Speedy’s Barbecue Inc.

Linkdown: 8/2/23 – The Fat-Washed Bourbon Edition

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Monk: Daniel Vaughn, BBQ Editor of Texas Monthly, made an epic barbecue road trip through South Carolina and Georgia for the past two weeks. Here are some highlights:

First off, Daniel doesn’t appear to be a huge fan of mustard sauce

City Limits in West Columbia was a favorite. He even posted about it twice!

In addition to City Limits, he also enjoyed Fork Grove Barbecue in Anderson and Slow Fire in Savannah

A couple of Charleston recommendations

Besides Slow Fire in Savannah, here are the other places he hit in Georgia:

And finally, in case you had any illusions to the glamorous realities of being a BBQ editor:

Native News

Wyatt Dickson has sold Picnic to Chris Holloway, recent partner and former bassist of the band Collapsis

The 39th Lexington Barbecue Festival will be on Saturday, October 28, 2023

As of early July, Hickory has a new wood-smoked barbecue joint named Hughes Q

Prime Barbecue is in the middle of taking a well deserved week off

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Speedy’s also has some planned vacation coming up

A re-introduction to Kelly and Garren from Jon G’s

Bunn’s Barbecue in Windsor has closed, but the owner’s hope is that it will be temporary

Non-Native News

Eater Carolinas goes looking for pulled pork sandwiches in Charleston

Fat-washed bourbon?

Linkdown: 5/3/23 – The Speedy’s Barbecue is Back Edition

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Monk: In “news you absolutely love to see,” Speedy’s Barbecue has reopened in Lexington. Undaunted by the NC DOT’s widening of Highway 8 that killed off Smiley’s Barbecue, Speedy’s has moved about a half mile down the road from their longtime location of 60 years into what formerly housed Tricia’s Catering.

In an interview earlier this year owner Roy Dunn stressed that only the location is changing. Speedy’s will have the same menu, same staff, same prices and same motto — “ Quality, Quantity and Quick service.”

Curb service, a staple of classic Lexington barbecue joints, is open with 13 spots available

Merch is available

Speedy’s Barbecue is now open 11am to 8pm Monday through Saturday at 408 Piedmont Dr Lexington, NC 27295

Native News

Congrats to Little Pigs BBQ of Asheville, who celebrated 60 years open last month

Jon G’s Barbecue makes Eater Carolinas’ list of Essential Restaurants in Charlotte

Paste Magazine reviews the Cheerwine-flavored beer from NoDa Brewing

Congrats to Concord-based SnS Grills for being named “The Best Kettle Style Grill” by Food and Wine in a recent rundown of charcoal grills

WRAL’s best barbecue in Raleigh contains one old but mostly newer places

Non-Native News

Congrats to City Limits Q on the announcement of their upcoming brick and mortar in West Columbia

Aaron Franklin’s latest restaurant Uptown Sports Club is more sports bar than barbecue joint, but it does have some chopped brisket and sausage on the menu in various forms

Amy Mills of 17th Street Barbecue was recently honored back in March

Happy belated birthday to “Black Smoke”

Congrats to Wildwoods BBQ on winning last week’s Brisket King NYC

A little history lesson on Big Joe Bessinger, the “pioneer of SC BBQ”

Content ahead of last week’s NFL Draft in Kansas City: Mitchell Schwartz’s favorite barbecue joints in KC

Linkdown: 2/15/23 – The Pik-N-Pig Reopens! Edition

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Monk: In more good classic NC barbecue news, Pik-N-Pig, the Carthage barbecue joint located at an airfield, has finally reopened as of last Thursday. It had been closed for repairs due to a fire in May 2021.

According to this article from the Sandhill Sentinel, due to the new floor plan the amount of seating has doubled and the kitchen is nearly three times the size of the previous one. There is now a dedicated smokehouse with three smokers to handle the capacity for their pulled pork, smoked chicken, brisket, and wings.

More FAQs on the restaurant reopening.

Native News

Eric Wareheim recently filmed at Jon G’s Barbecue for an upcoming project; Jake Wood of Lawrence Barbecue was also in the house

Speedy’s Barbecue is finally closing due to the Highway 8 widening, but thankfully they are just relocating to Piedmont Drive in Lexington

JD’s Smokehouse gets profiled in Our State Magazine

Cheerwine and Noda Brewing in Charlotte have collaborated on a new beer called Cheerwine Ale

Non-Native News

Been enjoying “Poker Face” on Peacock and episode 3 took place at a fictional east Texas barbecue joint

Daniel Vaughn recently published a story on the history of wagyu beef in America

The Lexington Barbecue Rankings: June 2022 Update

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Monk: I first posted the Lexington Big Board two years ago in June 2020 in the early months of the pandemic and have maintained it ever since but it was only in recent months that we’ve had some actual movement in the rankings. And unfortunately it was due to closures.

As a result of the NC Department of Transportation widening of Highway 8, Smiley’s Barbecue has officially closed as of February 2022 but I did get to check them out one last time in October 2020. They will surely be missed. Speedy’s appears to be open for the time being but their days are numbered as a result of the same project. And, in a shock Facebook post at the end of April, Rick’s Smokehouse (previously my overall Lexington #3) closed. Currently they are listed on Facebook as “temporarily closed” but I’ve seen no indications that they will reopen, despite numerous pleas from comments on Facebook.

That leaves us with 13 open restaurants by my count, which I continue to divide into three tiers. I did try Lexington Trimmings after the publish of the initial list but they slotted into the third tier. Blazin’ BBQ and Kickin’ Chicken was another on my list but they closed in October 2020 after only 4 months open

With that out of the way, the current Lexington Big Board

Tier 1

No movement at the very top with the ever-reliable Lexington Barbecue and Bar-B-Q Center maintaining spots 1 and 2 (really 1 and 1a). Speedy’s is worth one last visit before they close.

Tier 2

Any of these would be worth a revisit, as I believe they all continue to smoke over wood coals.

Tier 3

Lexington Style Trimmings looked the part of a Lexington joint but the barbecue was a letdown.

Have I missed anything? Let me know in the comments or email us at barbecuebros@gmail.com.