Name: Black Powder Smokehouse
Address: 302 E. Main St., Jamestown, NC 27282
Order: Three meat plate (brisket, pork, and sausage) with mac and cheese and collards (link to menu)
Pricing: $$
Monk: A little over a year ago, Jamestown got a wood-fired barbecue joint of its own in Black Powder Smokehouse. Jamestown is the small town between the Barbecue Bros’ hometown of High Point and the larger city of Greensboro, and also where the Monks-in-Law (Monk In-Laws?) happen to live. Black Powder Smokehouse took over an old service station on Main Street and they’ve incorporated the service station details into their decor.
As is the case with a lot of new barbecue restaurants these days, it serves a little bit of everything but definitely has a Texas lean to it. While I wasn’t able to put my eyes on the smoker they use, I did visually confirm there was wood used in the smoking process. Now whether that was in a gas assisted or a full stick burner is to be confirmed at a later time. However, what they are putting out is pretty legit as evidenced by the above nice little platter shared by Mrs. Monk and me.
I forgot to ask for the pork chopped at the register so it came pulled instead. Not a big deal – and it was still smoky and had nice chunks of a peppery bark mixed in. Certainly not a NC-style pork (either region) but they of course do have a variety of sauces on the side to approximate it.
On this day, unfortunately the brisket was a bit overdone and also sliced a little too thin. This gave it a texture of roast beef but I will note that my mother-in-law stated that its been better on previous visits. Based on these brisket slices, I would definitely come back to give them another shot.
The jalapeno sausage had good taste and wasn’t too spicy. Not the standout of the meal, but solid. I’d love to come back and try the ribs. Both of our scratch-made sides of collards and mac and cheese passed muster.
Black Powder Smokehouse one-ups Sweet Old Bill’s in nearby High Point, which opened about a year before, in just about every way for best new-school barbecue. For barbecue in the greater High Point area, they are more than worth seeking out if you don’t want to make the trek to Stamey’s in Greensboro.
Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 4 hogs
Brisket – 3 hogs
Pork – 3.5 hogs
Sausage – 3 hogs
Sides – 3 hogs
Overall – 3.5 hogs
We moved here from Texas (our life long home) in 2014. Knowing my fondness for bar-b-q, a buddy of him from work suggested if I wanted to find Texas style bar-b-q, I should try your placed. So for my wive’s birthday last night (August 26) we placed a to-go order with you.
I ordered:
– 1 pound each of brisket, turkey, and sausage
– a 1/2 pound of pulled pork
– 3 desserts
I got to the restaurant and saw your carver pull a fresh brisket out and begin to carve it. The meat looked great so I had high expectations. I picked up the order (you were out of sausage) and drove home. I didn’t check the contents because I live 30 mins away.
When I got the order home and unpacked the bags, I saw the brisket and turkey were just the cut off ends. Not sliced, just the end chunks. That was very disappointing and not how I wanted to celebrate my wife’s birthday. certainly not what I expected.
I’m still new here so maybe that’s how restaurants in NC do things. Back home we cut the ends and fat off a brisket to grind it up for chopped beef sandwiches. We don’t serve brisket or turkey ends to customer; we serve the brisket and turkey in slices. Perhaps that’s how Black Powder serves indoor customers, who can see what you’re serving and only treat the take out customers like that. I have only the one experience to go by.
If someone asks me about Black Powder, I’ll tell them the pulled pork was good (it was) and the desserts were tasty. I will also say to go inside if they want to get brisket and turkey served in slides. Personally, I doubt that I’ll ever get food from “Black Powder” again. And, I doubt my comments will change how Black Powder operates but at least you have them.
Oh, and the email address on your web site doesn’t work either.