The Barbecue Festival

Linkdown: 2/18/15

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– Wow, Ed Mitchell’s Que in Durham has closed after less than a year at its American Tobacco Campus location

Mitchell explained that his Durham restaurant did not have any space for private dining for corporate events and only had capacity to cook one whole hog at a time, which was not enough to meet the demands of the restaurant and catering operation. “I fell in love with the space,” said Mitchell, adding that he should have had a better understanding of the space’s limitations compared to his business needs.

– In other closing news, could the River Arts District of 12 Bones Smokehouse be forced to leave its current location in favor of a new “redevelopment plan” along the river?

Now with the start of a multimillion-dollar project to redevelop areas along either side of the French Broad River, the 12 Bones site may have to make way for a new roundabout that is part of a plan to move Riverside Drive to the west, a city official said Friday. It’s a move that’s being contested by the property’s owner, former Asheville Vice Mayor Chris Peterson.

– More coverage on the upcoming Stonecrest location of Smoke Modern Barbeque, which opened its Huntersville location last week

– The Barbecue Festival received won 3 excellence awards at the 2015 North Carolina Association of Festivals and Events ShowFest conference and trade show held in Charlotte on Jan. 24 and 25

– A location of Kansas City chain Gates Bar-B-Q in Missouri burned down Monday night

– From last month, Garden and Gun’s 5 unusual barbecue spots

– Robert Moss’ list of 10 Must-Visit Carolina Barbecue Joints includes several Barbecue Bros faves

Linkdown: 1/7/15

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– More on the closing of Jimmy’s Barbecue, whose closing “signals change with barbecue” in the Lexington area

The closure of Jimmy’s continues a change in the local barbecue scene. Five years ago, seven restaurants participated in the annual Barbecue Festival. The closing of John Wayne’s Barbecue and Whitley’s Barbecue dropped the number to five, and now it will fall to four. The remaining restaurants and festival organizers may want to consider adding some of the county’s other barbecue restaurants to gain more manpower and food for the annual event.

– Yahoo! Travel calls The Barbecue Festival in Lexington the “can’t-miss event” in North Carolina

– Red, Hot, and Blue is opening a second RDU location, this time in Cary

– A look back at the Kansas City bbq scene in 2014 (h/t @mossr)

– A Reuter’s article on Daniel Vaughn, BBQ snob, from a few week’s back

“When I saw him walking up, I was a bit nervous. He can make or break a business,” said Matt Proctor, the pit master and owner of Stillwater.

– Is this guy (the so-called “brisket bandit”) kind of like the Robin Hood of brisket? Update: looks like he’s been caught as of Monday

– Speaking of brisket, it is more expensive than ever

– Our review posted earlier this week, but here are 8 things you need to know about The Improper Pig from Charlotte Five

– The SC BBQ Trail now has an interactive map:

– File this under “The More You Know”:

Linkdown: 1/8/13

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First linkdown of the new year!

– Friend of the blog Sarah Crosland picks the best bbq stops in Charlotte for Virgin Airways’ blog though the Barbecue Bros have quibbles with: 1) at least one of the picks 2) the fact that we were not consulted 🙁

– The BBQ Jew took in the recently opened Durham location of The Pit last month and had good things to report

– The Barbecue Festival in Lexington makes this list of best barbecue competitions in the US (via)

– A review of Curly’s Carolina, TX Barbecue, a Carolina-Texas barbecue joint in Round Rock, TX

– A small update from True ‘Cue’s Facebook page:

We will be rolling out restaurant certifications and a revamped website early in 2014.

– Some photos from the first stop of the Rodney Scott In Exile Tour from Charleston last month

– Finally, Crook’s Corner in Chapel Hill plans to offer barbecue from the restaurant featured each month in Our State Magazine in an event called “Carolina ‘Cue;” up first is Stephenson’s from Willow Springs tomorrow at 6pm, and Bob Garner will be there signing copies of ““Book of Barbecue: North Carolina’s Favorite Food”