Richard’s Bar-B-Que – Salisbury, NC

February 24, 2014August 1, 2014 / Barbecue Bros / 2 Comments

Name: Richard’s Bar-B-Que
Date: 2/14/14
Address: 522 N Main St, Salisbury NC 28144
Order: Chopped barbecue plate with hush puppies, slaw, macaroni and cheese, and Cheerwine (link to menu)
Price: ~$8

While not exactly known for being a barbecue town, Salisbury is home to not one but two barbecue joints on the NC Historical Barbecue Trail (as well as M&K Barbecue in nearby Granite Quarry). It is also the original home to the finest (non-alcoholic) beverage to enjoy with barbecue, Cheerwine (sorry, sweet tea).

Richard’s is in an unassuming building tucked on Main Street in downtown Salisbury. Inside, Richard’s smallish interior nearly smacks you in the face with its southern country decor while old school country music plays in the background (well, before the switch to the 70’s station for the lunch hour, anyways).

The pork was a nice mix of bark and shoulder that was slightly coarsely chopped (apparently due to being hand chopped). My serving had good tenderness and moistness with a fair amount of smoke. The table sauce was more of a spicy thin sauce than you would expect to find in the Piedmont but complemented the barbecue just about perfectly.

The hush puppies were some of the largest ones I’ve seen at a NC joint but also some of the best. Several of them had visible onions when you bit into them which might have normally turned me off a little bit except for the fact that they were an almost perfect mix of savory and sweet. The slaw had visible diced tomatoes, a first that I’ve noticed, but otherwise was a classic red slaw. The less said about the mac and cheese the better.

I previously stated that despite doing things the right way, fellow Salisbury joint Wink’s was not quite worth pulling off 85 and you should continue onto Lexington if you have a hankering for real barbecue. While Richard’s Bar-B-Que certainly doesn’t match Lexington, I would be more inclined to stop over there than I would Wink’s. They both cook barbecue over wood, but Richard’s has the red slaw and the slightly spicy thin sauce, giving it the edge in my mind if you want barbecue in Salisbury.

-Monk

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

Linkdown: 2/5/13

February 5, 2014August 1, 2014 / Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

– Salisbury, NC man charged with attempting to steal nearly $600 in bacon from Hendrix Barbecue

– Before Queen City Q was the official barbecue of the Charlotte Knights and their new uptown stadium, they were the official barbecue of the Charlotte Major League Lacrosse team the Hounds; that will continue next season

– Texas’s Louie Mueller barbecue eyes location in Houston (via)

– Inside the pit of the world’s oldest barbecue in Israel

– This Zagat list of “6 Mouthwatering New-School Barbecue Sides” has a distinctly Central Texas feel to it

– So my main takeaway from this New York Times article, “Take the Road Less Traveled; It May Lead to Barbecue”, is that I need to seek out this Ron’s Pig Palace food truck

I’m not familiar with Charlotte, so I asked a few people who were boarding with me if they could recommend the best barbecue place in town. I got a few suggestions, but one really caught my attention. It was a food truck and it was called Ron’s Pig Palace. The gentleman who suggested it said that he goes out of his way to find it every time he is in Charlotte.

– The audio from a NPR’s All Things Considered story on Rodney Scott and his In Exile tour here

Scott smiles. He says whole hog barbecue is more than food, or tradition. It’s about bringing people together.

Wink’s King of Barbeque – Salisbury, NC

March 5, 2013August 1, 2014 / Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Name: Wink’s King of Barbeque
Date: 3/2/2013
Location: 509 Faith Rd, Salisbury, NC 28146
Order: Chopped barbecue tray (with coleslaw, hush puppies, and barbecue bread), Diet Cheerwine
Bill: ~$9

This past Saturday, I met my parents in Salisbury to trade cars for a week or two (long story short my father has this genius mechanic to which he wanted to take my car in for a tune-up), so I thought it would be a good excuse to try out a barbecue joint that was both on the NC Historic Barbecue Trail and in the city that claims to be the original birthplace of Piedmont or Lexington-style barbecue. Because of it’s proximity just a half mile off the highway, Wink’s was the place for us.

Because it is included the NC Barbecue Trail, it should be no surprise that Wink’s does indeed cook their barbecue low and slow over a stick burner and I confirmed that by the glorious wood pile and burner out back. Wink’s not only does barbecue but also has seafood, breakfast, and regional items such as livermush or chuckwagon (a favorite of my wife’s) on their menu. In that respect, they are more akin to a local diner. However, inside it definitely looks the part of a barbecue restaurant with light colored wood paneled walls adorned with old Cheerwine and Sundrop signs (two more wonderful Salisbury creations).

I ordered the small chopped barbecue tray (sliced was also an option, but screw that noise), which came with white slaw (boo), hush puppies, and a side of “barbeque bread.” As per yoosh, the food came out shortly after our order. The first thing I tried was the spherical hush puppies and they were pretty much perfect. Nice and fluffy, not too dense, with a nice sweetness to them. Some of the best I’ve had in quite a while as a matter of fact. The barbeque bread was essentially Texas toast and once I tried a half piece of it I decided I didn’t need any more.

As I stated above, the coleslaw was mayonnaise-based and while I am not necessarily against it *COUGHSPEEDYCOUGH* it was a little disappointing considering Salisbury’s proximity to Lexington. This is atypical of the region, and it is curious that Wink’s serves it as opposed to red slaw.

The chopped pork was tender, had nice pieces of bark mixed in, and had good smokiness. The sauce was a bit sweeter than I’d have preferred (or have had from a Piedmont-style barbecue spot) but for the most part I had no real complaints. My parents, also big fans of Lexington #1, liked their food but my dad happened upon a chunk of unchewable gristle in his sandwich. He simply removed it and trucked along.

So would I eat at Wink’s again? Well, if I have ever left Charlotte, am ever driving north on 85, and our upcoming firstborn absolutely cannot make it another 15-20 minutes to get to Lexington #1, sure. But that scenario just seems unlikely to me, and chances are I would just go ahead and make drive into Lexington in this hypothetical scenario. Still, it’s good to know that Wink’s is still doing their old school thing and is conveniently located off the highway if I am ever in a pinch.

-Monk

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