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Linkdown: 9/20/23 – The Two-Meat Plate Edition

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Monk: Robert Moss dropped his annual top barbecue joint list for Southern Living, and of the 50, eight were North Carolina barbecue joints while another nine were from South Carolina. The North Carolina joints were:

  • Prime Barbecue, Knightdale
  • Barbecue Center, Lexington
  • Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge
  • Sam Jones BBQ, Winterville
  • Stamey’s Barbecue, Greensboro
  • Grady’s Barbecue, Dudley
  • Lexington Barbecue, Lexington
  • Skylight Inn, Ayden

Even with some decent representation from the Carolinas, there were a few I felt could’ve made the list based on what Robert Moss had written previously; Jon G’s Barbecue and Lawrence Barbecue in particular.

A Texas barbecue joint made the #1 spot on the list, and while I won’t spoil just who it was just know it is a very familiar joint to most. You just know that Texas Monthly Barbecue Editor Daniel Vaughn would have to gloat:

Have you read the list yet? Who else should have made it, be it from North Carolina or elsewhere?

Native News

Mike D’s BBQ Smokehouse & Retail in Durham is one of Eater Carolinas’ hottest restaurants in September

Meet Sweet Lew next Monday through Unpretentious Palate

Robert Moss stopped by Prime Barbecue recently for some lechon whole hog

Do you know the difference between western and eastern NC barbecue?

Non-Native News

J.C. Reid on the two-meat plate

John Tanner has some thoughts on the recent Southern Living Top 50 List

Congrats to Lewis Barbecue Greenville on 1 year open

The origin story of Fox Brothers Barbecue, who recently celebrated 22 years

Linkdown: 8/16/23 – The Runaway Longhorn Bull Edition

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Monk: As a result of some severe storms in the Charlotte area last week, a 900 pound longhorn bull got loose in west Charlotte and ran free for 4 days.

It would re-emerge once a day or so but no one was ever able to pin it down. It quickly soared to the top of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg PD’s most wanted (animals) list.

it wasn’t until the fourth day that the bull was found and euthanized by a hunter hired by the owner. No word on whether any barbecue was able to be made as a result.

Rest in Power, Runaway West Charlotte Longhorn Bull of 2023.

Native News

Midwood Smokehouse is the only barbecue restaurant in the CharlotteFive’s Reader’s Choice Poll for tacos

NC-based Cheerwine is now available at 4 Rivers Smokehouse restaurants across Florida

Speedy’s is back from vacation

Have you tried livermush before? This NC delicacy is not barbecue but is made from pig: “they ground pig’s liver and head meat and mixed it with cornmeal, salt, pepper, and sage to form something akin to a caseless sausage”

Non-Native News

The Smoke Sheet is now a paid newsletter, so consider subscribing for continued high quality barbecue content

John Tanner checks out Big Bad W Pit BBQ in Stafford, VA

Plus, is ZZQ the best brisket east of Texas?

POV: How to navigate City Limits Q’s queue (or is it que?)

Dispatch from an epic taco road trip from the Tales from the Pits guys

Tacos for the Cause this week at Fox Bros Bar-B-Q

J.C. Reid’s latest column is on beef brands

This year’s Pig Island NYC is September 9

ICYMI, this week’s episode of “BBQ USA” featured the Jeff Michner benefit at Pig Beach

Linkdown: 2/1/23 – The Barbecue in a Bowl Edition

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Monk: The second annual Carolina BBQ Festival is once again bringing some of the best and brightest pitmasters to the Queen City in early May. Lewis Donald has invited many of the same pitmasters from last year’s festival and added a few new faces: Jake Wood of Lawrence Barbecue, Keith Henning of Black Powder Smokehouse, Michael Letchworth of Sam Jones BBQ, and Tank Jackson of Holy City Hog.

The full list of pitmasters and chefs:

Tickets go on sale on Friday, February 10th. More information here.

Native News

Backyard BBQ Pit has received nearly $50,000 from its GoFundMe campaign and even got new kitchen appliances donated by an angel donor; now they are paying it forward to other local small businesses

It’s Brunswick stew season

In sad news, Clyde Cooper’s daughter Joyce recently passed but the occasion brought together is grandchildren and great grandchildren

Sweet’s Turkey BBQ is a Greensboro food truck serving chopped turkey barbecue, a healthier alternative to pork and beef

Midwood Smokehouse‘s Raleigh location has gotten their Oyler

Non-Native News

The James Beard semi-finalists were announced last week and pitmasters from Moo’s Craft Barbecue in LA, Heirloom Market BBQ in Atlanta, Tropical Smokehouse in West Palm Beach, Distant Relatives and KG BBQ in Austin, Goldee’s in Fort Worth, Curry Boys BBQ in San Antonio, Gatlin’s BBQ in Houston, and Burnt Bean in Seguin make the list

Charleston’s Swig & Swine BBQ is expanding to Myrtle Beach

Adrian Miller’s field guide to US barbecue

Bill Murray recently enjoyed a beef rib at Heritage Barbecue

30 pitmasters will be in Greenville, SC for Southern Roots: A BBQ Reunion on April 15

Episode 3 of Peacock’s “Poker Face” is brisket-focused and actually gets the specifics mostly right

Linkdown: 10/12/22 – The “Noted North Carolinian, Texas Pete” Edition

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Monk: Fascinating story first brought to our attention by the excellent NC Rabbit Hole newsletter by Jeremy Markovich. And relevant because Texas Pete has a long history with NC barbecue: “[The history section on the Texas Pete website] goes on to say that basically, during the depression, the Garner family wanted some spicier sauce to serve at their barbecue stand. The sauce outlived the stand.”

Also fascinating: Jeremy first brought this to our attention (culling information from a publicly available lawsuit, but still) but has since been aggregated out of credit. He breaks it down in the following Twitter thread.

The story has since been picked up by The Huffington Post, USA Today, Business Insider/Food Insider, and the Nexstar-owned news stations like High Point’s Fox 8.

In any case, I urge you to support Jeremy and NC Rabbit Hole for not only this but lots of other fascinating, NC-focused stories.

Native News

The last bit on Texas Pete (for now), an Our State Magazine story on its history from 2017

Mac’s Speed Shop’s latest location in Concord will also feature live music

A short video on Cook Out from Food Insider

The Barbecue Festival is coming up on October 22

Non-Native News

John Mueller’s barbecue joint at the Granary didn’t come to fruition before he passed, but his friend Jeff Ancira is keeping his memory alive with BBQ at the Granary

Heirloom Market is still found on Eater Atlanta’s 38 Essential Restaurants lis

The Houston Chronicle Top 100 List features several barbecue restaurants, including Brett’s BBQ Shop

Voting Ends later today in this poll from City Limits Barbeque