Grady’s, Southern Wayne County, North Carolina

There is so much to love about Grady’s. It may be the most isolated barbecue place on earth, and driving there through fields of cotton and peanuts is a joy. The building itself is unadorned.

The Gradys themselves are lovely people, sweet and charming. And they cook barbecue the way God wants us to cook it: whole hog over wood coals, with the fat dripping down onto the low, slow coals. Long time readers will recall my castigation of the Museum of African American History for its neglect of the important role of black persons in barbecue, and my suggestion that they should have included Grady’s, lock stock and owners, in the museum. Regular readers are probably getting tired of me repeating that Grady’s should be a UNESCO world heritage site, but it really should. So I headed to Grady’s following my heroic breakfast at Flo’s Kitchen and a modest lunch at Carol’s Home Cooking.

I love the atmosphere at Grady’s. I had a nice chat with three NC State grads from different cities who picked Grady’s to meet before their 50th graduation reunion, and also a couple of farmers. The place generates friendliness.

Despite my earlier meals I was ready to eat at Grady’s, though, and ordered a combination pork and chicken plate with butter beans and collards. The hushpuppies came as dependably as the sunrise.

Let’s start on the periphery. Two places with butter beans in one day. What have I done to deserve such fortune? Ah, and what butter beans! Delicious. The collards also were very good, and the hushpuppies were excellent, hot and fresh and with a great crust.

Just as even Homer nods, however, the chicken was just okay. It was only a smidgen better than the unfortunate chicken at the Skylight Inn, and that perhaps only because Grady’s was a thigh rather than a breast. I had higher hopes than expectations for the chicken, but even with that the chicken was a disappointment. And the pork, while very good, did not reflect Grady’s at its best. Almost a touch dry, it perked up with some additional vinegar-pepper sauce.

Still, it was a fine meal, and I won’t hesitate to drive well out of my way back to Grady’s. The food was great, except for the easily avoided chicken, and it’s just a wonderful place to be. If you haven’t been, you should go. If you go to Grady’s once, you’ll go again.

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