I know I'll probably get shit for starting another bbq thread but I'm in Charlotte hanging with my parents until Tuesday and I haven't had decent bbq in a while. All the "bbq" they serve in Alabama is absolute dogshit and they make it with some nasty white mayo based "bbq sauce". The entire time my gf has known me she's thought of me as a bbq snob because I'm always talking about how superior NC style bbq is so I've finally got a chance to show her. I only really got into bbq when I was at NCSU in Raleigh though so I know nothing of good bbq places in Charlotte. I'm currently in South Charlotte near Matthews/Weddington so any suggestions you may have would be greatly appreciated. Willing to go to the other side of the city if necessary.

Note: I'd only like suggestions for Eastern style bbq. She had some Lexington style earlier this week and I wanna make sure she gets the full spread of NC style bbq while she is here.

Extra Note: She had Cook-Out for the first time ever today and LOVED it (another NC style food I miss all the time that I've been telling her about forever).

7/2/2011 6:23:09 PM

You're gonna have trouble getting eastern style in Charlotte, but I'm sure there is a place somewhere in the area that has it. Can't think of any off the top of my head though...

7/2/2011 6:30:32 PM

Are there any Smithfield's in Charlotte?

7/2/2011 6:40:19 PM

^Not that I know of. I checked Google Maps and the closest I could find was in Rockingham.

7/2/2011 6:44:42 PM

http://www.bubbasbarbecue.com/

Quote :

"We slow cook the choicest grade of pork for over 10 hours, using hickory wood to give the meat the deliciously seasoned hickory smoke flavor you expect in mouth watering Eastern North Carolina style barbecue. "

4400 Sunset Road
Charlotte, NC 28216
704-393-2000

7/2/2011 6:47:53 PM

When ordinary Q won't do

7/2/2011 6:55:00 PM

Quote :

" We use a 33-hour process to bring you the finest Eastern North Carolina Style Barbecue available. We cook the whole hog on our pit until most of the fat is gone. During preparation, the remaining skin, fat, bone, and gristle are thrown away. You are getting 100% lean meat with no ketchup, sugar or soy fillers. Our Barbecue is lightly seasoned with salt, crushed red pepper and vinegar. For your safety, we take extra care to ensure food temperature and sanitation requirements are met or exceeded."

Sounds like it might be legit. The first sign of someone trying to BS eastern style is if they're making it with just pork shoulder and not the whole hog.

[Edited on July 2, 2011 at 7:06 PM. Reason : Magical disapearing punctuation...]

7/2/2011 7:04:03 PM

Looks good, settledown have you actually been there before? I just wanna make sure I go somewhere that I have a first hand account of it being good.

7/2/2011 7:22:55 PM

Quote :

"She had some Lexington style earlier this week"

Old Hickory House?

Bill Spoon's is good Eastern too, I've never had Bubba's but have heard a ton of their radio ads

7/2/2011 7:24:08 PM

Quote :

"have you actually been there before"

i have not

has decent reviews on yelp, mostly 4 stars

http://www.yelp.com/biz/bubbas-barbecue-charlotte

it's probably good as hell and some people downvoted because their pansy charlotte asses got scared by a sticky table or a couple flies


[Edited on July 2, 2011 at 8:05 PM. Reason : actually the bad reviews are from Ohio and New York people - what the fuck do they know?]

7/2/2011 8:02:48 PM

^Actually it was a hole in the wall place off the side of the road on the way to the beach. I don't even remember the name of it but I've found that those are the best type of places for authentic food. I'm not a huge fan of Lexington bbq but I enjoyed it.

7/2/2011 8:04:11 PM

Old Hickory House has about the best brunswick stew I've ever had

I'd definitely recommend Bill Spoon's for eastern style though, but they close at 3pm and I'm not sure their weekend schedule

7/2/2011 8:19:17 PM

Just to forwarn you, bubbas is in a little bit of a rougher area off statesville rd, id recommend take out if you can help it. I'm on the phone in a bad reception area but check on Max's off South or East blvd. I like all bbq really but can't remember if that was eastern or not

7/2/2011 8:37:44 PM

I think there's a Sonny's in Charlotte, though I've heard they gone downhill a ton since their heyday.

7/2/2011 8:47:24 PM

Bill Spoons

and

Rock Store is OK (I think they do a vinegar base)

7/2/2011 9:08:34 PM

^Bill Spoons on South Blvd.!

7/2/2011 9:55:35 PM

this thread is relevant to my interests

7/2/2011 10:13:28 PM

Quote :

"skin, fat, bone, and gristle are thrown away."

ah shit, i missed that part. I am dubious about a place that would throw away pork skins. Regardless, i think ima try this place tomorrow if its open. I ll report back.

7/2/2011 10:27:24 PM

ken's grill in la grange takes the skin and crisps it up on the grill and serves you a piece of it on the side

love that shit

7/2/2011 11:13:55 PM

Bubba's BBQ is terrible. Do not go there. If you want to venture a few miles north you can check out R&R BBQ in Concord, 1 exit up from Concord Mills. It's pretty damn good.

7/2/2011 11:38:31 PM

R&R is MUCH better than Bubba's

7/3/2011 12:00:43 AM

Bubbas is really one of Charlottes hidden gyms

7/3/2011 12:50:16 AM

this Bill Spoon's place sounds promising

7/3/2011 5:49:22 AM

Bubbas sucks.

R&R is better.

I'd honesly say for pulled/chopped pork r&r might beat the pit up here in raleigh.


(but everything else is 10x better at the pit)

[Edited on July 3, 2011 at 8:10 AM. Reason : .]

7/3/2011 8:09:37 AM

i like R&R.

7/3/2011 8:19:04 AM

Quote :

"I think there's a Sonny's in Charlotte, though I've heard they gone downhill a ton since their heyday."

There's one in the Arboretum where Good Old Days used to be. It was fine. No real complaints, but I've lived outside of NC for more than two years now, and I hadn't had real bbq in forever.

7/3/2011 9:29:39 AM

Quote :

" I'd honesly say for pulled/chopped pork r&r might beat the pit up here in raleigh."

It doesnt take much to beat The Pit. That place is a trainwreck of a BBQ joint. I'll never go back.

7/3/2011 10:09:29 AM

.....what happened to you??

http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/north-america/united-states/north-carolina/raleigh/75552/the-pit/restaurant-detail.html


ny times disagreed.

7/3/2011 11:01:53 AM

The NY times can suck it. Call us when some newspaper in KC starts raving about them.


But seriously, their bbq is decent. Some of the sides are questionable.

7/3/2011 12:06:07 PM

aint no such thing as a greaseless hushpuppy

7/3/2011 12:18:51 PM

the pit isn't the best bbq place on davie street, let alone raleigh/wake county/anywhere within half an hour

7/3/2011 12:23:11 PM

i maintain that Pit tastes alright, but isn't worth the $

7/3/2011 12:26:11 PM

BBQ King

was just on Diners, Drive ins and Dives

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpqmVhGPeJQ

7/3/2011 12:32:16 PM

http://www.ncbbqsociety.com/bbqmap/trail_map.php

7/3/2011 12:32:47 PM

that trail doesn't even go through wilson

cred lost

7/3/2011 12:35:46 PM

Perhaps Wilson doesn't have an open pit wood cooked BBQ joint that's been operating continuously for 15+ years.

7/3/2011 12:39:34 PM

perhaps...not sure what method they use but they've been there for decades (Bills and Parkers)

7/3/2011 12:43:56 PM

FTR

There is a place in Bham (Saw's) that is owned by a man from Charlotte, and it is eastern style bbq w/ a twist. He only adds a tiny bit of some extra type of sauce but it's mostly vinegar based.


IT IS AMAZING.

7/3/2011 12:46:19 PM

Im pretty sure both use gas now. For some reason i want to say Bill's was using wood before the flood and was forced to switch to gas bc they no longer qualified to grandfather in on some ordinance. This is all heresay tho, so dont quote me.

Ps im reporting live from Bubba's. Shit is driest bbq ive ever had the misfortune of placing in my mouth. And the coleslaw has a smidge too much mustard. The chicken is aight tho.

[Edited on July 3, 2011 at 12:49 PM. Reason : And i just heard the waiter say theyre out of fried chicken, lol]

7/3/2011 12:48:43 PM

Bill Spoon's is excellent, but isn't always open. Bubba's is pretty good. Mack's Speed Shop is good but it's a different style

7/3/2011 1:11:45 PM

I'll have to check out the place in Birmingham, but I'm only down there like once a year so it will be a while.

What do you guys think of the Q shack? Is that place decent at all?

I would check out Bill Spoon's but it looks like it will be closed whenever I can go there.

[Edited on July 3, 2011 at 1:46 PM. Reason : ]

7/3/2011 1:45:36 PM

a big ole 'no' to q-shack

worth a try for yourself though



i always feel like i remember it being better, then when i go there im disappointed, nevermore

7/3/2011 1:50:30 PM

Why not get Western NC BBQ? Much better than that vinegary stuff.

7/3/2011 1:50:40 PM

Q Shack is about as good as the one by campus in Raleigh. It's not the best in Charlotte, but it was pretty good about everytime I've been there.

7/3/2011 1:50:41 PM

it's just not an Eastern style bbq at all, from what i remember ... so everytime I went I got the pulled BBQ chicken

7/3/2011 1:52:15 PM

yeah it's really not "eastern style bbq"

It's some fusion of texas "bbq" and nc bbq. they have a sauce that IIRC is similar to eastern style though, and it tastes pretty good.

7/3/2011 1:59:47 PM

My verdict on Bubba's is that I'd rather go get some fried chicken from Price's and a bbq sandwhich from Cookout. It seemed like most people around me had gotten the ribs.

^^Yeah, Q-shack definitely isn't for eastern NC style. They're more of the mid-west/texas stuff. Brisket, chicken, ribs, etc. Its pretty good food though.

[Edited on July 3, 2011 at 2:01 PM. Reason : ^ basically stole the words out of my mouthkeyboard]

7/3/2011 2:00:20 PM

threads gonna make me drive 7-8 miles to f'n knightdale for some smithfields


if only BBQ Lodge on Capital wasn't pure shit

[Edited on July 3, 2011 at 2:05 PM. Reason : ]

7/3/2011 2:04:50 PM

I wonder if Parkers is open today...

7/3/2011 2:05:29 PM

i went to bills last friday and they had a sign that said when they'd be closed for a week ... but i cant remember what the dates were...i would think they would stagger it so they were off one week and parkers the other week

i realize how helpful this must be to you

here's their phone # lol : (252) 237-0972

[Edited on July 3, 2011 at 2:07 PM. Reason : ]

7/3/2011 2:06:42 PM