After a great and adventurous meal at the Log Cabin, I left AlbemarIe and took a break from my tour of 26 Essential NC Barbecue Places and headed up to Raleigh to visit with my brother, Jim, and his wife, Cantey. You met them briefly here. Jim and Cantey live in Raleigh, but they’re never there. They’re away in the mountains, at the beach, or in … Continue reading The Glenwood Grill, Raleigh, North Carolina
We continue our 26 Essential NC Barbecue Places trip with this the sixth report. See here, here, here, here, and here. After a very good meal — a delightful meal, really — at Richard’s on Thursday evening, I got a good night’s sleep back in Mooresville. The next morning I got up and had a well-above-average free breakfast at the Mooresville Fairfield Inn, and wended … Continue reading Log Cabin Bar-B-Que, Albemarle, North Carolina
After a wonderful second lunch (a light one) at Countryside, I got back on the 26 Essential NC Barbecue Places trail and set my sights on Richard’s in Salisbury. I stayed at a motel in Mooresville, which you may know better as NASCAR, USA. Mooresville is the home of the Earnhardts and the Busches, among many others, and 60 NASCAR-related businesses. The town is doing … Continue reading Richard’s BBQ, Salisbury, North Carolina
After my Switzerland Cafe experience, I headed back down the mountain. After a quick stop at a Dollar Tree (I love Dollar Tree), and as I was approaching the Marion bypass, I saw a sign proclaiming hickory smoked barbecue at the Countryside Inn. I dutifully turned and drove in through Marion, which seems like a nice place. People on the street wave to each other, and … Continue reading Countryside BBQ, Marion, North Carolina
Undeterred by the debacle of my Wednesday evening meal, I began Thursday filled with resolve and a very good free breakfast at the Winston-Salem Marriott (a very nice hotel, by the way) and headed west to Little Switzerland, North Carolina. The Switzerland Cafe there is on both the Our State list of 26 Essential NC Barbecue Places and the Campaign for Real Barbecue list … Continue reading Switzerland Cafe, Little Switzerland, NC
After I left King’s, I drove to Winston-Salem and checked in to the Marriott, eager to start chipping away at the 26 Essential NC Barbecue Places. I sat down and started cross-referencing the 26 Places with the Campaign for Real Barbecue’s list of places in North Carolina that don’t use gas or electricity to make barbecue –only wood or charcoal. That created a dilemma. … Continue reading Small Batch Beer Company, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
The 4th Annual Beer Snob Pig Picking was scheduled for a Saturday, so I headed south on Wednesday morning. It’s not a long trip — Saturday morning would be early enough — but I was embarrassed not to have tried more of the barbecue places listed on the Our State list of 26 Essential North Carolina Barbecue Places. Also, Nancy, having left me as Acting … Continue reading The Best BBQ in Virginia? King’s Famous Bar-B-Q, Petersburg
Like others of my relentlessly advancing years, I often feel like standards are deteriorating, that many things are worse than they used to be. Often, I am right, of course, starting with the replacement of cane sugar with corn syrup in Coca Colas. I’m all the more pleased, therefore, when I find good things that are getting better. And one of my favorite treats is … Continue reading The 4th Annual Beer Snob Pig Picking, Lumberton, North Carolina
Regular readers of the Blog are familiar with my mother, Dear. She has appeared in numerous restaurant reviews, such as Carlile’s and Demetri’s, and in numerous discussions of fried chicken and other foods. Her recipe for dressing for turkey is unparalleled, and one day I’ll post her recipe for pound cake. On December 7, 2018, Dear died after 94 remarkable years on earth. Dear was born July … Continue reading Dear: A Remembrance
I’ve mentioned my cousins, the Johnstons, before. My first cousin, Ann Thomas, is one of the Wilson, North Carolina, Griffins, famous for their preference for Bill’s over Parker’s. (Now that Bill’s has closed, they seem to be fans of Marty’s.) Murray is from San Antonio and went to school in Austin, and, a true Texan, he makes the best brisket in the Washington, DC, area. … Continue reading Guest Post: Griffin Johnston on Texarbama BBQ, Fairhope, Alabama
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