Monk

Barbecue meets Chinatown at King BBQ in North Charleston

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Name: King BBQ
Date: 1/25/26
Address:  2029 Carver Ave, North Charleston, SC 29405
Order: Pork combo with BBQ red rice with yum yum sauce and slaw (link to menu)
Pricing: $$

Monk: King BBQ is the collaboration of husband and wife team Shuai and Corrie Wang and pitmaster Brandon Olson, who worked for them at their other restaurant Jackrabbit Filly not far from the location of King in North Charleston. Even if you haven’t been there, you may still recognize Shuai from his finale run on the most recent season of Top Chef Destination Canada.

King BBQ takes inspiration from Shuai’s upbringing in Queens, NY, Corrie’s upbringing in Buffalo, and Olson’s NC Piedmont roots (he grew up outside of Charlotte). There’s not a lot of beef to be found in those places, and thus there is not at King BBQ. However, in addition to the pork, there is duck, chicken wings, and occasionally fried fish taking cues from Queens and Buffalo.

On this day, I stuck with pork – chopped pork topped with fried pork skins and pork spare ribs. The barbecue items are smoked in Lang offset smokers but while I did not detect a ton of smoke from the chopped pork, the texture and taste were nice, particular when paired with some crunch from the pork skin or the creamy chopped slaw I selected as one of my sides.

The spare ribs were slathered with a char siu barbecue sauce, which added a slight sweetness to the rib that wasn’t overpowering. The flavor was great but to a certain extent the sauce masked any smoke on the ribs. They were cooked nicely with each of my bites coming clean.

The BBQ red rice was a highlight as well, and came recommended by the server as I was ordering at the register. Paired with a homemade yum yum sauce, I would consider even going a double side of them next time.

There’s so much more to King BBQ than what I tried on that day: duck, sausage, noodle bowls, shrimp toast, a play on crab rangoon, and more. I hope to find myself back in Charleston again soon to check them out with a bigger crowd.

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

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

At Real Q, Lexington-style Barbecue is on the Menu

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Name: Real Q
Date: 11/28/25
Address: 4885 Country Club Rd, Winston-Salem, NC 27104
Order: Chopped plate with fries, BBQ slaw, and hush puppies; Cheerwine (link to menu)
Pricing: $

Monk: In April 1991, Richard Berrier and two business partners opened the original Little Richard’s BBQ on Country Club Road in Winston-Salem. Twenty-seven years, a couple of business partnership splits, and several restaurant spinoffs later, it changed its name in to “Real Q” in January of 2018 to distinguish itself from the other Little Richard’s in the the area (now Winston-Salem, Clemmons, Yadkinville, Walkertown and Mount Airy). Fortuitously, Berrier is also known as “Q” in the industry, so the name works on a couple of levels.

The Country Club location of Little Richard’s is the one that Speedy visited 5 years before the name change in 2013 and enjoyed quite a bit, rating it 4 hogs. On that visit, he loved the BBQ slaw and hush puppies while enjoying the pork itself a little less, noting that he would have liked more smoke. I had never visited that, or any other, Little Richard’s so this past Thanksgiving in the Triad it was time to check it out the restaurant formerly known as Little Richard’s.

Real Q is a classic Lexington-style joint with Winston-Salem memorabilia lining the walls

Being less than 25 or so miles from Lexington, NC, it’s no surprise that Real Q would take on the shape of a classic Lexington-style barbecue joint. Meaning smokestacks in the back, no frills dining, and red slaw and hush puppies on the menu.

What may be more surprising is the quality and depth of Winston-Salem memorabilia that lines nearly every available wall space. Home to Texas Pete and RJR (formerly the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company founded in 1875), the walls reflect that Winston-Salem heritage in addition to a few, unrelated cigarette and retro cola brands. Behold:

Decor aside, of course I was there for the barbecue. Lack of smoke, which Speedy observed on his 2013 visit, was not an issue for me. A mixture of the barbecue topped with the table dip and mixed with red slaw made for a perfect bite of barbecue.

On his visit, Speedy found the red slaw to be cold and perfectly tangy, offering a nice contrast to the pork and I would agree. The hush puppies were some of the best I’ve had in recent memory, and the youngest Monkette (who normally isn’t a hush puppy fan), agreed as well. She ended up finishing the rest of the basket.

At Real Q their motto is “if it ain’t over wood, it ain’t as good” and they have the wood pile out back to prove that they do just that. And its cue I would rank alongside some of the very best in the town of Lexington. Next time, I’ll be checking out Little Richard’s to see if they stack up well to Real Q.

For more on Real Q, check out a 2021 review from John Tanner’s BBQ Blog

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 5 hogs
Pork – 4.5 hogs
Sides – 4 hogs
Overall – 4.5 hogs

A Thousand Words: Whole Hog, Take Two

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Monk: Last weekend, I cooked my second whole hog. I’ll be following up on my “Seven Things I’m Going to Do Differently” post in due time to update on how I did on each one, but in the meantime, here are some photos from the weekend.

I got the fire started shortly after 10 on Friday night and got the hog on about an hour later.

The Jon G’s Beer from Town Brewing was a good call for the cook on Friday night.

After an all night cook, the hog finished up early afternoon and I got ready to feed the 350 or so people who had RSVP’d to the event, which was officially the Second Annual Pig Roast for my neighborhood swim club. Last year, I had it catered but wanted to take on the official pig duties this year.

What a fun, tiring experience. I don’t know when my next hog will be, but I had a blast for this one.