Linkdown: 8/16/23 – The Runaway Longhorn Bull Edition

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Monk: As a result of some severe storms in the Charlotte area last week, a 900 pound longhorn bull got loose in west Charlotte and ran free for 4 days.

It would re-emerge once a day or so but no one was ever able to pin it down. It quickly soared to the top of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg PD’s most wanted (animals) list.

it wasn’t until the fourth day that the bull was found and euthanized by a hunter hired by the owner. No word on whether any barbecue was able to be made as a result.

Rest in Power, Runaway West Charlotte Longhorn Bull of 2023.

Native News

Midwood Smokehouse is the only barbecue restaurant in the CharlotteFive’s Reader’s Choice Poll for tacos

NC-based Cheerwine is now available at 4 Rivers Smokehouse restaurants across Florida

Speedy’s is back from vacation

Have you tried livermush before? This NC delicacy is not barbecue but is made from pig: “they ground pig’s liver and head meat and mixed it with cornmeal, salt, pepper, and sage to form something akin to a caseless sausage”

Non-Native News

The Smoke Sheet is now a paid newsletter, so consider subscribing for continued high quality barbecue content

John Tanner checks out Big Bad W Pit BBQ in Stafford, VA

Plus, is ZZQ the best brisket east of Texas?

POV: How to navigate City Limits Q’s queue (or is it que?)

Dispatch from an epic taco road trip from the Tales from the Pits guys

Tacos for the Cause this week at Fox Bros Bar-B-Q

J.C. Reid’s latest column is on beef brands

This year’s Pig Island NYC is September 9

ICYMI, this week’s episode of “BBQ USA” featured the Jeff Michner benefit at Pig Beach

Linkdown: 5/10/23 – The Barbecue Hall of Fame Semi-Finalists Edition

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Congrats to Steve Grady of Grady’s BBQ (as well as the rest of the top 10) for making the semi-finalist list for this year’s Barbecue Hall of Fame class! The inductees will be announced later this month on May 24th.

Native News

WRAL is a fan of Midwood Smokehouse‘s latest location in Raleigh

Midwood Smokehouse has some new barbecue taco specials Thursdays through Sundays in May for National Barbecue Month

Winners from this year’s Jiggy with the Piggy Challenge in Kannapolis

Congrats to Longleaf Swine for being named Readers’ Choice Awards winner for Best New Restaurant by Wake Living’s readers

Congrats to Prime Barbecue on 3 years open

Panther City BBQ out of Texas will be joining Christopher Prieto in an upcoming Latin-inspired barbecue class

Check out John Tanner’s updated list of best barbecue in Eastern NC

The Lexington Pit Stop Event Combines NASCAR and Barbecue this Memorial Day weekend; it’s a celebration of Lexington’s stock car racing teams and the pit-cooked Lexington-style barbecue for which the town is famous

Non-Native News

Scotty’s Whole Hog Barbecue is switching to a “once and month” pop-up schedule in Minnesota this year, and the next service will be on May 20

Aaron Franklin’s latest book, Smoke, from him and his photographer/collaborator Jordan McKay is now out

John Tanner’s out of state travels takes him to B. Cooper Barbecue in Austin, Pig Beach in West Palm Beach, and Pig and Pint in Mississippi

Report from the field on Kolacny BBQ House by Bryan from Tales from the Pits

Linkdown: 4/19/23 – The AI-Generated BBQ Photo Edition

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Monk: Jake Wood of Lawrence Barbecue is launching what he hopes will be a new annual event, called Frankie Lemmon’s Gettin’ Piggy With It in support of the Frankie Lemmon School. By way of background, “Frankie Lemmon School is a NAEYC accredited, 5-star child development center that welcomes children ages 2-6 with and without disabilities.”

For the event, he’s partnering with Trophy Brewing in Raleigh and utilizing their new event venue Maywood Hall & Garden. And he’s bringing with him some heavy hitters in the world of barbecue, not only in North and South Carolina but also one from California. The full list of pitmasters and chefs:

  • Dampf Good BBQ – Cary, NC
  • Jon G’s Barbecue – Peachland, NC
  • King BBQ – Charleston, SC
  • Lawrence Barbecue – Durham, NC
  • Lewis Barbecue – Charleston, SC
  • Locals Seafood – Raleigh, NC
  • Longleaf Swine – Raleigh, NC
  • N. Sea Oyster Co. – Hampstead, NC
  • Shepard Barbecue – Emerald Isle, NC
  • Southern Smoke Barbecue – Garland, NC
  • Wye Hill – Raleigh, NC
  • ZEF BBQ – Los Angeles, CA

Tickets are on sale as of of today for the May 21 event. Tickets and event information available here

Native News

AVL Today profiles two Asheville-area joints on the Historic NC Barbecue Trail: Switzerland Cafe in Little Switzerland and Hubba Hubba Smokehouse in Flat Rock

The Bone Suckin’ Sauce Peak City Pig Fest, a KCBS event, took place this past weekend in Apex

NoDa Brewing and Jon G’s Barbecue have teamed up for a fun event at their OG Taproom on April 27th…but tickets have already sold out

NoDa Brewing’s Cheerwine Ale is getting a can glow-up

Non-Native News

Gear Patrols dives into the best charcoal grills on the market

John Tanner checks out Rodney Scott’s Barbecue to compare it to the original; his findings may surprise you

Speaking of Rodney Scott, he’s teamed up with The Spice House to create a line of spice blends available to purchase now

Swig & Swine owner Anthony DiBernardo shares an update on their upcoming Monk’s Corner location

Pig Beach’s Jeff Michner BBQ Event is coming up on April 29

Goldee’s Barbecue will soon be selling their own smokers, made in partnership with M&M BBQ Company

The caption says it all

Congrats to Daniel Vaughn on 10 years as barbecue editor for Texas Monthly

Linkdown: 3/8/23 – The “Cooking with Gas” Edition

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Monk: Southern Living readers pick their favorite barbecue in each state in the South for the annual “Best in the South” issue. While Robert Moss provides a foreword, please remember that this is a reader chosen list and not his South’s Top 50 Barbecue Joints list. So address your ire at the masses and not Moss’ inbox.

Moss does note that half of the 14 are repeat, with the other half being new to the list. For North Carolina, the reader’s pick this year was Lexington Barbecue but it was not a repeat winner as last year’s choice was Buxton Hall Barbecue.

Check out the Southern Living reader’s pick at the link below.

Native News

Steve and Gerri Grady get profiled in the local paper, the Mount Olive Tribune

Eat Raleigh checks in at Longleaf Swine and they are also a fan

Congrats to Black Powder Smokehouse on their Asheboro location, their second store

Midwood Smokehouse is doing pork versions of birria tacos

Tickets are now on sale for the Pinehurst Barbecue Festival taking place Labor Day weekend

Non-Native News

Hector Garate of Palmira BBQ is headed to Austin later this month for a collaboration with Interstellar BBQ

Sweatman’s Barbecue in Holly Hill has made the switch to gas

Howard Conyers is hosting The Roots of BBQ Invitational Memorial Day weekend in Paxville, SC (ticket link)

NYC BBQ checks out the relocated Pig Beach in Queens and found that “the quality has not declined a bit even with the big changes the past few months”

Memphis in May will be back at Tom Lee Park for this year’s event