TX

Linkdown: 1/30/25 – The Joy and the Sadness Edition

/ Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Featured

Monk: Congrats to the 2025 James Beard Award Semifinalists! They were announced a little over a week ago, and from a barbecue standpoint Christopher Prieto of Prime Barbecue was the only pitmaster from North Carolina nominated. This was his first nomination.

Impressively, Robbie Robinson of City Limits Barbeque in West Columbia was nominated for a second time – perhaps the first time someone from the barbecue world has been nominated two years in an row. That’s big time.

https://twitter.com/EaterCarolinas/status/1882089244937871864

By my count, there were 8 nominations from the barbecue world. The Southeast made up 2 of those, as did Texas. The remaining nominations were from California, Mid-Atlantic, South, and in the Outstanding Restaurateur category. The full list is available here.

  • Outstanding Restaurateur – Daisy Ryan and Greg Ryan, Companion Hospitality (Bell’s, Bar Le Cote, Priedite BBQ, and others), Los Alamos, CA
  • Best Chef: California – Darryl Bell, Stateline Road Smokehouse, Napa, CA
  • Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic – Fernando Gonzalez, 2Fifty Barbeque, Riverdale, MD and Washington, DC
  • Best Chef: South – Jordan Wright, Wright’s Barbecue, Johnson, AR
  • Best Chef: Southeast – Christopher Prieto, Prime Barbecue, Knightdale, NC;
  • Best Chef: Southeast – Robbie Robinson, City Limits Barbeque, West Columbia, SC
  • Best Chef: Texas – Fasicka Hicks and Patrick Hicks, Smoke’N Ash BBQ, Arlington, TX
  • Best Chef: Texas – Evan LeRoy, LeRoy and Lewis Barbecue, Austin, TX

Nominees for the 35h Annual James Beard Award will be announced on Wednesday, April 2, and winners will be announced at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony on Monday, June 16. Will someone from the barbecue world win Best Chef? Stay tuned and we’ll find out in a couple of months.

Native News

On the sad side of things, a trio of stories from the world of North Carolina barbecue:

Kyle Fletcher of Kyle Fletcher’s Barbecue in Lowell passed away earlier this year and leaves behind a “legacy of kindness”

Short Sugar’s in Reidsville has closed after 75 years in business

And to add to the misery, Kepley’s in the Barbecue Bros hometown of High Point will close next month after 75 years open

Barbecue Bros Wrapped 2024

/ Barbecue Bros / 2 Comments

Monk: Thank you for your continued reading of Barbecue Bros. While we may have slowed down in the back half of the year, we are still committed to posting in 2025. And before I forget, Happy New Year from the Barbecue Bros!

With that out of the way, here’s our 2024 by the numbers:

16 reviews posted: 1 joint with all 3 Bros, 3 Speedy solo, 12 Monk solo (link)

10 features posted (link)

6 states visited: North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Oregon, Colorado, Texas

4 book club reviews (link)

2 new or updated best of lists posted: Charleston in February, Charlotte in November

2 barbecue festivals attended: Carolina BBQ Festival in April, Jon G’s Jubilee in June

1 five-hog review in 2024: Pecan Lodge in Dallas, which Speedy visited in January

Here are some of our favorite posts from the year:

Festival Recaps

Just a couple of barbecue festivals this year with both of them being local. The second annual Jon G’s Jubilee was held with some great friends like N. Sea Oyster Co. and Lawrence Barbecue and a surprise last minute announcement of Elliott Moss cooking whole hog. Keep an eye out for next year’s edition.

The Best Bites at last month’s Second Annual Jon G’s Jubilee

Lewis Donald keeps expanding the Carolina BBQ Festival and this year, it was part of the larger Charlotte Shouts festival in downtown Charlotte. With the demonstrated talent he is able to bring in every year, I think this is one for every serious barbecue fan within driving distance to watch out for . Early bird tickets for 2025 are now on sale.

Favorite Bites from last month’s Carolina BBQ Festival

Original Content

We posted our first best of list for Charleston:

The Best Barbecue Joints in Charleston – February 2024

Did you check out our latest list of the best barbecue in Charlotte?

The Best Barbecue Restaurants in Charlotte (November 2024)

Much of this original content first appeared in The Smoke Sheet, a weekly barbecue publication to which I regularly contribute and to which I think you should subscribe to. Because if you don’t step up now, then who knows it could be too late. I was really proud of this article that rounded up just some of the many relief activities in western NC from the barbecue community.

How the BBQ Community Rallied Around Western NC in the Aftermath of Hurricane Helene

On a lighter note, Charlotte’s got a few different barbecue styles because we are “a city of newcomers aned we have other people’s barbecue.”

Charlotte’s Got a Lot (of Barbecue Styles)

This was written in the summer but still applies since the latest version of each show is still on streaming.

Which Summer Barbecue Show Should You Watch?

Reviews

And finally, a selection of some of my favorite reviews we posted this year. In no particular order:

Union Barbecue in Charlotte

Union Barbecue has Burst onto the Charlotte Barbecue Scene with New School Barbecue and Mexican Flavors

Pecan Lodge in Dallas

Pecan Lodge in Dallas continues to be a must-visit

Terry Black’s in Dallas

Terry Black’s Barbecue Delivers on Brisket and Turkey

Palmira Barbecue in Charleston

Charleston’s Palmira Barbecue has made the smooth transition to restaurant

Matt’s BBQ in Portland

Matt’s BBQ is an example of legit Texas barbecue in Portland

Post Oak Barbecue in Denver

Post Oak Barbecue delivers above average barbecue in Denver

Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog BBQ at Chief’s in Nashville

Can a Nashville honky-tonk have true ‘cue?

Old Hampton Store in Linville, NC

You’ll Find True ‘Cue at Old Hampton Store

The Original Ridgewood Barbecue in Bluff City, TN

The Original Ridgewood Barbecue is a Wholly Unique Barbecue Experience

Friday Find: Where There’s (Southern Smoke), There’s Help for Restaurant Workers

/ Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Monk: In 2017, Hurricane Harvey interrupted what had been an annual barbecue festival thrown by Chris Shepard and friends to raise money for MS. Out of that natural disaster, The Southern Smoke Foundation shifted its purpose to become a relief organization dedicated to providing a safety net for food and beverage workers in addition to establish a full time Emergency Relief Fund.

According to its website, to date the Southern Smoke Foundation has granted $528,600 to 367 F+B workers affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton with more than 3,000 applications in process.

In the below podcast from Southern Foodways Alliance’s Gravy Podcast, Evan Stern tells the story of the foundation and its Houston-based chef and founder Chris Shepard.

Link

How a Texas BBQ Joint Fused Tex-Mex and Craft Barbecue

/ Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Monk: Panther City BBQ in Fort Worth, Texas opened in 2014 and is a shining example of bringing Tex-Mex flavors into craft barbecue. Jalapeno sausages and brisket elote cups rub elbows with the brisket and pork spare ribs that you would expect from a craft Texas barbecue restaurant (albeit with some additional flavors).

In this recent video from Eater’s Smoke Point, they follow owners and pitmasters Chris Magallanes and Ernest Morales through a day of prep. Both at the original Panther City location as well as a second restaurant they opened, Fort Worth Barbecue Company, in the former location of Bailey’s Barbecue which had occupied a small building since 1931. While they did change the name, they kept the feel of the building, which is old school, no frills barbecue. Take a look.