Speedy

‘Cue Barbecue – Alpharetta, GA

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Name: ‘Cue Barbecue
Date: 6/17/16
Address: 13700 GA-9, Alpharetta, GA 30004
Order: Combo plate with sliced brisket and chopped pork, collards and fries (link to menu)
Price: $14

Speedy: Well boys – I’m checking in with my first review as a Georgia resident. I hadn’t planned on going to ‘Cue Barbecue, but I randomly drove by it on a Friday night and thought some ‘cue sounded good. So here I was.

Monk: I guess this is as good a time as any to mention that unfortunately, Speedy has relocated to Atlanta. On the bright side, that means the Barbecue Bros have expanded to Georgia!  

Speedy: Walking in, I really liked the ‘Cue atmosphere. It had old time decor with wood everywhere, including a decorative barn door, which was a nice touch. There was also a bar and an acoustic guitar player, and overall, it’s just a pretty cool place. I saddled up to the bar and ordered a local beer – Dry County IPA – and a combo plate with pork and brisket. The beer was solid, which was more than I could say about the food.

Monk: And it was off to such a good start, too…

Speedy: The pork was just OK. It had lots of bark, which was nice, but the bark lacked flavor, so I’m not sure the meat was properly rubbed before cooking. The pork was also dry, so it required some of the vinegar based sauce provided. One I liberally applied the dip, the pork was better, but still mediocre. The brisket, however, was plain bad. The slices I was given were served without sauce, but were incredibly dry. I could taste a bit of pepper in the bark, but it also needed more seasoning. After dousing it with some sweet sauce on the table it become edible, but I still didn’t finish my portion.

I don’t have much to say about the sides. The collards were bland and the fries were good, but there was nothing here to salvage the meal.

Overall, my first barbecue meal as a Georgia resident was very disappointing and definitely had me missing North Carolina.

Monk: I hate that this wasn’t a better first barbecue experience for you, but at least there’s plenty of good barbecue in Georgia for you to explore.

Speedy: Well it can only go up from here…

(For another review of ‘Cue Barbecue, check out Marie, Let’s Eat!)

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3.5 hogs
Pork – 2 hogs
Brisket – 1 hog
Sides – 2 hogs
Overall – 2 hogs
'Cue Barbecue Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato
Cue Barbecue

Pork and brisket combo plate at ‘Cue Barbecue
Brisket at ‘Cue Barbecue
Pork at ‘Cue Barbecue
‘Cue Barbecue interior

Queen City Q – Charlotte, NC (RE-REVIEW)

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Name: Queen City Q
Date: 4/13/16
Address: 225 E 6th St, Charlotte, NC 28202
Order: Super Q platter (pork, brisket, sausage, ribs) with eastern NC bbq slaw and hush puppies (link)
Price: $28

Speedy: So after Monk panned the Concord Queen City Q location last week, we decided we needed to go back to the flagship to see how it stacked up. In the past, we’ve had pretty good experiences, so we needed to find out if Monk just had a one-off bad experience or if quality had started to slip across the board.

Monk: Before Hornets home games, Queen City Q is packed to the gills and the wait time can reach upwards of 45 minutes. Our visit before the final home game of the season was no exception but after waiting in the packed lower bar area, we were able to snag a high top. Regardless of whether the food was still any good or not, it was evident to me that Queen City Q was probably doing just alright in terms of business.

Speedy: The sausage at QCQ has always been my favorite meat. And today was no different. The sausage is served split with a mustard sauce and it just works. The meat is finished on a grill and has very solid flavor. It doesn’t try to be anything it’s not with fancy flavors or fillers – it’s just good. So the first meat is a go.

Monk: While Speedy considers the ribs to be one of the better meats at QCQ, they were overdone and pretty tough on this occasion. Seeing as how they came in individual bones as opposed to a half rack I wonder if perhaps they had been under a heat lamp after they were cut and that ultimately did them in. Whatever the reason they were just average.

Speedy: I was a little disappointed in the ribs as well. They were fine, but not as good as I had remembered. For the brisket, though, I need to find a better word than disappointed. It was flat out bad. It tasted like it had been cooked the previous day and reheated. There was no tenderness to the meat and it took a significant amount of barbecue sauce just to finish. It’s been a long time since I’ve had brisket at QCQ, and it will be a long time before I do so again.

Monk: The pork was at least better than the dry, stringy mess I got in Concord. It was tender and moist to the point where I didn’t reach for a table sauce. This was more along the lines of the quality I remembered.

Speedy: We had red slaw and hush puppies as sides, which were pretty good. I know Monk was a little disappointed in the sides at the Concord location, but these were both acceptable. Nothing to get too excited about, but they won’t affect my decision on whether to go back.

Monk: In my review of the Concord location, I wondered if it was a one-off disappointing experience at a satellite location or an indication of an overall drop in quality for Queen City Q. Unfortunately, with this review I am pretty firmly convinced that it’s the latter.

Ratings:
Atmosphere – 3 hogs
Pork – 2.5 hogs
Brisket – 1 hog
Sausage – 3.5 hogs
Ribs – 2.5 hogs
Sides – 3 hogs
Overall – 2.5 hogs

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Queen City Q – Concord, NC

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Name: Queen City Q (Concord)
Date: 3/31/16
Address: 8524 Pit Stop Ct NW, Concord, NC 28027
Order: Big Q platter (pork, brisket, sausage) with eastern NC bbq slaw and hush puppies (link)
Price: $23.75

Monk: Ever since our last official review of Queen City Q nearly 4 years ago (and two weeks into starting this blog), they’ve been in full on expansion mode. There is now an additional 3 locations – Concord, Matthews, Ballantyne – and they have become the official barbecue of several local sports teams – Hornets, the Knights minor league baseball team, and the Checkers minor league hockey team – which means that they have an expanded presence in each of the respective stadiums or arenas. They’ve also since severed their relationship with Dan “Boone” Gibson, who has gone on to have (in our mind) the best barbecue in the Charlotte area from his own food truck. With all of these changes, is the barbecue still any good at the expansions? I checked out the Concord location (across the street from the Concord Mills mall) to see for myself. I will saw that even though the last official review was 4 years ago, I’ve certainly been to the original 6th Street location several times since – particularly since dads eat free on Father’s Day.

I ordered the Big Q platter and chose pork, brisket, and sausage as my meats. When it came out, the platter was more or less a not-great looking heap of brown meats. The best one of the 3 (and pretty good in its own right) was the sausage. The sausage (not sure if its housemade or not) is split in the middle and finished on the grill. It paired well with the SC mustard I requested on the side. The eastern NC pork was an unflattering shade of brown and just generally lacked flavor. Even adding “Lexington dip” table sauce didn’t help it much. The brisket was plain bad. Now, Queen City Q has always had a slightly unorthodox way of preparing the brisket in that they smoke it, finish it on the grill, and then douse with one of their sauces. In this case, it presumably comes drenched in sauce to hide the fact that it was not smoked very well and had a rubbery consistency.

Speedy: Like Monk, I’ve been a pretty consistent customer for the 6th Street location, especially before Hornets games. I’m really surprised by this review, as my experiences at the mothership have always been solid. I agree that the sausage is the best meat, but I’ve been known to order about anything on the menu. I will say that my second favorite meat at QCQ has been the ribs, which Monk did not order. But still – sounds like a disappointing visit.

Monk: …Seems like a textbook case of an “official re-review is in order” if you ask me.

As for the sides, the eastern NC slaw was nothing you would expect it to be – it contained no mayonnaise and even had a reddish tint to it. In fact, I think they have simply mislabeled it since it’s a Lexington-style red slaw – that or they do not know the difference. The hush puppies were slightly burnt so even though the insides were fluffy the outside left a bitter taste in my mouth. They also threw in a piece of Texas toast which was, you know, toast.

If this is a sign of where this local restaurant chain is headed (as opposed to a one-off bad experience), I may have to move Queen City Q way down in the rankings in light of this visit. Very disappointing.

Ratings:
Atmosphere – 3 hogs
Pork – 2 hogs
Brisket – 1 hog
Sausage – 3.5 hogs
Sides – 2 hogs
Overall – 2 hogs

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Short Sugar’s Pit Bar-B-Q – Reidsville, NC

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Name: Short Sugar’s Pit Bar-B-Q
Date: 2/16/16
Address: 1328 South Scales Street, Reidsville, NC
Order: Chopped tray with fries and hushpuppies, Cheerwine (link to menu)
Price: ~$11

Speedy: A work trip recently brought me to Reidsville, NC, and since I don’t really happen through this small NC town too often, it seemed like a great opportunity to visit another spot on the NC Historic Barbecue Trail – Short Sugar’s.

Monk: One of the first goals for this blog (other than finding the best barbecue in Charlotte) was to visit each joint on the NC Historic Barbecue Trail. But we’ve been a little lax lately, having visited only one joint in 2015. While there are a few that are a bit east and may end up requiring a dedicated trip, there’s definitely a couple within easy driving distance. Maybe we’ll hit another this year and double our 2015 output!

Speedy: Short Sugar’s is advertised as a drive-in, but in reality, it’s more like an old school diner. There are plenty of tables inside, as well as a lunch counter, and patrons are invited to seat themselves upon entry. Like a typical diner, the menu is fairly diverse, but there is a small section devoted to the barbecue. My order was easy – the barbecue tray with hushpuppies and slaw. When I found out from the waitress that they served white slaw, I quickly subbed in fries instead.

The food came out fairly quickly and I was ready to dig in. It didn’t take me long to figure out why Short Sugars has a sweetener in its name. The barbecue was covered in a dip that was heavy on the brown sugar. While good, it was just a little too sweet for my taste. The meat was chopped fine and very tender, and I still enjoyed my portion. Other than the sweetness, I had two complaints – I didn’t seem to get any outside brown in my portion (I didn’t ask for any), and my ‘cue was a little lukewarm. I imagine it has been chopped a couple hours ago and not placed in a heat lamp. All that being said, I still enjoyed the pork.

The hushpuppies were really good. They also had a sweetness to them, but one that’s more appropriate for the side than it is for the main course. The fries were typical crinkle cut fries, so nothing exciting there.

I have certain expectations whenever I hit up a joint on the historic NC barbecue trail. While Short Sugar’s wasn’t the worst trail joint I’ve hit (and overall I did enjoy the meal), I was slightly disappointed. If I ever find myself in Reidsville again, I wouldn’t be opposed to stopping again, but I won’t be going out of my way to do so.

Ratings:
Atmosphere – 3 hogs
Pork – 3 hogs
Sides – 3 hogs
Overall – 3 hogs
Short Sugar’s Pit Bar-B-Q Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato
Short Sugar’s