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North Carolina Barbecue, Page 2, Fish Camps

  • Thread starter Thread starter donbosco
  • Start date Start date
  • Replies: 51
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Moving back to sweet home North Carolina in about 3.5 months. Once there, I may not eat anything besides barbecue for the next year.
 
Paine said:
Best whole hog BBQ joint in the world. Sorry Parker’s, this Wilson boy has no loyalty lol.
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Brother, you ain't told a lie yet! Sam Jones and Skylight are the two greatest whole hog joints on the planet. Parker's is only alright, IMO. I'd get B's in Greenville before I'd even consider Parker's, and even B's, IMO, is a tad overrated. Sam Jones and Skylight deliver 100% of the time.
 
Paine said:
Best whole hog BBQ joint in the world. Sorry Parker’s, this Wilson boy has no loyalty lol.
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Been so long since I ate at Skylight that I can't give a fair opinion. Wilber's would be my pick since I grew up in that area. When I was living in Rocky Mount which was for six years ending about a year and a half ago, Parkers had seriously declined from the 80s and 90s and Bill Ellis's had closed. I thought that Marty's actually had the best barbecue in that area.
 
Back in the day you had some good BBQ at Hickory Log in Forest City. They would cater some summer camps when I was a wee lad. I enjoy Alston Bridges and Red Bridges in Shelby when I get the chance. Red's is easier to get to b/c it's just off of 74. Alston's is over by Cleveland County Hospital so it's just a tad off the beaten path. Both great places (IMO).
 
Bill Ellis used to cater for my uncle's family reunion in Beautancus as well as some of the bridge tournaments in the area I played in. I always liked it but I don't think I ate anything there in the last 20-25 years.
 
finesse said:
Been so long since I ate at Skylight that I can't give a fair opinion. Wilber's would be my pick since I grew up in that area. When I was living in Rocky Mount which was for six years ending about a year and a half ago, Parkers had seriously declined from the 80s and 90s and Bill Ellis's had closed. I thought that Marty's actually had the best barbecue in that area.
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The thing with Skylight, IMO, is that Sam Jones has taken what was so great about Skylight and then expanded it much further, making it kind of unnecessary to venture down to Ayden (although Bum's in Ayden is dang good, too). Skylight just has such a limited menu- which is totally fine, that's why they were so good!- but Sam Jones has taken the best parts of Skylight (the whole hog and the slaw) and then added all sorts of other great side options, too.
 
Paine said:
It’s a luxury having the Sam Jones location in Raleigh. I just wish they had put it in a different location.
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Amen. I was living in Cary at the time they opened the location in Raleigh in 2021 and I think I had a streak of something like 65 straight weeks of eating there before we moved to Birmingham in 2022. I'm only slightly obsessed! We're moving back to North Carolina in early summer and I may eat double my body weight in Eastern whole hog when I get back.
 
I'd like to go some time. Most of the time these days, I just do my own over charcoal or eat what my son brings back when he referees fencing tournaments. He's pretty good at stopping by Wilber's or Stephensons.
 
The boys at Redneck BBQ Lab in Smithfield (and now they have a location at North Hills) and at Long Leaf Swine in Raleigh do some good work, too, of y'all need a little variety in your lives.
 
BTW...I live much of the time in Asheville where I was pretty unsatisfied with BBQ. Luella's can be good brisket but that's not something that is truly North Carolina, and their hushpuppies are pretty good.

Then I moved to the Fairview area just south of Asheville -- close by a place called Smokey and the Pig on the Old Charlotte Highway. It is good and they keep about the right amount of skin in the mix. I usually eat it without any of their sauces. Their hushpuppies are savory not sweet at all, which I also prefer. The rest of their sides are simply passable. But I'm happy to have the place within 2 miles of where I live.
 
CFordUNC said:
The boys at Redneck BBQ Lab in Smithfield (and now they have a location at North Hills) and at Long Leaf Swine in Raleigh do some good work, too, of y'all need a little variety in your lives.
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I run (maybe too much) on the purist side. The barbecue I ate before I was 6-7 was cooked in a literal pit in the sand under the shed roof of a tobacco barn and all the spices we really had and used was salt, pepper, cider vinegar and red pepper. Still pretty much all I use.
 
Rule of thumb that I've learned as a barbecue fiend who seeks it out when I travel is that outside of a very, very, very select few places (I can think of maybe one or two, tops) I don't ever get brisket outside of Texas and I don't ever get whole hog outside of North Carolina.
 
finesse said:
I run (maybe too much) on the purist side. The barbecue I ate before I was 6-7 was cooked in a literal pit in the sand under the shed roof of a tobacco barn and all the spices we really had and used was salt, pepper, cider vinegar and red pepper. Still pretty much all I use.
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Lordy that sounds amazing. I want an invite next time you cook a hog!
 
A couple of months ago, Wilber's had a "pop-up" in Charlotte. My sister-in-law went to the "pop-up" they had in Raleigh and let me know there would be one in Charlotte. The "pop-up" was in someome's driveway in Myers Park. Wasn't as good as the restaurant, but much more convenient.
 
MOUNTAINH33L said:
Back in the day you had some good BBQ at Hickory Log in Forest City. They would cater some summer camps when I was a wee lad. I enjoy Alston Bridges and Red Bridges in Shelby when I get the chance. Red's is easier to get to b/c it's just off of 74. Alston's is over by Cleveland County Hospital so it's just a tad off the beaten path. Both great places (IMO).
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Man I haven’t lived in NC for a long time now and this thread is bringing out some nostalgia. Growing up in Gaston county we would go over to Bridges fairly often. We always referred to it as just “Bridges” though. I honestly didn’t know there was a Reds at the front of the name until I just looked it up on Google maps lol.

I’ll give a shoutout to my personal favorite BBQ joint: Kyle Fletcher’s.
 
I'm an old school Eastern NC person. The rise of Q's place in the haute-cuisine world over the what? last 20-30 years has been a source of amusement for ne. I do enjoy almost all manner of Q though no to mustard, thank you.

Q will always reside both in my lexicon and in palate to be Eastern. Here's an over looked but damn good place in Greenville. Pro Tip: Get there early.

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