Durham and Palmira BBQ in Charleston. At Lawrence, in addition to the fun atmosphere at Boxyard RTP and the Lawrence Barbecue-inspired beer from Trophy Brewing, the pork and brisket were highlights of the meal. At Palmira, I got to chat with owner and pitmaster Hector Garate and both the whole hog barbecue and hash and rice shone through.
And last but not least, I can’t forget my mini whole hog barbecue tour in eastern North Carolina in the spring, where I visited B’s Barbecue, Skylight Inn, and the original location of Sam Jones BBQ.
I did a brief writeup for The Smoke Sheet, which a version of showed up on the site as well.
Monk: The News & Observer presents a video slide show of some great photos of their favorite barbecue joints across the state, from classic whole hog joints to new school places that feature brisket and a Texas influence. Restaurants included:
B’s Barbecue in Greenville
Grady’s Barbecue in Dudley
Jon G’s Barbecue in Peachland
Lawrence Barbecue in Durham
Longleaf Swine in Raleigh
Picnic in Durham
Prime Barbecue in Knightdale
Redneck BBQ Lab in Benson
Description: Barbecue is the hottest trend in food right now. And in tradition-rich North Carolina, a new generation of pitmasters is making new traditions of their own. Here are a few of our favorites. Video by Kevin Keister / The News & Observer.
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