Charlotte

Whole Hog #3: Here We Go Liveblog

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Monk: As an elder millennial raised on Bill Simmons liveblogs in the early 2000’s, it’s hard to believe I haven’t done one myself on Barbecue Bros. What better reason to remedy that than to document my third whole hog cook, which I recently did in mid-October. And here we go…

9/29

Place an order for a 130 pound pig from Frontier Meats out of Waxhaw. They’ve been in business since 1975 and I’ve used them each of the now 3 times that I’ve cooked a pig. From my research, they have the best price per pound in the Charlotte area and their pigs are fresh and never frozen. They will butterfly and can remove the feet and head if you want. Highly recommend them.

10/10

Call Frontier Meats back and up the pig to 150 pounds because whoa, the guest list is now up to 340 total guests.

10/16

9:57 AM – Get a half cord of firewood delivered to the site where I’m cooking the pig. In terms of firewood, I’ve been happy with Quick’s Firewood out of Monroe for the three times I’ve cooked pigs as well as the times I’ve gotten firewood delivered for my fire pit. Plus, they deliver for free. T-minus 30 hours until the Pig Roast.

3:00 PM – Pick up the pig cooker from my neighbor Lawrence and set it up at my neighborhood pool. Lawrence has graciously allowed me to use it for no charge the past two years. It’s a beautiful BQ Grills trailer that he recently got repainted so it looks brand spanking new. He regularly lends out to his friends and local Boy Scout troops for their annual barbecue fundraisers, so I count myself fortunate to have access to a legit pig cooker.

Word on the street he may be restarting his Fire of Coals blog and web store later this year, so keep an eye out for that so you can support him. I’ve used his rubs in the past and I even bought my current burn barrel from him (which is how I first met him).

4:30 PM – Pick up the pig from Frontier, which is about a 50 minute drive on a Friday afternoon from my house in South Charlotte.

6:50 PM – Start the fire in the burn barrel on a toasty 80 degree night. My wife and youngest show up shortly after and then friends of the blog Z and Dabo arrive to hang out an hour or so later. The cook officially begins.

8:00 PM – With Mrs. Monk and two buddies, get the pig from the back of my wife’s SUV on to a tailgate table and then flip onto the grill. Quite impressive when you consider the various ailments between myself, Z, and Dabo (tennis elbow, bum shoulder, burnt hand).

8:20 PM – I shovel the first of many coals into the bottom chamber of the grill. The tunes and beers are flowing as more friends of the blog start to arrive. Matty Ice arrives and brings with him 4 bottles of very nice bottles of bourbon.

11:00 PM – A golf cart with more neighbors arrive just as the Appalachian State football game ends (W over Coastal Carolina) and all of a sudden we’ve got 15-20 of us hanging out by the pig. I now begin to worry that a nearby neighbor who likes to complain about noise will call the cops on us. Thankfully, my worries never materialize.

10/17

1:00 AM – People start to filter out but a few still remain to keep the party going. Whispers of late night Door Dashing begin.

1:30 AM – Z pulls the trigger on a McDonald’s order, reminiscent of last year’s 3 AM order. We eagerly anticipate our burgers…

2:00 AM – The McDonald’s arrives but immediately something is amiss. Two of our Big Macs have a combined one burger patty and we are missing a Cheeseburger. Epic fail by McDonald’s but don’t worry, Z is able to get a full refund.

2:45 AM – Z is the second to last to depart, leaving just me and Dabo. Dabo somehow convinces me to have one more beer before he is to leave.

3:20 AM – Dabo has departed and I climb into a sleeping bag on a camping mat in the back of my car to get a little nap before I add more coals. I add wood to the burn barrel and set an alarm.

4:30 AM – The overnight rain has started and I wake up to add more coals to the pig. I throw a few more logs into the burn barrel and head back to sleep.

5:30 AM – Rain continues and rinse/repeat with the coals and wood.

6:30 AM – I wake up to find that an angel has left me a Gatorade and bottle of water. That angel turns out to be Handsome Russell who checked on me at 6am and decided to let me sleep. However, the fire in the burn barrel is almost completely extinguished because of the rain, so I get to work to get the fire restarted. With a faint flicker amongst the wood, I decide to run to the nearby Harris Teeter to get a bag of charcoal and some fire starter.

6:45 AM – I return to find that the burn barrel has roared to life in my brief absence. We are so back!

7:30 AM – Handsome Russell arrives with a couple of clutch McDonald’s biscuits. I happily accept them. The rain is just about done and I get back to work.

8:30 AM – Tennis buddy Wally brings me some coffee and Bojangles and I count myself fortunate to have such nice people in my life. Here’s a few photos he snapped:

9:00 AM – But wait, there’s more! Friend of the blog Brafford comes to give me a chance to take a shower and also sleep in my own bed for a few hours. I get a couple of hours of sleep before I return right before noon to continue. Big ups to Brafford.

12:00 – 4:00 PM – I continue cooking the pig while starting to set up for the party, with the help of various folks.

4:05 PM – The pig is served until it runs out a little more than 2 hours later. People seem to be enjoying it along with the beautiful fall weather that came in on the back of the overnight storm as well as the 90’s and 2000’s jams from the cover band I hired for the party – 90’s Kids/Y2K Kids.

7:15 – 8:30 PM – Break down the party with the help of many others and head home.

8:45 PM – A celebratory glass of bourbon is in order.

9:30 PM – Crash for the next 12 hours and then finish cleaning and returning the trailer.

As always, there are lessons learned each time I cook another pig and this time was no different. I can’t wait to run it back next year!

The Five Best Bites from the Carolina BBQ Fest Kickoff

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Monk: While I wasn’t able to attend the full Carolina Barbecue Festival this year due to parental duties on Saturday, I wanted to be sure to check out the kickoff on a beautiful Friday night at Victoria Yards in uptown Charlotte. In-between bites I was able catch up with Garren and Kelly from Jon G’s, Chigger from the Low and Slow Barbecue Show, and Rodolfo and Craic representing Southern Smoke Barbecue. Hopefully next year’s timing works out for me to go to to the main event on Saturday.

That said, here are the best bites from the Friday kickoff:

  1. Brisket and Sausage link from Union Barbecue – perhaps not the prettiest plating but excellence as usual from Union Barbecue.
  2. Brisket Bun from Improper Pig – this was the biggest surprise for me from a barbecue place who’s most recent restaurant opening was in the former Pizza Peel location in the heart of Plaza Midwood. Maybe I should give them and their asian-influenced barbecue another chance in their new digs.
  3. Double Smoked Burnt End Street Taco from Midwood Smokehouse – it was close between this and the bun from Improper Pig bun this still had great flavors in an easy to eat package.
  4. Chopped Pork Tray from BBQ King – the lone pork offering from the kickoff, this was a typical tray of barbecue from the ever-dependable long-time Lincolnton restaurant.
  5. Brisket, queso fresco, and street corn salad (no tostada) from Mac’s Speed Shop – the tostadas were gone by the time I had my sample and I would’ve loved the crunch from the crispy tortilla. Great flavor from what was served, though.

Bonus bite: banana pudding ice cream from Golden Cow Creamery. I love banana pudding and this ice cream version of it from Golden Cow Creamery was so, so good with large chunks of vanilla wafers and bold banana flavor. Also, a special shout out to the youngest Monkette for being my hand model for the night.

The 6 best things I ate in 2025

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Monk: Closing the book on 2025 with a round up of the best things I ate last year. As it turns out, the list is equally weighted between barbecue from the first half of the year and the second. On to 2026!

6. Smoked brisket burger from Dampf Good BBQ (review)

While there was a lot to like at Dampf Good BBQ earlier this year, the smoked brisket burger took the cake over the brisket, ribs, and sausage. So much so that I forgot to take photos of it until I had taken a few bites of the delicious burger made from smoked brisket trimmings and topped with cheese, pickles, and mayo on a potato bun. It was a special on that day, but be on the look out if you are checking them out in Cary.

5. Chopped Lexington-style barbecue from Real Q (review)

It’s always good to strike a classic style Lexington barbecue off my longtime list. Real Q blends old school Piedmont dining with a decor that is unmistakably Winston-Salem through its depictions of Texas Pete and the tobacco industry that once drove the economic engine of the town. The chopped pork even turned the youngest Monkette into a believer.

4. Smoked Berkshire pork chop from Slow Bone (review)

The smoked Berkshire pork chop from Slow Bone in Dallas is a Sunday/Monday special that takes 3 weeks of prep work from initial seasoning to two separate stints of brining with a smoking between them before being finished on a flat top once they are ordered. While the complexity of that process may be lost on a lot of patrons who enter the door, I’m sure at the very least they can appreciate the juicy, flavorful pork chop placed before them.

3. Beef cheek from Owens & Hull (review)

I live by a simple rule: if I see beef cheeks on the menu, I’m going to buy it. Maybe I’ve been lucky but the two places I’ve tried – Palmira Barbecue in Charleston and Owens & Hull in Smyrna – have put out some seriously tasty renditions that are must orders at their respective restaurants.

2. Whole hog from Wilber’s Barbecue

A somewhat unexpected pop up brought some delicious eastern NC whole hog from Goldsboro to Charlotte just before Christmas. Wilber’s rented a Penske truck with coolers full of barbecue, brisket, ribs, turkey, slaw, hush puppies, Brunswick stew, naner pudding, and sides and set up a pick up spot behind the old Manor Theatre. For anyone who took advantage, they got a taste of whole hog barbecue that you just don’t get here in Charlotte.

1. Chopped pork with crispy skins from City Limits Barbeque (review)

Robbie Robinson mixes in pork belly with his whole pork shoulders and then chops in some crispy skin to finish it off. As I predicted back in June, it was going to take a lot to knock this sandwich from the West Columbia restaurant off its perch as my favorite bite of barbecue in 2025. And as it turns out, nothing did. Can’t wait to get back to City Limits soon.

The Smoke Pit brings true ‘cue to South Charlotte

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Name: The Smoke Pit
Date: 1/3/26
Address: 8136 Providence Rd, Charlotte, NC 28277
Order: Tres Amigos platter with pork, ribs, and brisket plus hush puppies, jalapeno creamed corn, and collards (link to menu)
Pricing: $$

Monk: I have been a fan of The Smoke Pit since first visiting their original Concord location in 2015. We’ve since visited and reviewed their Salisbury and Gastonia locations as well, most recently in 2021. However, The Smoke Pit empire keeps expanding, with an established location in Monroe, a newly opened location at the Arboretum shopping center in South Charlotte, and a forthcoming store in Mooresville that will bring the total count to 6 in the Charlotte area.

The Arboretum location opened in September 2025, taking over a former longtime Chili’s location. Extensive renovations were made to both the interior and exterior of the building, including the build out of a pit room where the outdoor patio used to be. Inside it, a mini army of M&M BBQ Company wood smokers made in Tool, TX pump out their smoked items.

The menu at The Smoke Pit takes an “international house of barbecue” approach with pork, brisket, ribs, turkey, chicken, burnt ends, sausage, and smoked wings on the menu. Mrs. Monk and I split the “Tres Amigos” platter that comes with pork, brisket, and ribs along with two sides and hush puppies, corn bread, or Texas Toast. There is also a “7 Meat Fest” that comes a large sampling of their meats and sides for a hungrier group than the Monk family was on that day. Something to think about in the future, though.

All of the meats I tried that day were of above average quality. The chopped pork and brisket both had a nice bark while the ribs had a good tug to them. Of the three, I’d probably give a slight nod to the brisket but I would recommend each of them.

I found my sides to be really good as well. The jalapeno creamed corn had a nice kick to counteract the creaminess while the collards met Mrs. Monk’s high standards. I should note that I had previously ordered bulk sides of their mac and cheese, baked beans, and coleslaw for last fall’s pig roast and received a ton of compliments on them. So based on my experience you can’t really go wrong with the sides at The Smoke Pit.

A nice touch was the offer of free dessert for each person in the party. We tried both the peach and strawberry cobblers, with peach being the winner for me. I don’t know how long the offer of free dessert will continue but it was a welcome end to our meal.

In terms of wood-smoked barbecue in South Charlotte, its just The Smoke Pit and Midwood Smokehouse. The Smoke Pit’s 5th location is a welcome addition to both the Arboretum shopping center and South Charlotte, and the bar looks to be worth exploring in the future. Check them out if you haven’t tried their other locations before.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3.5 hogs
Pork – 4 hogs
Brisket – 4 hogs
Ribs – 4 hogs
Sides – 4 hogs
Overall – 4 hogs