Barbecue Bros Wrapped 2025

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Monk: 2025 was a year of slowing down. That’s not to say that we aren’t still here (we very much are) but the content is a little less frequent due to life and other hobbies/commitments. I will say that I have been invigorated lately by some really great barbecue and have some tentative plans for 2026 that will be revealed in the coming months.

2025 by the numbers:

7 reviews posted (+1 over 2024: Honeyfire Barbecue Co. in Nashville, Shotgun Willie’s in Nashville, Dampf Good BBQ in Cary, NC, Owens and Hull in Smyrna, GA, City Limits Barbeque in West Columbia, SC, Slow Bone BBQ in Dallas, Real Q in Winston-Salem, NC

8 features posted (-2 over 2024) (link)

5 states visited (-1 over 2024): North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Texas

0 book club reviews (-4 over 2024) (link)

0 new or updated best of lists posted (-2 over 2024)

1 barbecue festivals attended (-1 over 2024): Carolina BBQ Festival Fall Pig Pick’n

1 whole hog cooked (+1 over 2024)

4.3 hogs: average review rating in 2025

1 five-hog review in 2025 (+0 over 2024): the twice James Beard-nominated City Limits Barbeque in West Columbia, SC which Monk visited in June

City Limits Barbeque has my favorite bite of the year

Here are some of our favorite posts from the year:

Starting with a couple of whole hog posts from the fall:

Seven Things I’m Going to Do Differently when I Smoke My Second Whole Hog This Fall
What I Did (or Didn’t Do) Differently For Whole Hog #2

My favorite barbecue bites from the mid-point of the year; the full list from 2025 will be forthcoming

My 5 favorite barbecue bites in 2025 so far

A recap of a 2013 episode of “The Mind of a Chef” where Sean Brock and Rodney Scott threw a low country pig picking:

Back in 2013, Rodney Scott and Sean Brock Threw an Epic Lowcountry Barbecue

I went to the Masters in April, which did not disappoint; the barbecue sandwich, on the other hand…

So you’ve made it to the Masters; should you get the barbecue sandwich?

Speedy got a Traeger:

A Traeger feels like cheating but Speedy doesn’t care

My barbecue resolutions for 2025; a follow-up on this to come in January with my 2026 resolutions

What are your Barbecue New Year’s Resolutions for 2025?

Happy New Year! See you in 2026!

At Real Q, Lexington-style Barbecue is on the Menu

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Name: Real Q
Date: 11/28/25
Address: 4885 Country Club Rd, Winston-Salem, NC 27104
Order: Chopped plate with fries, BBQ slaw, and hush puppies; Cheerwine (link to menu)
Pricing: $

Monk: In April 1991, Richard Berrier and two business partners opened the original Little Richard’s BBQ on Country Club Road in Winston-Salem. Twenty-seven years, a couple of business partnership splits, and several restaurant spinoffs later, it changed its name in to “Real Q” in January of 2018 to distinguish itself from the other Little Richard’s in the the area (now Winston-Salem, Clemmons, Yadkinville, Walkertown and Mount Airy). Fortuitously, Berrier is also known as “Q” in the industry, so the name works on a couple of levels.

The Country Club location of Little Richard’s is the one that Speedy visited 5 years before the name change in 2013 and enjoyed quite a bit, rating it 4 hogs. On that visit, he loved the BBQ slaw and hush puppies while enjoying the pork itself a little less, noting that he would have liked more smoke. I had never visited that, or any other, Little Richard’s so this past Thanksgiving in the Triad it was time to check it out the restaurant formerly known as Little Richard’s.

Real Q is a classic Lexington-style joint with Winston-Salem memorabilia lining the walls

Being less than 25 or so miles from Lexington, NC, it’s no surprise that Real Q would take on the shape of a classic Lexington-style barbecue joint. Meaning smokestacks in the back, no frills dining, and red slaw and hush puppies on the menu.

What may be more surprising is the quality and depth of Winston-Salem memorabilia that lines nearly every available wall space. Home to Texas Pete and RJR (formerly the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company founded in 1875), the walls reflect that Winston-Salem heritage in addition to a few, unrelated cigarette and retro cola brands. Behold:

Decor aside, of course I was there for the barbecue. Lack of smoke, which Speedy observed on his 2013 visit, was not an issue for me. A mixture of the barbecue topped with the table dip and mixed with red slaw made for a perfect bite of barbecue.

On his visit, Speedy found the red slaw to be cold and perfectly tangy, offering a nice contrast to the pork and I would agree. The hush puppies were some of the best I’ve had in recent memory, and the youngest Monkette (who normally isn’t a hush puppy fan), agreed as well. She ended up finishing the rest of the basket.

At Real Q their motto is “if it ain’t over wood, it ain’t as good” and they have the wood pile out back to prove that they do just that. And its cue I would rank alongside some of the very best in the town of Lexington. Next time, I’ll be checking out Little Richard’s to see if they stack up well to Real Q.

For more on Real Q, check out a 2021 review from John Tanner’s BBQ Blog

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 5 hogs
Pork – 4.5 hogs
Sides – 4 hogs
Overall – 4.5 hogs

Order the smoked pork chop at Slow Bone BBQ

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Name: Slow Bone BBQ
Date: 9/9/25
Address: 2234 Irving Blvd, Dallas, TX 75207
Order: Quarter pound brisket, quarter pound sausage (jalapeno cheddar and black pepper), 1 bone smoked pork chop with collards and beans (link to menu)
Pricing: $$

Monk: This year, a lot of the places I’ve visited have been on last year’s Texas Monthly United States of Barbecue for best Texas-style places outside of the republic: Dampf Good BBQ, Shotgun Willie’s, Owens & Hull, City Limits Barbeque.

The latest version of Texas Monthly Top 50, the list released every four years for joints within the state, was released earlier this year. I don’t make it to Texas a ton but a work trip brought me to the Dallas area and after a quick scan of places that were open on a Sunday and made the top 50, I headed off to Slow Bone.

The smoked Berkshire pork chop headlines the proteins I tried that day

The Sunday/Monday special is a smoked Berkshire pork chop that takes 3 weeks to prep, from the initial seasoning to sitting uncovered in the walk-in cooler where it cures for two weeks before a light smoking and vacuum sealing for another week.

Then, on the day its being served it is crisped in the oven and then cooked on a flat top once its ordered. That might seem unnecessary to us lay folks, but the results seem to bear out the complex process. It was by far my favorite protein that day, juicy and full of flavor with a kick on the back end. It made me happy that circumstances put me there on a Sunday. Just look at this beauty:

Being solo, I opted to just try a quarter pound of the brisket and sausage in addition to the pork chop. I got each of the two varieties of sausage with the jalapeno cheddar and the black pepper. Both packed a nice kick, and made me wish I had gone ahead and ordered another Lone Star with my meal.

I don’t normally mention brisket last, especially at a Texas joint, but that’s not a knock on the brisket itself and more just a reflection on the quality and depth of the meats I tried at Slow Bone. This was a good, solid Texas brisket.

As for sides and accoutrement, each tray came with a savory hush puppy and a piece of honey cornbread. A nice combo of salty and sweet between the two. I have been on record for the 13+ years of this blog of loving a sweeter cornbread and this was S-tier. The collards and beans were solid but unspectacular compared with the rest of the platter.

Conclusion

Chef Jeffrey Hobbs and his team are doing great things at Slow Bone and based off my one visit their status on the Texas Monthly Top 50 is well deserved. The smoke Berkshire pork chop is in contention for my favorite barbecue bite of the year. Texas certainly does not lack for quality barbecue joints, but you can certainly do worse in the DFW.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 4 hogs
Pork Chop – 5 hogs
Brisket – 4 hogs
Sausage – 4 hogs
Sides – 4 hogs
Overall – 4.5 hogs

Jon G’s and Town Brewing collaborated for one of this year’s easiest drinking beers

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Are you sick of IPAs like I am? While I have been no stranger to the craft beer progression of IPAs then stouts then sours and now lagers and pilsners, I now seem opt for Mexican lagers most days. If you are anything like me, then Town Brewing in Charlotte has collaborated with Jon G’s Barbecue for an easy drinking beer that thus far has had two drops this year in collaboration with a Jon G’s food truck visit. Behold:

This beer is a Carolina Gold Lager brewed in Collaboration with Jon G’s and comes in at a very session-able 4.9%, which means you can knock back a few without worrying about a bad hangover the next day. And it comes in a very handsome label with the Jon G’s branding I happen to love.

Whether you’re watching football, having a few driveway beers, eating something smoked, or smoking a pig (as you may be aware I did last month), this is a fitting beer for any of those occasions. So far, they have timed the beer drops with the food truck appearances at the brewery but there may still be some six-packs available.