Big Tiny’s BBQ

Charlotte Barbecue News from the First Quarter of 2023

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Monk: Most of the first quarter of 2023 was on the quieter side in the land of Charlotte barbecue. It was not until the end of March where a new restaurant was announced (the promising-looking Firehawk Brewpub in Mount Holly) or a restaurant announced closure (the land around BBQ King off Wilkinson Boulevard was put up for sale for $4.2M). Will that be a sign of things picking up – hopefully more on the positive side of things? I’ll be keeping my eye out over the next few months.

January

1/9 – Gastonia’s Ray Nathan‘s celebrated their 4 year anniversary in early January

1/27 – The stacked pitmaster lineup for the second Carolina BBQ festival from Lewis Donald of Sweet Lew’s BBQ is announced

February

2/8 – Actor Eric Wareheim recently filmed at Jon G’s Barbecue for an upcoming project; Jake Wood of Lawrence Barbecue was also in the house

2/25 – Robert Moss reports that the chopped pork trailer that sometimes resides outside Jon G’s Barbecue is “absolutely splendid”


2/28 – Big Tiny’s BBQ in Mooresville gets the Only in NC treatment

March

3/7 – Midwood Smokehouse is doing their spin on birria tacos with pork

3/14 – Noble Smoke‘s Optimist Hall location celebrated one year open in March

3/16 – Firehawk Brewpub, a brewpub with a True ‘Cue barbecue joint attached, is announced to be coming to Mount Holly in early April

3/18 – Fumar comes back from an extended hiatus

3/21 – The land where BBQ King in Charlotte sits is up for sale for $4.2M

Charlotte-area Thanksgiving Specials

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Monk: This Thanksgiving, consider leaving the cooking to the professionals at these Charlotte-area barbecue joints. You also get the added benefit of supporting a local business while you take it easy because let’s face it, we should all take it easy when we can. See below for information.

Big Tiny’s BBQ – Mooresville, NC

The Dixie Pig – Rock Hill, SC

Farmhouse BBQ – Gastonia, NC

The Improper Pig – Charlotte, Fort Mill

Jon G’s Barbecue – Peachland, NC

Mac’s Speed Shop

Midwood Smokehouse

Noble Smoke

OooWee BBQ – Pineville

The Q Shack

RayNathan’s – Gastonia, NC

Rock Store BBQ – Stallings

The Smoke Pit – Concord, Gastonia, Monroe, Salisbury

Sweet Lew’s BBQ – deadline has already passed

Charlotte Barbecue News from the Third Quarter of 2020

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Monk: The biggest news was of course the closing of Bill Spoon’s Barbecue in late September, which I wrote a little bit about in our 9/16 Linkdown. Afterwards, the news came out that it wasn’t only the pandemic that killed them off – it had been some time coming due to an aging customer base and Spoon’s inability to attract new, younger customers that may have wanted a more full service barbecue experience. Until the end, they thought of themselves as a “traditional barbecue house” which means they only accepted cash and didn’t serve beer or wine. And they were ok with that, even if that ultimately wasn’t what Charlotte wanted. Rest in peace, Bill Spoon’s Barbecue.

July

7/6 Sweet Lew’s BBQ announces adjusted hours of operation, now Wednesday through Sunday, removing Tuesday

7/24 Sweet Lew’s Barbecue introduces an updated menu with hash now on the menu full time and house made sausage that was helped develop with advice from Garren of Jon G’s Barbecue

7/25 Noble Smoke celebrated one year of being open with an all-day party

August

8/20 Bargarita, a “new restaurant serving margaritas and BBQ tacos” opens in the former Solstice Tavern location in NoDa. No word on where or how they smoke their brisket or pork for tacos.

8/28 The Annual Mallard Creek Barbecue, “The Grandaddy of North Carolina Barbecues,” was officially cancelled for the first time in 90 years

8/31 Big Tiny’s BBQ in Mooresville celebrated four years of being open; Pitmaster John also celebrated a birthday

September

9/1 Noble Smoke introduces Taco Tuesdays

9/8 Seoul Food Meat Co will open a second location in the Optimist Park neighborhood (not NoDa as noted in their post) as part of an adaptive-reuse project called Lintmen’s

9/16 Bill Spoon’s Barbecue closed after 57 years in business

9/20 Sweet Lew’s Barbeque begins smoking whole hogs on Sundays, the only Charlotte-area restaurant smoking whole hogs as far as I am aware of

9/28 We interviewed Garren and Kelly of Jon G’s Barbecue about what it’s like to open a barbecue restaurant in the middle of the pandemic

Linkdown: 9/2/20

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Native News

The 91st Annual Mallard Creek Barbecue, “the Grand Daddy of All NC Barbecues” that is typically held the fourth Thursday of October in Charlotte, is officially cancelled this year; organizers and politicians are naturally disappointed

Longleaf Swine has announced their new location; instead of their previously announced stall at Transfer Co Food Hall they will be in a free-standing building that formerly housed Oakwood Cafe

Congrats to Big Tiny’s BBQ in Mooresville, who celebrated their 4th anniversary earlier this week

Foodie Score visits the Gastonia location of The Smoke Pit (the local chain’s 4th store), and reports back full bellies

Rx Restaurant and Bar, a fine dining restaurant in Wilmington, has pivoted to whole hog barbecue during the pandemic

Circle B BBQ in Spindale is raising money for Operation BBQ Relief to cook meals for communities and first responders hit by storms and other natural disasters.

The #SummerofCue ends this Monday

Non-Native News

Pappy’s Smokehouse in St. Louis will open a second location this October

Thankfully, it appears the fire last weekend at Pecan Lodge didn’t cause major damage and they were actually able to open later that day

Pellet smokers are on the rise, according to J.C. Reid

“California wildfires are making wine grapes taste like barbecue,” reports The Takeout

Heim BBQ is offering socially distanced barbecue class this weekend

Eliana Gutierrez is Austin’s (and perhaps the nation’s) youngest female pitmaster, working at Valentina’s Tex Mex BBQ

“Chef’s Table: BBQ” explores the origins of barbecue and is now available on Netflix

Here’s a review from the Washington Post