Linkdown: 3/22/23 – The Kings of BBQ Edition

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Monk: A brewpub with a True ‘Cue barbecue joint attached is coming to Main Street of Mount Holly in early April. Owner Scott Blackwood is combining craft beer with traditional NC wood-smoked barbecue in what he’s calling Firehawk Brewpub. That means pork, ribs, and chicken smoked over a mix of oak, hickory, and pecan in a reverse-flow offset smoker cooked by “BBQ Don” Trevor Seifts.

“Being in the fire department, it seemed logical that we cook our food on live, wood-fired grills,” Blackwood told CharlotteFive. Couldn’t agree more, and I hope to report back on it before too long.

Native News

John Tanner and company (including John Shelton Reed) devoured their try of barbecue at Old Colony Smokehouse in Eden

Southern Fire Pit has closed due to building expenses. It replaced Arcadia Q, which itself closed in late August 2022. Toni London had been the manager of Arcadia Q before opening this restaurant.

The latest (perhaps final?) chapter of the Cafe 71 Smokehouse saga sees the former owner Newlan Otto Spears Jr. charged with writing bad checks

Non-Native News

Anthony Anderson and Cedric the Entertainer have launched a barbecue company called AC Barbeque and will film a series for A&E called “Kings of BBQ”

John Tanner made it back to Smokecraft Modern BBQ in Arlington and found it worthy of recommendation

Today, Adrian Miller is at the History Colorado Center to take “an informative and entertaining look at people and places that shaped Colorado’s barbecue traditions”

Daniel Vaughn talks with The Texas Standard on the Egyptian-influenced KG BBQ in Austin

Roundup Rodeo BBQ is the newest barbecue restaurant at Walt Disney World’s Hollywood Studios

Dave Grohl on how to properly slice a brisket

Linkdown: 3/1/23 – The “Cracker Barrel of Barbecue” Edition

Monk: Dave Grohl has popped up once again in barbecue, this time cooking “ribs, brisket, cabbage, coleslaw, and beans” for a LA homeless shelter. He spent a whopping 16 hours cooking and serving and paid for all of the food himself according to this article from Uproxx. Grohl’s love of barbecue is well-documented but he had been somewhat quiet on the barbecue front the past few years.

The CFO of the Hope of the Valley homeless shelter Rowan Vansleve posted a photo of Grohl preparing food in the rain and wrote, “In the middle of the storms this week. This is Dave Grohl cooking over 500 servings of the best barbecue for those living in our shelters. That’s class.”

We don’t deserve Dave Grohl.

Native News

John Tanner stops by Skylight Inn for the first time in a while and while some things may have changed, the important things have not

Robert Moss likes what he tasted from the chopped pork trailer at Jon G’s Barbecue; best of all, no line

Lawrence Barbecue and Jon G’s Barbecue are collaborating with N. Sea Oyster Co on an oysters and barbecue party for St. Patty’s Day

Black Powder Smokehouse‘s Asheboro location is now opening next week on March 7

Not sure if being known as the “Cracker Barrel” of barbecue is a good thing, tbh but Mike D’s BBQ is coming to Easter Durham

Let’s hope Jimmy’s Smoke House, in the restaurant space formerly occupied by Cafe 71 Smokehouse and Rick’s Smokehouse, sticks around for awhile

Friday Find: Dave Grohl on the Beauty of Simple Barbecue Rubs

Monk: Dave Grohl fulfills a bucket list item when he appeared on Hot Ones last month (and crushed it like a champ), and during the cedar-smoked Dawson’s Hot Sauce wing (7,000 on the Scoville heat unit scale), the question turns to his “deep and abiding” love of barbecue. When host Sean Evans asks him what the secret to a great barbecue rub is, Grohl answers “simplicity” and opines on the beauty of a simple salt and pepper rub. He also shouts out NC whole hog legend Sam Jones at 5:45.

Description: Dave Grohl is one of the most requested Hot Ones guests of all time. He’s also a 16-time Grammy Award–winning artist whose storied career in music has been immortalized in the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame on two separate occasions. He has a recently released New York Times best-selling book as well, The Storyteller – Tales Of Life And Music, and—get this!—a comedy horror movie starring the Foo Fighters is on the way: Studio 666, which is set to release in theaters on February 25th. But how is he with spicy food? Find out as the rock legend takes on the wings of death and discusses the best drummers of all time, the art of the cover song, and why doing Hot Ones has been on his bucket list.

Linkdown: 3/2/22

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?