Sam Jones

Linkdown: 10/18/23 – The Mallard Creek Barbecue Back Edition

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Monk: The Mallard Creek Barbecue is back later this month for its 92nd annual event, but with a wrinkle. The barbecue will be drive-through and carryout only this year. That’s right, no dine-in. Per the event’s Facebook page:

The BBQ is on for 2023!

The fourth Thursday of October holds a special place in the hearts of the members of the Church and the community at large. This year’s BBQ will be a little different from our traditional event. Our delivery methods will be DRIVE-THRU and WALK-UP CARRY OUT ONLY.

1 – The Walk-Up Carry Out under the awning at the left side of the Drive-Thru area for large orders Plates, Sandwiches, Bulk BBQ, Stew, & Slaw
2 – The Sandwich Stand – Small orders – Sandwiches, Drinks, Bulk BBQ, Stew, & Slaw (No Plates) Souvenir T-shirts & hats also available at the Sandwich Stand

Sorry, we are not able to offer dine-in seating this year.

Our menu is assuredly the same; Hickory Smoked Pork BBQ, our special Brunswick Stew and our own blend of Cole Slaw (vinegar based). Please check the price list below for current pricing. We accept CASH and VISA/MC CREDIT CARD payment methods for your convenience. Sorry, NO DEBIT CARDS accepted.

Serving begins at 10:00 AM and we will continue until sold out.

Call 704-547-0038 after 9am on BBQ day for pick-up orders of 50 or more units ONLY. No other advance orders are taken

The pricing is as listed below.

The 92nd Annual Mallard Creek Barbecue will take place on Thursday, October 26 from 10am until sold out at 11400 Mallard Creek Road in Charlotte.

Native News

Pik N Pig is set up at the NC State Fair this month

Speaking of the State Fair, Longleaf Swine is offering a Krispy Kreme Bacon Cheeseburger

Old Colony Smokehouse is Edenton is moving…eventually

It’s always been a family thing at Skylight Inn

The Pit origin story

Order information for Jon G’s-Giving

Non-Native News

City Limits gets featured in The State

And even makes the front page of the actual paper

Ribbee’s is coming from the folks behind Goldee’s (get it?)

Robert Moss made his way through west Tennessee and checked out Blake’s at Southern Milling

Linkdown: 7/26/23 – The Barbycu Edition

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Monk: Congrats to Joseph Haynes on the release of his latest barbecue history book
“From Barbycu to Barbecue,” now available from the University of South Carolina Press.

The central premise of Haynes’ book is that the barbecue methods were not imported from the Caribbean but instead were a collaboration “between Native Americans, Europeans, and free and enslaved people of African descent during the seventeenth century.”

While I’m somewhat familiar with Haynes’ work online, I have not ready any of his books to date. The release of his latest book is reason enough to check him out.

Native News

Digging this new Sam Jones BBQ tee

This week Jon G’s will be at Super Abari Game Bar on Wednesday, 7/26

Noble Smoke has a “Two Napkin BLT” on the menu for the summer

A belated happy birthday to “Papaw Keith” Smith of Bar-B-Q King

Non-Native News

Agreed – this is too pretty not to share

John Tanner welcomes the sight of direct heat true ‘cue in Virginia at Two Drummers Smokehouse in Toano (whole hog coming?!)

A photo of City Limits Barbeque’s sides

Any suggestions?

ICYMI, Franklin Barbecue is taking a well-earned vacation

Linkdown: 6/7/23 – The Agent ‘Cue Edition

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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.

Native News

Dana Hanson is a Meat Scientist at NC State and runs their annual barbecue camp, modeled after Texas A&M

Sweet Lew’s BBQ and The Smoke Pit are two vendors for this weekend’s Taste of Charlotte

Looks like Christopher Prieto and Prime Barbecue will be on UNC-TV soon

New Sam Jones BBQ merch just in time for Father’s Day

Non-Native News

John Tanner enjoyed Randy’s Ribs , a carry-out place on Route 5 in Maryland

Fresh off retirement from the competition circuit, Melissa Cookston weighs in on 14 barbecue myths

Congrats to Kevin Bludso on the James Beard win for his latest cookbook;

No barbecue pitmasters or chefs won this year and the Carolinas were also shut out, but here’s the full list of winners

Our Favorite Posts from 2022

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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.

Barbecue Bros AV Club: “BBQ Brawl“ S3 E1 – “‘Cue the Introductions”
Barbecue Bros AV Club: First Impressions of “BBQ USA”
Barbecue Bros AV Club: First Impressions of “World of Flavor With Big Moe Cason”
Barbecue Bros AV Club: “BBQuest” Season 3

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.

The Lexington Barbecue Rankings: June 2022 Update

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.

Best barbecue within an hour of Charlotte – October 2022

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.

Recap: Smoke & Grapes at the Charlotte Wine & Food Festival featuring Jon G’s Barbecue
The Carolina BBQ Festival Delivered on its Promise to Put Charlotte Barbecue on the Map

In November, I went to Charleston for the second annual Holy Smokes Barbecue Festival and had a grand time in the lowcountry.

Holy Smokes Brought Pitmasters from All Over to the South Carolina Lowcountry

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.

Eastern NC Whole Hog Tour, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Embrace the Dichotomy of NC Barbecue

With that, the 2022 posts are done for the year. But we’ll be back in January with all new content.

Happy Holidays and see you all in 2023!