Lexington, Carolina BBQ


 
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Tyler Montague

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I need my faith restored, brothers. I just ate at "Lexington Barbecue" in Lexington, NC, after several recommendations while here on a business trip. I drove an hour with two coworkers to get there. The service was OUTSTANDING by two very sweet waitresses. The signs looked positive: There were plenty of hefty guys in flannel, overalls, "bass tournament winner" shirts, camo, etc. They had 6 chimneys sticking up over the back roof. Their special Lexington cole slaw was great. The hushpuppies, onion rings, and apple pie were great. The waitress even delivered me a good-sized chunk of hickory for me to take home. All good. BUT the pork was dry and bland!! What a disappointment! I need someone to talk me down from the ledge of my hotel here in Charlotte. I always accepted as an article of faith that Western NC pulled pork was something special. I feel more betrayed than when I watched a PBS special on making hot dogs. More betrayed than when I got back from a week-long hike with the Boy Scouts, eating nothing but Ramen noodles, and they had a pizza for me...and it had pineapple on it! Someone please help me regain faith.
 
While not NC, I went to my usual lunch counter here and saw a sign that next Tuesday they were serving BBQ Brisket. I got pretty worked up and started planning a lunch trip for a crowd and asked the main man how long they were planning on smoking them.

He said "we're not smoking them".

Bummer... Hype is not all it's hyped up to be.
 
Thanks, Chet, for virtually holding my hand and feeling my pain. There was no smoke ring in the pork I ate. No bark either. Just bland, pork jerky. Is this typical of this area? They said they rub in salt, and "smoke for at least 9 hours with hickory and oak." There must be a hickory and an oak tree out back where they "smoke" cigarettes all day while they sun-dry their meat. This is tobacco country.
 
Tyler, you might find that even your most favorite BBQ places aren't going to measure up now that you have your WSM.

This has been true for me over the last few weeks. It can be frustrating but it can also be gratfying. Let that joint know that you can make better Q than them and you can prove it! Or, don't say anything at all and be happy knowing that you can go home and rectify the bad BBQ session with a great one of your own!!
 
Tyler-

First a technicality...that wasn't western NC bbq - it was Lexington style bbq. Western NC bbq has a heavy red tomato based sauce on it. There are 3 distinct styles of bbq here in NC - eastern, Lexington and western. I myself prefer eastern style, being from the coast. Although Lexington style gets all the hype for some reason.

Now, the bbq. One thing this WSM cooking has done to me is spoil me rotten. To be honest, I can't go to any of the restaurants I went to as a child and enjoy bbq anymore. For the exact same reasons you said....sometimes. Others, I find the bbq to be really "wet" - not moist either - I mean wet. It is like they have it soaking in water in the back to keep it warm and from drying out.

And you are right, as you pull up it has everything you would look for! Crowded all the time, hickory smoke filling the air from the smokehouse out back, friendly people, perhaps my favorite hush puppies of all time and a fairly decent sauce. I like the heat - it seems to come from nothing but black pepper. But again, this bbq is nothing like what I can create on my WSM - and this isn't patting myself on the back - I'm sure that everyone else here can do the same.

I have had the opportunity to try several bbq restaurants recently that I had always heard great things about - and quite honestly, none of their bbq has impressed me...without some sauce. That makes a big difference. But I want to taste hickory and pork and some kick from a dry rub and the bark in my first few bites without the sauce...that is how you can tell good bbq! The sauce should compliment it - not make it! And now I'm going to Memphis in October...in years past I would have been drooling at the thought...now I'm just expecting another disappointment...

Feeling your pain - Rick
 
Every joint can turn out a below average product every now and then, but I think the real answer is that you can't please everyone all the time. Restaurants have to please as many as possible, and when it comes to q, some like me want it dripping in fat, others want it dry. Some like it finely chopped, others coarsely and other pulled. And some don't want it spicy. I wonder how any of them can please as many people as they do.

But when you make it at home, you're making it just the way you like it. So it's a lot easier to get what you want and in that way, it's better.
 
I did not understand that Lexington was a style apart from Western and Eastern NC 'Q. It's true that since getting deep into making my own a few years ago, I'm a lot tougher to please. Weber hath spoiled. Same goes for grilling too. I had a Prime-grade, dry-aged Porterhouse at a premium restaurant (pricing was a-la-carte, and the steak alone was $36) and the steak was good, but I couldn't help thinking that I've had better off my own grill. Certainly cheaper.

I end up in North Carolina a few times a year for work (I live in Mesa, AZ). Rick, is there not ANY place--a place with a grizzled old pitmaster, with waitresses that call you "sweetie" and "dear", where the food is awesome, and where you may even have to fight through a picket line staffed by P.E.T.A. out front--that I can go to?
 
Tyler-

Since you asked, I'll respond with two of the places I still go to expecting some good Easter-style pork - this is almost a straight vinegar sauce, with very little if any ketchup - so it may not be what you're looking for. These are not listed in order of prefernce - both are very good - IMHO.

B's BBQ in Greenville, NC - this is more of a little shack than anything - very authentic, almost cult place to go eat! They have expanded their dining area so you aren't forced to eat outside anymore! They still have the smokehouse out back - the same black fellow has been tending these pits since the first time I ate there about 15 years ago. They have stacks of Kingsford and hickory under the roof of the smokehouse. They have really good chicken here also.

Taste of Country in Clinton, NC - If you aren't familiar with NC, we have more pigs than people. Clinton is the headquarters of one of the nations largest corporate hog farms - huge feed processing plant across the street from this restaurant as well as a fairly plush office. Used to be Murphy Family Farms - now I think they merged with Brown's of Carolina and are Murphy-Brown (man did I hate that show!) Anyway - they have nothing but a buffet at Taste of Country - and they serve both chopped pork bbq and always have a pig side on the buffet for you to pull your own. That is what I find to be the best - I'm more of a pulled person than chopped.

There are several others that produce good bbq - and I'm sure many I have never been to. And if I go in to many of them with the right attitude (that the sauce is going to be the flavor moreso than the smoke and rub), many of them are downright enjoyable!
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A couple more good ones - General McArthurs in Laurinburg, NC and Bullock's in Durham, NC;

If anyone else knows some fine establishments in NC, feel free to add them and tell me where I need to go.
 
Nick-

I don't know that my bbq is good enough for a trip from Arizona, but from Lexington...it is probably worth that!
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I'm still waiting on more info about the big party we're having with everyone from the board! There might be so much food that we wouldn't even need the adult beverages!
 
You didn't like the BBQ at Honey Monk's????

It must have been an off day; either that or your taste buds are drastically dissimilar from mine. Lexington BBQ was the best meat I've ever had, save possibly for Duke's in Orangeburg, SC.

The Carolinas have the best bbq, hands down.

P.j.
 
>>Others, I find the bbq to be really "wet" - not moist either - I mean wet. <<

Possibly from the vinegar sauce? The pork certainly gets wet, since a good vinegar sauce permeates the meat, rather than just blanketing it. I suppose not everyone likes that. But if pork is done well, a thin vinegar sauce is all I need.

P.j.
 
I intend to try again in North Carolina...I can't believe that there would be that much hype over what I got served. It just has to be better somewhere. It was like "they were soaking it in water all day". That's a perfect description of the stuff I had. I will find something better in NC, even if it's at Rick's house
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. Is SC where they do a lot of mustard sauces? All the people in NC I discussed this with took the opportunity to point out the inferiority of the "mustardy SC stuff."

I am going to do 4 butts at a family campout this week, and I'm going to do them Arizona-style. That involves doing them however you feel like. This time it means pecan smoke; a simple salt, pepper, brown sugar, paprika rub; and a thin tomato-based sauce. AZ BBQ is dependable.
 
Tyler,

I am sorry to hear about your experience with Lexington Barbecue, as I have enjoyed it in the past. However, as has been pointed out, now that you have the bullet you are spoiled. I've never had anything in a restaurant as good as home made.

Since you travel to NC for business trips and are up for the quest for the holy grail, perhaps this will help you avoid the knights who say "Ni".

Bob Garner has written two books to assist in your quest. The most applicable is "Bob Garner's Guide to North Carolina Barbecue" which lists quite a few barbecue places throughout the state. The other book talks more of the history and is called, "North Carolina Barbecue: Flavored By Time". Both are available on Amazon.

I've read and enjoyed both books. I have not been to all the places in the guide, but the ones I have been at I would have to agree with his reviews.

Another source of reviews on NC barbecue joints online is the "Lexington Collection" reviews:
http://www.ibiblio.org/lineback/bbq/jnts.htm

Good luck in your quest and let us know what you discover.

-gregg
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