Monk: Our thoughts are with the Wooden Robot Brewery family in Charlotte as news of co-owner Dan Wade’s passing spread Tuesday afternoon. Wade passed away due to an accident at the brewery.
Name: Bubba’s Barbecue Date: 1/5/23 Address: 4400 Sunset Rd, Charlotte, NC 28216 Order: Chopped pork plate with slaw, green beans, hush puppies, and sweet tea (link to menu) Pricing: $$
Monk: Remembering that Bubba’s Barbecue quietly reopened late last year (with an event quieter reopening in the summer), I recently made my way there for lunch on a weekday. This would be my first meal there in 9 years at the 37 year old restaurant.
After placing my order, I was greeted by a light lunch crowd of 3 other tables between the two large dining rooms. Before I could sit down from getting my drink, my food was brought out and placed on the yellow checked table cloth. While Bubba’s had these same table cloths the last time I visited in 2013, I always think of the recently departed Spoon’s Barbecue, which they of course share a lineage with.
Speaking of which, a quick detour for some Charlotte barbecue history. A barbecue restaurant first opened in 1963 as “Jackson and Spoon’s Barbecue” (later just “Spoon’s Barbecue”) on South Boulevard. In 1987, owner Ralph “Bubba” Miller purchased the restaurant and the original recipes. He later renamed the restaurant to “Bubba’s Barbecue” and a few years later moved it to it’s current location on Sunset Road, where it has been serving Eastern North Carolina-style barbecue since 1994. The Spoon family, meanwhile, opened “Bill Spoon’s Barbecue” on South Boulevard in the previous location for Bubba’s until they closed in fall 2020.
The pork was unfortunately just slightly above average. The texture was a bit stringy and it lacked any noticeable smoke. The branded table vinegar sauce did help, as did the addition of their slaw. This unique mustard-based slaw was another similarity between Bubba’s and Spoon’s.
The hush puppies were fresh but the green beans tasted out of a can.
While Bubba’s Barbecue will not become my go-to lunch barbecue spot, with most classic barbecue restaurants seem to be closing these days, it’s great to have one reopen. Give Bubba’s a try if you are in north Charlotte.
Sweet Lew’s Barbeque has started doing whole hog on Sundays as of this past Sunday, making it the only whole hog available in Charlotte smoked the old way.
The recently shuttered Bill Spoon’s cooked the whole hog but switched to gas smokers some years back. Here’s hoping whole hog Sundays catches on with Charlotte customers and Lewis Donald can continue to smoke whole hogs weekly (and maybe more frequently if its popular enough).
The price is $16/lb or $13 for a plate with two sides. This puts it just above Midwood Smokehouse ($13) and Jon G’s ($14) but below Noble Smoke ($18). Not bad, considering those are smoked pork shoulders compared with whole hog.
It certainly looks like Sweet Lew’s has been running through some wood, so hopefully I can pick up some whole hog next week for football.
The Charlotte Observer’s Theoden James has the full story, and notes that the closing wasn’t because of the pandemic. Steve Spoon, Jr.: “There is no other source of income for mom-and-pop places. There’s no financial backing, there’s no partners, there’s no corporate money to be funded in when you are short. The customers are their only source of revenue, so if they don’t come, (they) have no safety net. You have to support ’em.”
Bargarita is not looking too promising
Bargarita in Noda. Although the interior admirably attempts to mimic an authentic Mexican restaurant, the tacos and burritos are mushy and flavorless. I nearly cracked a tooth on a 1” bone found in my burrito, and then found ANOTHER bone in my taco. pic.twitter.com/EwZQlggmej
Barbecue historian Jim Auchmutey was a consultant on Netflix’s “American Barbecue Showdown,” which filmed outside of Atlanta last year but was just released on Netflix
Jim Auchmutey writes a nice article on the @netflix American BBQ Showdown…worth the read if you aren't up to speed on this show. https://t.co/FVI2cP2wau
Rasheed Philips of Philips Barbeque Co appeared on “American Barbecue Showdown” and now has his own podcast
Robert Moss has updated his website ahead of the re-release of “Barbecue: The History of An American Institution, Revised and Expanded”
Finally got the newly-rebranded and restyled website up and live this week. Still shaking out a few CSS kinks, but I'm pretty happy with how it's shaping up. pic.twitter.com/0YAbXsL7qO
In LA and looking for barbecue? Kevin’s BBQ Joints has you covered
UPDATED: There are over 2 dozen BBQ spots in and around Los Angeles hungry(I know) for your business this week. To support them and get your BBQ fix check back often as I have been updating this weekly list since the world changed earlier this year.https://t.co/tgW6CkDiUp
Monk: When I moved to Charlotte in 2005, I was surprised at the lack of barbecue options in town. Though had I been paying attention then as I do now, it shouldn’t have been too much of a surprise. Mac’s Speed Shop was a fun option for awhile but eventually fell off a cliff after it jettisoned its original barbecue partner and began to expand too quickly. It wasn’t a few years living in Charlotte until I finally checked out Bill Spoon’s Barbecue on South Boulevard, and while the style of barbecue seemed out of place (eastern NC whole hog in the Piedmont?) it was clear to me that it was Charlotte’s classic barbecue joint.
Unfortunately, as of close of business today after 57 years in business, that will no longer be the case. It was announced on Facebook Monday by current owner Steve Spoon, who in 2006 bought it from his grandfather Bill and began operating the barbecue joint in much the same way he had since he opened it in 1963 (albeit in a different location than their current one on South Boulevard). Screw you 2020, and screw you COVID-19.
Kathleen Purvis summed it up perfectly with this poignant quote that doubles as a warning for us lovers of other classic joints: “If all the hard lessons of 2020’s season of terrible teaches us anything, it’s that: Those places don’t last, can’t last, if we don’t make sure of it.“
The tang of vinegar-based barbecue sauce. The yellow and mustardy coleslaw. The disposable plastic plates. The family feel of the place. We'll miss it all when Bill Spoon's closes for good this Wednesday.https://t.co/KHp95SL2FS
Charlotte Magazine’s Greg Lacour also pitched in, noting that the restaurant was struggling before COVID and had been operating in takeout only mode for the past few months
Sadly, its taken the restaurant closing for Charlotte to show up again
Native News
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
Bear’s Smokehouse BBQ is a small Connecticut chain that will open a Kansas City-style barbecue restaurant in Asheville’s South Slope
Non-Native News
Rodney Scott’s BBQ in Charleston has been getting a big bump from “Chef’s Table: BBQ”
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