Linkdown: 12/15/20

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In his latest issue of The Cue Sheet, Robert Moss examines the ten best college cities or towns to attend according to nearby barbecue options. While my alma mater NC State is mentioned as a future possibility once the planned restaurants like Sam Jones BBQ, Wyatt’s Barbecue, and Longleaf Swine open their doors in 2021 (not to mention Prime BBQ in Knightdale that opened this year and the upcoming Ed Mitchell’s The Preserve), several NC towns make the list. Not on the list either is Chapel Hill, primarily due to the loss of Allen & Son last year.

East Carolina University in Greenville has B’s Barbecue, Sam Jones Barbecue and the two Ayden joints nearby (Skylight and Bum’s) and comes in at #9. Surprisingly, Catawba College in Salisbury, NC makes the list just ahead of Greenville due to a couple of joints in town (College Barbecue and Richard’s) plus its proximity to Lexington and its myriad options for barbecue.

That’s it for NC on this list but both Columbia and Charleston appear further down from our neighbors to the south. I won’t spoil the rest of the list, but if you think hard enough you can probably guess which university and city takes the #1 spot on the list.

Native News

The Great NC BBQ Map poster is 50% off through today

The Pinehurst Barbecue Festival is planned for September 3-5, 2021

The Bar-B-Q King is one of many COVID-friendly food options in Charlotte for walk-up or drive-thru (or in this case, drive-in)

In NC, barbecue sauce makes a great gift writes Spectrum News

OooWee BBQ has smoked meat by the pound available in take-and-bake meals

Primal BBQ is set to open in Wilmington later this month and will serve a little bit of everything

Longleaf Swine is one barbecue restaurant offering to-go meals in Raleigh

Wish I could attend this socially-distanced pig pickin’ in Durham this weekend

Chicken bog long sleeve tees from Buxton Hall released just in time for last minute Christmas shopping

Non-Native News

In perhaps the least surprising news of the week, Tim Carman found better options than the McRib in DC

Even though Pat Mahomes went to college in Texas, he prefers Kansas City barbecue

This smothered tater tots collaboration between Fox Bros Bar-B-Q and Nina and Rafi looks amazing

An American pitmaster living in Hong Kong names the US barbecue restaurants he dreams of going back to some day, including Rodney Scott’s BBQ, Cozy Corner, Franklin Barbecue, and Valentina’s Tex Mex BBQ

Pork n’ Pine Santa delivers pulled pork sammies in Baltimore

Friday Find: Wyatt Dickson and Ryan Butler on the NC F&B Podcast

Barbecue man Wyatt Dickson and farmer Ryan Butler join the NC F&B Podcast to learn hosts Max and Matthew a little something about barbecue and discuss their upcoming Wyatt’s Barbecue restaurant in downtown Raleigh, which will have freshly baked buns from their neighbor and abundant parking.

Description: According to Wyatt Dickson, pitmaster of Picnic and the soon-to-be-opening Wyatt’s Barbecue, almost every noteworthy barbecue restaurant in Eastern NC has great fried chicken. But what is “barbecue” exactly? Wyatt has some thoughts on the term.On today’s episode, we talk with Wyatt and his partner in crime Ryan Butler about how the pair met after leaving their white collar jobs to barbecue, what makes NC so special in terms of food and agriculture, and what to expect from Wyatt’s Barbecue in Raleigh (P.S. you can pick up Wyatt’s every Thursday in Gateway Plaza!). Tune into the episode now with the link in the comments!

Linkdown: 3/11/20

Mr. Barbecue is still on track to reopen in mid to late-May and the block mason started working on the pits as of early last week

Charlotte-based Mac’s Speed Shop names former Del Frisco’s vice president of operations George Shang Skipper as its president with the charge to expand their barbecue business

Duke’s Mayonnaise expands to barbecue sauce

Pik-N-Pig in Carthage is the rare combination of an airport-slash-barbecue joint

Franklin Barbecue Pits is targeting to begin shipping their first units by Memorial Day

Picnic is an essential restaurant in Durham, according to the News & Observer

The 10 best barbecue spots in Richmond according to travel site Trip Savvy

Micklewaith Barbecue’s Smithville location has closed after one year

Details on Carey Bringle’s new barbecue restaurant, called Bringle’s Smoking Oasis, which will focus on barbecue not-native to Tennessee and is eyeing a September opening

The stories behind six Charlotte-area barbecue joints; a re-up from last year from Charlotte Magazine

Linkdown: 11/27/19

More on Wyatt’s Barbecue, coming to downtown Raleigh in late 2020

Pork belly burnt ends were first served at Fort Worth’s Heim BBQ, writes Texas Monthly BBQ Editor Daniel Vaughn

Photographer Kelly Yandell has some photos from the TMBBQ Festival earlier this month

Wood’s Chapel BBQ makes Thrillist Atlanta’s list of Best New Restaurants of 2019

Doug Saul’s BBQ and Seafood in Nashville, NC has temporarily closed due to salmonella, the first such incident in its 42 years

Boulevard Barbeque is coming to Morganton later this year or early next year, and will be smoking all the meats on a gas-assisted Old Hickory

New Zion Church BBQ in Huntsville, TX has closed after 53 years

Just gonna leave this here: