Speedy

City Barbeque – Cary, NC

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Name: City Barbeque
Date: 11/14/14 and 1/7/15
Address: 1305 Kildaire Farm Road, Cary, NC 27511
Order: Lil City (Combo plate with pork and brisket), gumbo and hushpuppies (link to menu)
Price: $10

Speedy: Look – I know City Barbeque is a small chain (though they don’t franchise) and I know they use a gasser (though it is a Southern Pride), but I had a hankering for ‘cue one day and I had driven past this place before, so I decided to stop in. And I’m glad I did.

City Barbeque sits as a stand alone building in a good sized shopping center. It’s Southern Pride smoker is attached to the building, such that the wood is put in from the outside, but there’s a door on the smoker inside the building as well. The restaurant has a modern feel. You order at the counter, and the meat is then cut or pulled and you take your seat. The order method makes it seem like it’s trying to be old school, but it kind of falls flat on that aspect. It’s not a bad atmosphere, per se, but not my fav.

City serves all kinds of ‘cue – pork, brisket, sausage, chicken, turkey, and ribs. It definitely has a newer feel. Both times I’ve been, I’ve avoided the ribs (as I’ve been in business-wear) and opted for an off-menu (but often ordered) Lil City, which is a half portion of brisket and half portion of pulled pork. I’ve had three sides total in two trips – the gumbo (never before seen as a ‘cue side), hush puppies, and vinegar slaw.

The pork has a really nice bark and is pretty tender. I could use a little more smoke, but the flavor is there. There is a station with several sauces available (kind of like the salsa bar at Moe’s), one of which is a vinegar sauce. I think adding a bit of this enhances the flavor, but overall, the pork is good.

The brisket, I think, is a little bit better. It is also plenty tender with great bark. There might be slightly too much tug, but I’m nitpicking a bit. I also think it could use a little more pepper in the rub to give a little more bit to the bark, but overall, I think it’s a very good brisket – especially for North Carolina.

The sides are top notch. The hush puppies are perfect. The slaw, which contains carrots and peppers in addition to the cabbage, is strong, and the gumbo is great (note: I’m a sucker for gumbo at all times, so having it available as a side here is a huge bonus). Overall, I couldn’t be happier with the sides.

Monk: Hmm…I’m not sure how I feel about gumbo at a barbecue place, but at least it was good. Sounds like City Barbeque (a chain started in Ohio) is worth a try next time I’m with all of the other relocated yanks in Cary.

Speedy: I definitely want to go back some time for dinner to check out both the ribs and the sausage, but overall, City Barbeque is a really good meal. It doesn’t have the down home feel of the old-timey ‘cue joints, and it does use a gas smoker instead of a stick burner, but these guys understand how to smoke meat. I’ll definitely be back.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 2 hogs
Pork – 3 hogs
Brisket – 3.5 hogs
Sides – 4 hogs
Overall – 3.5 Hogs
City Barbeque on Urbanspoon

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The Improper Pig – Charlotte, NC

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Name: The Improper Pig
Date: 12/19/14
Address: 110 S Sharon Amity Rd Charlotte, NC 28211
Order: Monk: Cotswold platter with pulled pork, sliced brisket, asian slaw, and sweet potato hash; Speedy: Half rack of St. Louis ribs with collards (link to menu)
Price: Monk: $12; Speedy: $14

Monk: If memory serves, The Improper Pig might be the first new barbecue restaurant to open in Charlotte since City Smoke over 2.5 years ago (whose disappointment by Speedy in part led to the creation of this blog). It is brought to you by the same folks who run The Pizza Peel and local franchises of The Flying Biscuit and Moe’s and is located in a former Mama Fu’s in the Cotswold shopping center (interestingly, they kept the wok to use in several of their barbecue dishes). So you know that Speedy and I had to check it out at first opportunity.

Speedy: The restaurant certainly has a “new school” feel. Without knowing anything about it, you wouldn’t guess barbecue restaurant walking in. It is not well lit and you’re greeted by a hostess. You can see into the kitchen, including the smoker. While the restaurant isn’t overly pricey, it has more of an upscale feel than your typical ‘cue joint. In order to sample as wide a variety as possible, Monk ordered a Cotswold platter (two-meat combo) with pork and brisket and I ordered the half rack of ribs. We also talked Mrs. Monk into upgrading to the Cotswold platter in order to allow us to try to sausage as well.

Monk: The Improper Pig (great name, btw) and its pitmaster Will Bigham utilize a Southern Pride gasser, which as Speedy alluded to is visible in the kitchen. While it is a shame that they are going this route, it’s not completely unexpected. That’s not to say that you can’t get good meat out of one of these, but you unfortunately you can pretty much tell that they are using a gasser in the pork and brisket. They both have some bark but neither is as smokey as I would have liked. Seeing as this was maybe the second week of the restaurant being open, Speedy and I discussed that they still might be figuring things out with the smoker, so we tried to be somewhat understanding. And to be fair, what they did serve that night wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t great yet.

Speedy: The ribs were somewhat disappointing as well. While they were tender and had decent flavor, they were cooked and served with the membrane still attached, and it was noticeable. I know people have different opinions on this, but I just don’t enjoy eating the membrane, as I think it’s harder to chew. The andouille sausage was decent, but could have used more snap. Overall, I just think that all the meats were overcooked, which was particularly noticeable with the brisket and ribs. It could just be that the pit masters were still figuring out the intricacies of the smoker, so I’ll go back and try again in a month or two. Like Monk, I didn’t dislike any of the meats, but I also wasn’t overly impressed.

Monk: On this night, the sides may have been the best part of the meal, though they aren’t your regular barbecue sides. They don’t have hush puppies or traditional cornbread on the menu, instead going with a small corn biscuit which I could have taken or left. The house slaw was mayo-based, so I went with the asian slaw which was quite good (and a nod to the asian spin on some of their barbecue dishes). The sweet potato hash was essentially mashed sweet potatoes and was different but I enjoyed it. Most of the rest of their sides looked worthy of an order in the future, with nearly all being vegetarian friendly.

Speedy: I thought the collards were really good as well. I’m on record as saying I don’t like taking sides into account when judging a ‘cue joint, but here, they were good enough to really add to the meal. There are also several non-traditional menu items that I’d like to try, including the asian inspired tacos and southern egg rolls. So while The Improper Pig doesn’t top the list of Charlotte barbecue joints, I’ll definitely be back.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3 hogs
Pork – 3 hogs
Brisket – 2.5 hogs
Ribs – 2.5 hogs
Sides – 4 hogs
Overall – 3 Hogs
The Improper Pig on Urbanspoon

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Photo Gallery: Some photos from our German TV Debut

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Speedy getting mic’d up
Speedy getting mic’d up
Monk and Speedy at 12 Bones in Arden
Monk and Speedy at 12 Bones in Arden
Monk and Speedy at 12 Bones in Arden
Monk driving to Switzerland Cafe
Speedy getting interviewed in the back of Monk’s car on the way from 12 Bones to Switzerland Cafe
Checking out the smokehouse at Switzerland Cafe
Leaving the smokehouse at Switzerland Cafe
Getting some direction
Monk doing what he does
Introductory shot – this happened about 10 times
Setting up the introductory shot, from my perspective
The introductory shot, from my perspective

In case you missed it, we posted a video of mine and Speedy’s german TV debut last week. Here’s a few behind-the-scenes photos from that shoot, some courtesy of me and some courtesy of Lars the producer.

–Monk

Sugarfire Smoke House – St. Louis, MO

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Name: Sugarfire Smoke House
Date: 10/28/14
Address: 9200 Olive Blvd, St. Louis, MO
Order: Combo plate with pork and brisket, collards and fries (link to menu)
Price: $14

Speedy: I recently found myself in St. Louis for a brief work trip. So of course I reached out to friend of the blog and St. Louis native Johnny of Barbecue Rankings in order to figure out where to go. Johnny rattled off a bunch of places (most notably Bogart’s and Pappy’s), but unfortunately, those are the type of places that sell out before dinner time and were too far away from my client for lunch. The only place on Johnny’s list that was logistically feasible was Sugarfire Smoke House. It wasn’t a place he had been, but was on his list (editor’s note: Johnny has since been as well), so I figured it was worth checking out. So I forced my work team to take a trip with me for a long lunch one day.

Monk: Wow, such power Speedy doth yield…

Speedy: Though St. Louis is known for its ribs, I decided to go with the pork and brisket combo plate, as I felt like that would give me a good feel for the restaurant. I added a sausage link to my meal as well, but wasn’t able to try it, as it ended up having cheese in it (which I do not tolerate).

Monk: I can attest that Speedy does not tolerate cheese. Or any dairy, for that matter.

Speedy: The brisket was solid. I had a nice, fatty slice with decent bark on the outside. It wasn’t too dry, but I wasn’t overwhelmed with the flavor. Rudy always says that a great brisket needs no sauce, but I felt like this did. Sugarfire has quite a selection of sauces, but I stuck with the traditional spicy sauce, which was good.

I felt pretty similarly about the pulled pork. It had a nice bark, but could have used a little more smoke on it. The spicy sauce went well with the pork as well, and, overall, it was enjoyable.

Monk: Though both may have been enjoyable, it seems a little dubious to me that they both required sauce. Not exactly a ringing endorsement…

Speedy: I’m not much into sides, but Sugarfire is actually known for having great sides – particularly the mac & cheese, which I didn’t sample (obviously). For my money, the collards were great. I was surprised to have such goods collards outside the South, so kudos to Sugarfire for that.

I also feel it’s important to note that Sugarfire is famous for its odd barbecue creations. For example, one of my co-workers had chorizo stuffed pork tenderloin with chorizo gravy. It looked amazing, and my co-worker confirmed as much. I think if I ever take a trip back, that’s the route I’ll take. Either way, I do think Sugarfire Smoke House is worth checking out, though there are probably better options in the area.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3.5 hogs
Pork – 2.5 hogs
Brisket – 3 hogs
Sides – 4 hogs
Overall – 3 Hogs
Sugarfire Smoke House on Urbanspoon
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