Should YOU Eat at Disney World’s BRAND NEW Restaurant?

Monk: Disney Food Blog was a great resource for the Monk family on our recent Disney trip, and they’ve checked out and reviewed the newest barbecue restaurant at the park: the Toy Story-themed Roundup Rodeo BBQ at Hollywood Studios. Its a full service restaurant, which means reservations are required and prices are $45 for adults and $25 for kids 3-9.

In short, they were not impressed by the level of barbecue compared with quick-service options in other parks but found that it might be a good option for a group with a wide variety of food preferences. It also doesn’t have characters stopping by tables, but that could be a good or bad thing depending on your perspective.

Based on this, if I do make it to Disney anytime soon I will likely go to The Polite Pig in Disney Springs versus breaking the bank for what sounds like mediocre barbecue at Roundup Rodeo BBQ.

Description: The moment is finally HERE. IS Roundup Rodeo BBQ worth all the hype it’s been receiving leading up to its BIG opening… or have the years of anticipation ended in a fizzle?

Linkdown: 3/29/23 – The Top Piedmont Barbecue Restaurants Edition

Featured

Monk: With the recent closures of Richard’s Bar-B-Que in Salisbury and Rick’s Smokehouse as well as Smiley’s BBQ in Lexington, John Tanner shares his updated list of top 10 Piedmont barbecue restaurants.

Off the top, I haven’t tried Dickie Do’s in Haw River or Real Q in Winston-Salem (though I should remedy that), so can’t comment on those. But the rest of the joints on the list I have no qualms with, though while I enjoyed both I was surprised that he liked Clark’s Barbecue in Kernersville and College Barbecue in Salisbury so much.

The qualm that I do have is the lack of inclusion of The Barbecue Center in Lexington, though John acknowledges he may be in the minority here and links to his story for reference on his experience and thinking. Regardless, John Tanner is a well-trusted source on barbecue and NC barbecue in particular, so head on over and check out his list.

Native News

The land where BBQ King in Charlotte sits is up for sale for $4.2M

The latest Jon G’s pop-up is today at Vaulted Oak Brewing

Lewis Donald of Sweet Lew’s BBQ is one of the pitmasters at the Pinehurst Barbecue Festival

Leroy’s Taco Shop, the taco concept from Jake Wood of Lawrence Barbecue, opened this past weekend

Non-Native News

Houston’s best barbecue restaurants near NRG Stadium for Final Four attendees this weekend

Two big barbecue festivals this weekend: the Houston BBQ Festival and Hogs for the Cause in New Orleans

The history behind Hogs for the Cause, which turns 15 this year

Hurtado Barbecue is bringing brisket birria tacos to Texas Rangers stadium

News you can use: don’t serve a pork butt sitting out accidentally for 12 hours

Robert Sietsema enjoyed Boots and Bones in Jersey City, which features the first pitmaster from Blue Smoke

Buc-ee’s gets a fossil named after it

Keep on Riding Up or Down Past Boulevard Barbeque

Name: Boulevard Barbeque
Date: 3/10/23
Address: 810 S College St, Morganton, NC 28655
Order: Two meat combo platter with pork, brisket, red slaw, jalapeno cheese grits, and hush puppies (link)
Pricing: $$

Monk: Boulevard Barbeque is a restaurant in Morganton, which sits at the entrance to the Blue Ridge mountains in Burke County, NC. Mountain barbecue can be hit or miss in North Carolina, with places such as Buxton Hall Barbecue and , Hubba Hubba Smokehouse being on the great end of the spectrum. Boulevard, as it turns out, sits on the exact other end of that spectrum.

I went with the two meat platter of chopped pork and sliced brisket, which looked appetizing enough when placed on the table. However, looks were deceiving in this case as the pork was dry and mediocre despite having some decent bits of bark chopped in. It had a vaguely smokey taste to it, and Boulevard has a rack of wood outside its front entrance. But I suspect this is a wood-assisted gasser situation as this tray of pork was sorely in need of some sauce.

Keeping with the theme, the sliced brisket looked the part sliced about a half inch thick with a decent crust, but upon tasting it was dry slices from the flat of the brisket.

They give you a literal mountain of hush puppies almost certainly from frozen, though they were good enough in the moment. Alongside it I got a passable red slaw slaw and average jalapeno cheese grits.

In addition to the food, the restaurant itself was in need of a good scrub, as noticeable buildup of dust precariously sat above our heads in the (thankfully) turned off ceiling fans. The bathrooms were in even worse condition. There are far better options for barbecue in the mountains than Boulevard Barbeque so I’d recommend you keep on driving on I-40 in whichever direction you were already headed

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 2 hogs
Pork – 2.5 hogs
Brisket – 2.5 hogs
Sides – 2.5 hogs
Overall – 2.5 hogs

How an Argentine Pitmaster Roasts Whole Pigs in the Middle of the Woods

Monk: Eater’s latest in the Smoke Point series follows an Argentine pitmaster who hosts a whole-hog popup in the Catskills of New York.

Description: Norberto Piattoni is the co-founder and chef operating the pop-up the Modestos in the Catskills of New York, where he roasts whole pigs over an open fire. Watch as he cuts open the pig, finds wood for the spit, builds the spit, and roasts the pig.