Monk: It’s been a lighter year, barbecue-wise for me but I have managed to hit several big hitters across the southeast (including four restaurants on the Texas Monthly United States of Texas Barbecue list from Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina). I’m looking at it as trying a few worthwhile places instead of a bunch of mediocre ones, and hopefully in the second half of the year I’ll get to a few more places to round out my list by the end of 2025.
In chronological order, here are the best things I have eaten from the first half of the year:
Last year, the carnitas from Union Barbecue was one of my favorite bites of the year (not to mention the brisket and the out-of-this-world Big Deborah oatmeal cream pie). On a subsequent stop in January I tried the smoked half chicken topped with white sauce, salsa macha, and cilantro for a change of pace and found it to be a nice, lighter alternative to the heavier meats.
Shotgun Willie’s outside Nashville did a lot of good things fairly well – brisket, sausage, Brunswick stew – but their pork shoulder dusted with pork rub was my pick of the platter.
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.
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.
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. It’s 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. Honorable mentions to the barbecue hash and the sweet jalapeno pimento cheese.
Name: Dampf Good BBQ Date: 2/7/25 Address: 6800 Good Hope Church Rd, Cary, NC 27519 Order: Texas Trinity: 1 pound brisket, 1 pound ribs, 2 sausages, with three sides plus a smoked brisket burger (link to menu) Pricing: $$$
Monk: Another week, another top 50 Texas joint (outside of Texas). Dampf Good BBQ in Cary has been on my wish list for a few years now, but when I’m in Raleigh they tend to be either closed when I come in town for the Hopscotch Music Festival the week after Labor Day or I am otherwise occupied with a State football game and tailgating in preparation for what is certain to be mediocre football.
That changed this most recent trip while I was in town attending two nights of American Aquarium’s Roadtrip to Raleigh three night stand at The Lincoln Theater. I roped two friends of the blog Smorgan and Bill Fleming into coming with me for a late Friday lunch, both to enjoy the nice day but also so I could order more food.
Brothers Nick and Bryce Dampf have set up their food trailer and offset smokers on the grounds of Phillip Farms, and its a pretty sweet setup for a non-brick and mortar with not only the trailer and smokers under permanent metal awnings but also some of the seating for the guests. Phillips Farm is a 100+ year old farm in Cary that in recent decades has expanded to become more of a community gathering spot that hosts a farmers market and family fun park in the spring, a seven acre corn maze, sunflower field, and Haunted Farm in the fall, and a Christmas tree farm and Winter Wonderland in the winter. While this was my first time visiting, I’ll keep my eye on it next time I’m in town with the full Monk family.
Much to my happy surprise, it was a relatively short line of maybe 6 parties in front of us at 12:30 for Friday lunch, though the line did grow quite a bit as we sat down to eat. Me and the boys waited in line maybe 10-15 minutes before we stepped up to make our order.
As the sole Barbecue Bro present, I offered to handle the ordering for the group and once that duty was agreed upon I was instantly drawn to the Texas Trinity Plate: one pound of brisket, one pound of spare ribs, two sausages, and three sides; I selected smoked mac and cheese, elote, and coleslaw. And then, because I was feeling frisky, I added a smoked brisket burger on top of our order.
The pork spare ribs were my favorite of the three meats, and the half rack was smoked nicely with a glaze that had a hint of sweetness. Altogether, a good balance between the sweetness of the glaze and the savory of the pepper-based rub. The ribs themselves were cooked perfectly and had a great bite to them.
We got slices of both fatty and lean for our pound of brisket, and I had a slight preference of the lean between the two though both had the peppery bark you would expect from a top tier brisket while still having the proper amount of salt. We opted for one of each each of the sausages – polish and pepper muenster. Both were very solid.
I’ve buried the lede a little bit here, and the smoked brisket burger may have been the best part of the lunch. I split the burger (which I ordered all the way with cheese, pickles, and mayo on a potato bun) into quarters and both Smorgan and Bill were instantly huge fans. Greedily, I opted for the final quarter after a few minutes when no one was so bold as to take it.
I liked the smokiness of the mac and cheese, while not being overly smokey. The elote corn salad and the cole slaw offered a nice contrast to the fattiness of the meats. All very good sides.
For fans of Texas-style barbecue in the Triangle, I can’t recommend Dampf Good Barbecue enough. Along with Prime Barbecue in Knightdale, Sam Jones and Longleaf Swine in Raleigh, and Lawrence Barbecue in Durham, the Triangle has some pretty heavy hitters when it comes to new school barbecue. I must say, I’m a little bit jealous down here in Charlotte.
Note: a version of this article originally appeared last month in The Smoke Sheet, a fantastic national barbecue newsletter that I regularly contribute to. For more information on how to subscribe, visit bbqnewsletter.com.
Monk: On September 27th, Hurricane Helene made its way to the mountains of North Carolina and wreaked once-in-a-hundred years worth of damage, referred on some accounts as “pure devastation and chaos.” Entire towns were reduced to rubble, roads and highways washed away from landslides, and hundreds of thousands of lives were changed forever.
Having grown up in North Carolina for nearly all my life, I (along with many others) have a fondness for that part of the state which is approximately 2+ hours west of Charlotte. Not only Asheville, the most well known of the affected cities, but smaller communities like Linville Gorge, Chimney Rock, Hot Springs, Hendersonville, Little Switzerland, and countless other towns set amongst the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains.
The barbecue community has unfortunately become quite good at responding to these types of events. The bad news is that the road to recovery is only beginning but the good news is that help is coming from a number of places: international and national organizations, barbecue restaurants from the unaffected parts of the state, and local restaurants in western NC that are in a fortunate position to help out.
Similarly, Operation BBQ Relief is on the ground in Florida, Georgia, and NC offering free meals to individuals as well as bulk meals for churches, schools, or neighborhoods and Big Green Egg is also matching donations to Operation BBQ Relief’s Rally for Recovery fundraiser up to $50,000. And in an unfortunate circumstance, they are already on the ground for the next storm, Hurricane Milton, which is set to hit Florida this week.
In the central and eastern parts of North Carolina that weren’t affected as much by Helene, barbecue restaurants are also coordinating donations to bring safely to the mountains. In the Triangle region, both Lawrence Barbecue in Durham and Dampf Good BBQ in Cary collected donations of essential items such as bottled water, diapers, baby formula, while Clyde Cooper’s BBQ in Raleigh collected pet food and supplies and Blues on Franklin in Chapel Hill donated pre-cooked barbecue in addition to essential supplies.
Similarly, in the Charlotte Midwood Smokehouse collected essential items at their Plaza Midwood location for donation while Sweet Lew’s BBQ and the Carolina BBQ Festival used their already-planned Fall Pig Pickin’ on October 6th to collect donations and supplies for the relief effort before Sweet Lew’s set up at Regina’s in west Asheville on Tuesday to feed those in need. Jon G’s Barbecue conducted a blanket drive in preparation for the coming winter and also donated wood and supplies directly to Ben’s Backdraft Barbecue for their efforts (more on that later).
Then there are the barbecue restaurants in the western part of the state that are doing their part even as they were in the affected areas. In the small town of Little Switzerland off the Blue Ridge Parkway, the NC Historic Barbecue Trail joint Switzerland Cafe and General Store are not only offering free snacks, water, and over-the-counter meds in front of their cafe but are also acting as a central distribution center as well as a Starlink hotspot with a generator so folks can charge phones and make calls to reach loved ones.
Ben’s Backdraft Barbecue is a firefighter-owned barbecue trailer that regularly operates in cities between Asheville and Bryson City towards the far western part of the state. They too are also feeding people in need, in part from generous donations from Sysco, TMG Pits out of Knoxville, Jon G’s Barbecue, and even individual citizens.
Ben’s Backdraft Barbecue has also partnered with Unkie’s Seasoning out of Franklin, VA to donate a portion of sales of their seasonings and rubs to the Team Ryan Project to support firefighters and their families.
I will add, this is by no means a comprehensive list of all the barbecue restaurants and individuals throughout the state are conducting similar efforts, whether it be feeding those in need or first responders, collecting donations, or donating supplies. The road to recovery and rebuild in western NC is only beginning and will be marked in years instead of months, but one thing I’m certain of is that the barbecue community will continue to do its part long after the nightmare that was Hurricane Helene has left our memories.
If you are inclined to send money, you can donate to the North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund here.
North Carolina State Parks and Recreation staff raised the flag back at Chimney Rock on September 30th
Monk: Ant’s BBQ Cookout makes a stop at Dampf Good BBQ in Cary, NC, one of the best Texas-style barbecue joints according to Daniel Vaughn, to live a day in the life of Nick Dampf.
Description: Dampf Good BBQ in Cary, NC may be new, but their food is 100% classic Central Texas Barbecue. Follow a day in the life of Pitmaster Nick and his family as they work together to run a BBQ restaurant while having fun along the way.
We use cookies to optimize our website and our service.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
