Chapel Hill

Linkdown: 3/2/22

/ Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

North Carolina has lost another classic barbecue joint; Smiley’s Lexington BBQ officially closed this past weekend as a result of the NC DOT widening of Winston Road. Restaurant owner Steve Yountz and his wife, Tena, have no official plans to relocate the restaurant as of now but are not ruling it out either, depending on how much money they get from the state. For now, they are going to take some time to evaluate their options.

The building housing Smiley’s has been a barbecue restaurant for over 70 years and according to Yountz, ““It’s the oldest pit-cooking restaurant in Lexington. We’re still using the original pits.” Before Yountz opened Smiley’s in 2002, it operated as Southern Barbecue from 1963 to 1998 and started as Dan’s in the 1950’s.

This NC DOT project, first announced in 2018 and not set to begin until July 2023, actually has two victims as Speedy’s Barbecue the next block over is also closing due to the road widening.

Native News

Through the Preserve the Pit fellowship, Ron Simmons of Master Blend Farms in Kenansville was able to add 56 acres to his family farm and add barbecue catering as a side gig

Big Belly Que in Chapel Hill is pivoting to Italian for the time being

Lechon Latin BBQ is a new-ish, Latin-focused barbecue restaurant at Raleigh’s Triangle Town Center

Noble Smoke’s second location at Optimist Hall opens this Sunday

Congrats to Garren and Kelly from Jon G’s, who 2 years ago on Sunday closed on the former Barbee’s Barbecue location, which they would open in June 2020 just a few months into the pandemic

Non-Native News

Texas barbecue James Beard semifinalists

Robert Sietsema’s latest barbecue guide for Eater NY

Juicy Lucia and Di Fara Pizzeria will be located in the former Corner House BBQ on Staten Island

Virgie’s is back

Lewis Barbecue is set to open their Greenville location this summer

Snow’s Barbecue by Robert Jacob Lerma for Huckberry

According to Dave Grohl, salt and pepper is all the rub you need for a great brisket

Aaron Franklin’s Hot Luck Festival is back and has added NC band Superchunk to its music lineup

Here’s a list of the chefs that will be at Hot Luck

Should we call this the Memphis Airport Barbecue Challenge?

Linkdown: 11/4/20

/ Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Featured

A trio of John Tanner Barbecue stories on NC barbecue joints – Rick’s Smokehouse, The Barbecue Center, and Midwood Smokehouse – including where I (Monk) was able to meet up with him in Charlotte. I enjoyed a meal with John – he got the pork combo platter and I got the brisket – on the patio at the Park Road location of Midwood Smokehouse a few weeks back on a warm October weekday. John certainly has his bona fides when it comes to barbecue – he is a certified True ‘Cue Inspector for the Virginia and DC Metro area and has an impressive archive of reviews over at John Tanner’s Barbecue Blog – and is an even nicer man to boot. I enjoyed our lunch conversation that ranged from barbecue to NASCAR to John Coltrane. Be sure to check out his blog and like his Facebook page.

Native News

Blues on Franklin gives Chapel Hill a new barbecue option owned by three generation of Tar Heels

QSR Magazine interviews Sam Jones ahead of his Raleigh restaurant opening later this year and some of the challenges faced due to COVID-19

Picnic is selling to-go coolers of barbecue or fried chicken

Non-Native News

Dozier’s BBQ is worth the drive, and in Houston that usually means a lot of driving

https://twitter.com/timothymalcolm/status/1321494231735742466

Interview with Evan LeRoy of LeRoy & Lewis from Austin 360

In Texas, Thanksgiving means barbecue (much like every other day)

In Texas, bakeries also sell barbecue cookies

Friday Find: “Too Much Pork for Just One Fork” by Southern Culture on the Skids

/ Barbecue Bros / 1 Comment

Southern Culture on the Skids (or “SCOTS” for short) are a band from Chapel Hill, NC who while I was in high school were best known (to me at least) for their live shows where at various points they would pass around a large aluminum pan of banana pudding (during their song “Banana Puddin'”, naturally) and buckets of fried chicken. This song appears on their 1994 album Ditch Diggin’ as well as the 2013 re-recording of the album called Dig This.

Lyrics:
I got too much pork for just one fork
Won’t you pass that apple pie
I got a-too much pork for just one fork
Oh won’t you pass that apple pie

I said hey mister rhythm, mister rhythm is king
He killed the pig with a tambourine
Everybody got happy, everybody got glad
Till the weather turned warm
And that pig went bad

I got too much pork for just one fork
Won’tcha pass that apple pie
I got too much pork for just one fork
Won’tcha pass that apple pie

Now don’t you worry
Everybody here’s gonna get paid
Ah don’t you worry
That’s what the boss man say
I gotta too much pork for just one fork
Too much pork

I said, hey mister rhythm, mister rhythm is king
He killed the pig with a tambourine
Everybody got happy, everybody got glad
Till the weather turned warm
And that pig went bad

I got too much pork for just one fork
Won’tcha pass that apple pie?
I got too much pork for just one fork
Won’tcha pass that apple pie
Hey don’t you worry
Everybody here’s gonna get paid
Yeah don’t you worry
Everybody here’s gonna get laid
I got too much pork for just one fork
Too much ham for just one jam
I got too much sow for just one bow
Hey babe I’m talkin’ pig oh honey can you dig
I got too much, too much, too much, too much
Too much pork
I got too much, too much, too much, too much
Too much pork

Linkdown: 7/10/19

/ Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Robert Moss drops rib knowledge in this well-researched article on the history of pork ribs

Chapel Hill’s TerraVita Food & Drink Festival will end this year but is going out with a bang in terms of barbecue; in addition to Sam Jones, [t]his year’s Hill Fire event will focus on North Carolina barbecue and bring together the state’s new generation of pitmasters, including Matthew Register of Southern Smoke, Chris Prieto of Prime Barbecue, Wyatt Dickson of Picnic in Durham, as well as other chefs who use smoke in their cooking.

Sauceman’s is relocating to Sugar Creek Brewing from its original location on West Boulevard

USA Today has their list of the country’s best regional barbecue joints but somehow includes Bill Spoon’s in Charlotte for North Carolina? Ok.

Southern Smoke by Matthew Register gets reviewed by the Triangle free paper

Where to Eat Barbecue Around D.C. according to Eater

A smoker fire has closed a downtown Atlanta joint

The Story of NC BBQ exhibit is currently showing at the NC Transportation Museum in Spencer

Jim Auchmutey on the south’s most overlooked barbecue states, Alabama and Georgia

More from Auchmutey on five myths regarding barbecue

Author D.G. Martin on what should replace the closed NC barbecue (and other roadside eatery) joints

A glowing profile of Matt Horn, “the future of Bay Area barbecue”