After 92 Years, Stamey’s Barbecue Still Plays the Hits and Plays Them Very Well

Name: Stamey’s Barbecue
Date: 11/25/22
Address: 2206 High Point Road, Greensboro, NC 27403
Order: Chopped pork plate (extra brown) with red slaw, hush puppies, and Cheerwine (link to menu)
Pricing: $

Monk: While I had in recent years visited Stamey’s Barbecue in Greensboro via the drive-thru, it’s hard to believe that the last in-restaurant visit took place way back in 2013. That’s unacceptable, and I will make it a point to visit more often going forward. Especially, after my most recent meal for a crowded lunch the Friday after Thanksgiving where lots of other families had a similar idea.

I might be surprised that my order this time was the exact same as in 2013 – a chopped plate with extra brown and a Cheerwine – but really that’s the order I would suggest to anyone else so I probably shouldn’t be all that surprised. And while I didn’t order the Brunswick stew that Rudy highly recommends, I did at least get it last time.

The chopped pork was delicious and smoky as I would have expected, but it was nice to get confirmation. The hush puppies were fresh and a perfectly golden color. The red slaw provided the necessary crunch an contrast. It’s beauty is in its simplicity. Throw in the requisite Cheerwine and its a five hog meal, no doubt.

Leaving after lunch, the smokehouse was pumping out barbecue smoke tinged with the fat of the pork dropping onto the wood coals that wafted into the surrounding industrial area and Greensboro Coliseum complex. A simple but extremely effective form of advertising.

If someone you missed the smoke, the giant woodpile taking up multiple parking spots was another tipoff. Staff smartly bypassed the metal wood racks and just piled directly onto the asphalt.

After 92 years, Stamey’s Barbecue continues to pump out destination-worthy barbecue. Make it a point to stop in next time you’re in the area – I plan to.

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

The 8 Best Barbecue Meals Monk Ate in 2022

Monk: 2022 was yet another year of great barbecue. In addition to finally getting to spend some time in the eastern part of the state for whole hog (although still not nearly enough), I tried two of the best new school barbecue at Palmira Barbecue in Charleston and Lawrence Barbecue in Durham. In terms of North Carolina, in the last weeks of the year I ate at two of the best joints in Buxton Hall Barbecue and Stamey’s. Here are the meals in photos listed in alphabetical order.

Whole hog barbecue dinner from B’s Barbecue, Greenville, NC (link)

Whole hog and ribs from Buxton Hall Barbecue in Asheville (re-review coming soon)

Hash and rice from Duke’s Barbecue in Orangeburg, SC (link)

A little bit of everything from Jon G’s Barbecue in Peachland, NC

Pork, brisket, and sticky ribs from Lawrence Barbecue, Durham, NC (link)

Whole hog barbecue, hash and rice from Palmira BBQ, Charleston, NC (link)

Whole hog barbecue from Skylight Inn, Ayden, NC (link)

Chopped barbecue plate with extra brown from Stamey’s Barbecue, Greensboro, NC (re-review coming soon)

Linkdown: 7/6/22

Monk: After a 2 month break to recap season 3 of “BBQ Brawl,” we’re back with a roundup of the latest barbecue news in North Carolina and beyond.

Featured

Catching up on some of the NC barbecue posts the past couple of months from Friend of the Blog John Tanner, he was making the rounds in eastern NC during the spring starting with a return trip to Parker’s Barbecue in Wilson where he enjoyed the barbecue but particularly the fried chicken

He then headed to Marty’s BBQ across town and did a head-to-head comparison with his meal at Parker’s

He followed up those meals with another return trip to Grady’s BBQ which, despite John’s near persistent drum beating, is still not a UNESCO world heritage site

John also visited Southport Smokehouse and Leland Smokehouse in the Wilmington-area and came away resolved to eating seafood at the beach in the future

But that was followed by the best pork of his trip (and contender for best in eastern NC according to him) at Stephenson’s Bar-B-Q in Willow Springs

John then swing through the Piedmont and hit up Stamey’s Barbecue in Greensboro which, while he had a fine meal, he was surprised to learn that hush puppies didn’t come with the meal

When news of Richard’s Bar-B-Q in Salisbury closing later this month, he also spun some words reflecting on the pending loss of yet another True ‘Cue joint

Native News

Congrats to Grady’s BBQ on 36 years open

Elliot Moss has parted ways with Buxton Hall Barbecue, according to his Instagram post, but will be staying in Asheville and has another restaurant in the works; as for barbecue: “I’m NOT done with BBQ. My passion for BBQ will live on forever. I’ll be doing some bbq traveling & cooking. Stay tuned”

ICYMI, our latest Lexington (NC) Barbecue Rankings

Friday Find: Full-Time Eater Mark Wiens Explores Lexington-style Barbecue

Monk: You may recall Mark Wiens from his whole hog journey in eastern North Carolina I featured a couple months back. He’s back, and featuring Lexington-style barbecue. While he hit up 5 whole hog joints in his eastern NC video, he focuses on just two restaurants here: Lexington Barbecue and Stamey’s Barbecue in Greensboro. While I’m of course always happy to see Lexington Barbecue featured, I like that Mark also visited Stamey’s and met with fourth generation owner/operator Craver Stamey and many of the Vietnamese pitmasters and kitchen staff who have worked for Stamey’ for years.

Description: LEXINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA – There are two main styles of North Carolina BBQ, the whole hog and vinegar based sauce in Eastern North Carolina (watch the full video here: https://youtu.be/3u3KJOqrZsQ) and the pork shoulder bbq with ketchup based sauce in Lexington, North Carolina. Today we’re going to eat, learn about, and fully experience Lexington style North Carolina BBQ!

Lexington Barbecue (https://goo.gl/maps/WN8DFKw7UDJ6Qiaf6) – Right in the heart of Lexington, North Carolina, Lexington Barbecue is known to be one of the best places for bbq in North Carolina. They slow smoke pork shoulders using a time proven process. The pork is ready, it’s chopped, mixed with sauce, and you can specify the different chopped coarseness you prefer. Along with outstanding pork barbecue, you have to order the hush puppies, which are little deep fried corn fritters that go perfectly with any bbq meal.

Stamey’s Barbecue (https://goo.gl/maps/4uzT92ErRGEip6PM7) – Next up on this tour of Western North Carolina bbq, we drove over to Greensboro, North Carolina to eat at Stamey’s Barbecue, again one of the most renowned bbq institutions in North Carolina. Their recipe is similar and again they make use of pork shoulders. Pork was fantastic, so tender and smoky with a depth of flavor and all the sides were incredibly tasty. It was another day of delicious food in North Carolina and experiencing the incredible barbecue culture of the Carolinas.