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Charlotte’s Got a Lot (of Barbecue Styles)

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“Charlotte is not really in either part of North Carolina, it’s a city of newcomers and we have other people’s barbecue.“

Monk: When I think of Charlotte barbecue, more often than not I tend to have the above quote in my head from Tom Hanchett, the former historian at Charlotte’s Levine Museum of the New South. Charlotte’s barbecue scene has grown steadily in the twelve years since Barbecue Bros started but that growth has not typically been because of restaurants that are serving strictly traditional North Carolina barbecue.

In the spirit of the official slogan of Charlotte’s Regional Visitor’s Authority (“Charlotte’s Got a Lot”), here are the styles of other people’s barbecue you can find in the Queen City.

Texas Barbecue: Jon G’s Barbecue

Jon G’s Barbecue still remains the best barbecue available in Charlotte, and Texas Monthly Barbecue Editor Daniel Vaughn thinks its even one of the top 10 Texas barbecue joints in the country (outside of Texas). I have always found Garren and Kelly Kirkman’s barbecue joint to be remarkably consistent, whether I’m at one of their weekly food truck services around the greater Charlotte area or at the restaurant in Peachland, where they’ve turned Barbecue Saturdays at their restaurant into a destination-worthy event for travelers from all across the southeast and even United States. 116 Glenn Falls St, Peachland, NC 28133 jongsbarbecue.com

Tex-Mex Barbecue: Union Barbecue

Earlier this year, Chefs Holden Sasser and Chase Young burst onto the Charlotte barbecue scene with “new school barbecue” and “Mexican flavors” in the form of their Union Barbecue food truck. Sasser is actually a Charlotte native who recently relocated back from San Francisco, where he worked in food technology and did barbecue pop-ups in his free time. Meats range from beef cheek barbacoa to pork carnitas to brisket (all served with house made tortillas) and they’ve got some seriously awesome, inventive sides. unionbarbecue.com

Midlands South Carolina Barbecue: Sweet Lew’s BBQ

In late 2023 Sweet Lew’s BBQ celebrated 5 years open, a nice milestone for the ever-changing Belmont neighborhood restaurant. One thing that’s been on the menu for a few years now is the Midlands, South Carolina specialty hash and rice (or barbecue hash or, simply, hash). There’s a lot to like about the other meats on the menu, but definitely don’t sleep on the hash. 923 Belmont Ave, Charlotte, NC 28205 sweetlewsbbq.com

Kansas City Barbecue: Midwood Smokehouse

While Midwood Smokehouse is more of what barbecue author John Shelton Reed calls an “international house of barbecue” with multiple styles on their menu, they were one of the first restaurants in Charlotte to offer burnt ends smoked out of their Oyler smoker when they opened in 2011. Multiple locations midwoodsmokehouse.com

Lexington Barbecue: Resident Culture Brewing

Another recent entrant to the Charlotte barbecue scene is Resident Culture Brewing, who last year brought on Chef Edmar Simoes (previously of Noble Smoke and Saucemans) to start their barbecue program out of the South End location of the brewery in late 2023. Simoes is actually Brazilian-born but has taken to American barbecue (as evidenced by his Instagram handle “american_bbq”) and learned the ways of Lexington-style barbecue from his time at Noble Smoke. Throw some barbecue slaw and some vinegar sauce onto a bit of barbecue, and you might as well be 60 minutes north on I-85. 332 W Bland St. Suite C Charlotte, NC 28203 residentculturebrewing.com

A Day in the Life of Barbs B Q, One of Texas’ Best BBQ Restaurants

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Monk: Chuck Charnicart is a veteran of current Texas Monthly #1 Goldee’s Barbecue who struck out on her own in 2023 to start Barbs B Q in Lockhart. Within a year, Barbs had been named a James Beard semifinalist for Best New Restaurant, named a best new restaurant by Food & Wine, and named one of Eater’s Best New Restaurants.

In the below video from the Smoke Point video series from Eater, they shadow Chuck as she goes through a typical day opening Barbs. Just another day in the life of one of the best new barbecue restaurants in Texas.

Description: 25-year-old Chuck Charnichart’s restaurant Barbs B Q in Lockhart, Texas, earned a James Beard nomination and Eater Best New Restaurant award within a year of opening in 2023. At the Barbs counter, customers can have their pick of pork ribs, turkey, fajita sausage, pork stew — and even choco pudding for dessert — as well as its famous brisket, coated in Mexican spices and smoked for over 12 hours.

Following Goldee’s Barbecue as they Prep for Service

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Monk: Goldee’s Barbecue skyrocketed to the top of every barbecue pilgrim’s list when it was named Texas Monthly’s Top Barbecue Joint in 2021. In the below video, Eater’s Smoke Point series follows the prep routine over a Thursday and Friday of the three friends who are owners and pitmasters at Goldee’s, Jalen Heard, Johnny White, and Lane Milne, as well as their newest venture Ribee’s.

Of note for me was the fact that they bake all of the bread they serve, whether its the sliced bread or the rolls for the sandwiches. That kind of attention to detail is why they earned the coveted top spot from Texas Monthly.

Description: Customers line up as early as 6 a.m. to get Goldee’s award-winning barbecue. Since winning the No. 1 spot of the “Texas Monthly” list of best barbecue joints, the Fort Worth restaurant increased its output from 12 to 150 briskets per week to feed crowds of customers who visit from across the country. At the counter, you’ll find the classics, including brisket, ribs, turkey, and sausage that can be ordered with hot honey, sweet, or with their signature sauce.

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

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Name: Matt’s BBQ
Date: 9/13/24
Address: 4233 N Mississippi Ave, Portland, OR 97217
Order: Two pounds brisket, two pounds of pork spare ribs, 2 jalapeno cheddar sausages, 2 original sausages, mac and cheese, slices of Dos Hermanos potato bread (link)
Pricing: $$

Monk: It’s that time of the year again: the annual gathering of our group of friends who graduated from High Point Central High School (this year was the 18th iteration). And with that gathering, for better or for worse there is usually barbecue. To wit, last year us Barbecue Bros forced the rest of the HPC Bros to check out Wilson County Barbecue in Portland, Maine, which was a great representation of NC whole hog.

This year, we found ourselves in the Portland located on the other coast, and after consulting Daniel Vaughn’s recent Top 50 Texas Joints Outside of Texas list after a morning hike at Wahkeena Falls, we pointed our GPS towards Matt’s BBQ and made our way towards the food truck park off N. Mississippi Avenue.

Little did we know that our lunch at Matt’s would lead to the biggest disagreement on rating to date for the Barbecue Bros. Will we survive? Ok, that’s probably overstating our disagreement on ratings but read and find out…

Speedy: Let’s start with the atmosphere. Matt’s BBQ is situated in the middle of a food truck park, with lots of picnic tables, other food trucks, and most importantly, a beer truck. I thought this was a super cool area, especially with the perfect weather we had. Certainly a cool spot to hang out, have some food, and get your grub on.

Rudy: I thought the brisket was really well done, especially for being that far away from Texas. There was plenty of fat (well rendered) that kept it from drying out. It was easy to pull apart (good for sharing) but was not a bunch of mush. The best bites were at the ends, which led to Speedy’s upcoming complaint about consistency of seasoning.

Speedy: The ribs were quite big and meaty, and cooked well, but unfortunately I thought they were inconsistently seasoned, which I also thought was true of this brisket. While there were certainly some good bites, I want to taste the salt and pepper seasoning in every bite, with full permeation of the seasoning throughout the meat. So, good quality meat cooked well, but could have been better seasoned and probably could have gotten a little more smoke on the meat.

Monk: Personally, I found no issues or inconsistencies with the brisket or ribs being under seasoned, so I was on the more positive end of the spectrum. I was on the other end of the table for our group of 8 and there was nothing but positive vibes there. And if I am recalling correctly, we finished everything on the two platters. That may be on account of my precise ordering abilities, though…

We ordered two of each of the sausages, of course accommodating Speedy’s lack of tolerance for dairy. Both beef sausages came pre-sliced which made it nice for our group but made it hard to gauge the snap in the sausage. Regardless, I felt like it was a well executed beef sausage on both fronts.

Rudy: I loved the jalapeno cheddar sausage and thought there was a good amount of spice (but not overwhelming) and plenty of creaminess from the cheddar. I thought the heat from the jalapenos did not overwhelm the flavor of the sausage but complimented it. 

The sides were also tasty and there was a big variety of options to order. However, my favorite thing of the entire experience was the pickled onions. If I had told you going into a barbecue restaurant that the best thing you’d eat would be the pickled onions, that would pretty much be a huge insult to the meat but that was not the case with Matt’s. The flavor and crunch that they added to each bite (and also by themselves) was great. The acidity of them really cut through the savory fat of the meat and added to the experience.

Speedy: Personally, I went into Matt’s with super high expectations, as I’ve been to several of the joints on the top 50 list referenced above, and left all full and happy. So while I thought the barbecue was good (and would visit Matt’s again), I was not blown away, which is my expectation for the top 50. That may not be fair, as Portland is not exactly known for barbecue, and sans list (and expectations), I would have probably been pretty happy. That said, Monk, Rudy and the other guys really enjoyed it, so I’m open to the possibility that my taste buds were just a little off that day. Hopefully, I’ll find myself in Portland again to give Matt’s another try. 

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 4.5 hogs
Brisket – 3.5 hogs
Ribs – 4 hogs
Sausage – 4 hogs
Sides – 3.5 hogs
Overall – 4 hogs