How bout we talk about eastern Carolina cue?
NO posts on any of the classics here, or am I on the wrong board???
I am one happy girl right now…sitting out on east end of North Fork Long Island, NY and chowing down on B’s bbq that a friend gifted me!!! Wow, best vinegar sauce I ever had…I can’t make the pork but what about the recipe for that sauce…
Are there any fans of places like Bunn’s, Skylight, etc…I know John Tanner but are we two the only ones???
Well, I’ll start off with background – my latest 10 best in ENC –
I believe Bunn’s went under – unless you mean Bum’s, which in many ways is the best of all.
I’m at the beach in NC now. On the way down, I ate at
B’s
Skylight Inn
Sam Jones/Winterville
then headed west for some Piedmont style, and came back east to
Lefler’s
Southern Smoke
Sid’s Catering
Grady’s
and Wilber’s
I’ll post pictures when time permits. Im still writing up Glacier National Park
If you ever get a chance, go to Sid’s Catering. It’s a project, as it’s not near anywhere and it opens only on 8:30 am. on Saturdays and they sell out. I was there at 8:25 and there were a half dozen cars before me. It’s fantastic.
Liked Bum’s…but went on same day as Skylight. First time at Skylight when I heard the sound of the chopping, I felt I had died and gone to heaven!!! OOOH…give me that crispy skin!!!
Grady’s? I’ve never been; they seem to be open limited hours.
Sam Jones…good but kind of fancy…but drinks, not just sweet tea!!
Southern Smoke,…is that on St. Simons??
I like Red Neck near Benton.
But I know nothing!!1 You are the expert!!!
I do like Shulers buffet in Latta, SC but that’s not today’;s topic. And I’m always there for lunch so never tried their ribs, only out for dinner, but do love the chicken. Can’t beat the price, especially for us oldsters!!! Think it was $9 a head a few years ago…
We used to drive NYC to south Florida but now ship the car so I doh’t have a chance to pass through…entire three day trip was planned around BBQ…but had to be not that far off I-95 once we passed Edenton/Windsor…and got on the horrible interstate.
Darn, the B’s was great, even if I had to eat it on two dog rolls.all I had in the house!!
Signed, a long time fan of yours, honored to read your response. Why is no one else here interested??? ek. (long time Chowhound-er still mourning the passing). If you go to Spain or Italy, maybe I can repay some of what I learned from you over the years!!!
Here’s 2 from this year in cooking and culture.
Nice report!
This creme fraisch sauce/glaze is fantastic–it must be the reason for the name. That and the charred bread…
Tonight I’m doing the intended BCC in the Napoleon appliance to test whether aromatics (here, rosemary) make it into the meat.
nice!
I’ve eaten at wilbur’s many times but not since they were closed and subsequently re-opened. Before they closed, I thought the q sublime. Likewise, I’ve not been back to sweatman’s since it was sold but it used to be very good.
I had a client driving distance from Allen and son, thank god they retired, the $1.25 hand cut fries add on and the $4 homemade pie was gonna be the death of me. I really came to love not only his bbq but the decor, service and what the place meant in terms of bbq history. I had a couple of nice conversations with Keith Allen about the restaurant and bbq.
The client was also driving distance to the Pit when ed Mitchell was involved, that was good q. Ed came up to cook at the big apple bbq and was nice enough to bring over a big hunk of pork skin for my wife and I. Hopefully he opens up a new restaurant at some point.
I think of McCabe’s as eastern style bbq, it’s whole hog with a vinegar/pepper sauce and one of my favorites, I know John likes it too.
When I eat bbq, I can’t get away from evaluating it as a bbq judge. As such, i was to Grady’s many years ago, liked but didn’t love it. Same for Stephensons. Same for Parker’s but I love their room, corn sticks and the fried chicken is pretty good. Someone, maybe John, mentioned Marty’s, in the old Bill’s place, is very good.
Best,
Ps perhaps @FlemSnopes will join the discussion and share his mind blowing bbq database with you.
That’s very interesting. How does a bbq judge evaluate the food? I gather from reading that it involves things about which I care not, and I feel certain things important to me.
I’ve been to the newly reopened Wilber’s and it is as good as ever – maybe better! See my latest Wilber’s post with John Shelton Reed and Alan Parnell.
I never made it to Allen and Son, alas. A lesson not to wait to try things that sound good.
I think Grady’s is a good, solid place for pork, and I hear they have good fried chicken. I was just there last week and a lot of other places 9B’s, Skylight, Sam Jones in Winterville, Hillsborough, Tarheel Q, Jimmy’s, Lefler’s, Southern Smoke, Sid’s Catering, and Wilber’s). Grady’s gets a lot of points for the friendly and, really, sweet people working there – factors I like.
The new owners of Sweatman’s have started cooking with gas, alas.
The Pit has settled back into above average. The best place in Raleigh is the Sam Jones there.
Marty’s is actually a lot like Parker’s, only their sauce and their corn sticks aren’t as good. They do have fried gizzards (so does Stephenson’s) , which is a big plus, and chicken pastry, another big plus. They don’t have Parker’s atmosphere – it’s more like a repurposed burger decor.
That BGE chicken: WOW!
I forgot McCabe’s…its close to I-95 and we liked it a lot…
One bbq place we tried that was not great, but they had cheese biscuits, which this New Yorker had never tried before: Shaw’s. And also in Williamston was an old-time oyster house, also new to me…SunnySide. I asked the guy sitting next to me there where he thought was the best BBQ in the area and he said Red Neck near Benson…not old fashioned like the classics but I liked their ribs… But I do feel out of place even entering into this discussion, as I know so little about BBQ in general!! But just looked up Southern Smoke (was mixing the name up with the one on St. Simons__Southern Soul…shame on me!) which I’d not heard of before…would that be one for me to try next trip south on 95?
IF you each had to nominate ONE best eastern NC place…could you choose just one?
John,
as a kcbs judge, we’re taught to judge on taste, appearance, and texture. I’m sure taste and texture are important to you, you may not think appearance is important but the truth is that at least to some extent, we eat with our eyes.
The odd part of judging is that if you do it enough, your tastes converge on some sort of group standard. This comes about because after judging a meat, we’re encouraged to talk about in detail what we liked and didn’t like about each entry. I’ve judged about 25 contests and my standard is still going to be influenced by someone that has judged 75 contests.
As someone who loves bbq, you should really give it a try or two. The best of it is better than most of the bbq served in restaurants…the pitmasters are using good meat and paying attention to the q in a way that a restaurant pitmaster just can’t. Having said that, it took a trip to lockhart before I understood great brisket and I’ve never had its equal in a contest. otoh, I don’t think you’ll ever find better bbq chicken than at a contest.
I thought my retirement would be full of judging and competing but what’s the saying, “man plans, God laughs”? Many of the contests in our area folded during the pandemic, hopefully, they’ll get going again and I’ll get back to it.
that is quite a trip john! I read that wilber’s menu is much smaller since they re-opened? My favorite memory there is the first time we went the kids were young and never had hushpuppies. the server set down a big hot plate next to me and as you know, they are great. I got about halfway through the plate and my oldest asked to try one. he tried one, took another, and the other two tried them my wife took one and said “oh my God!” Ninety seconds later the entire plate was gone The server asked if we wanted more, I thought about it for a second and decided the only way I’d get the whole family to make the 45-minute detour again was to leave them wanting more. And sure enough, next trip, everyone asked if we were going wilbers!
best,
you shouldn’t feel out of place, your passion alone qualifies you for any conversation and on top of that, you’ve eaten at some of the best places in the country.
imo, there is no best place, just like there is no greatest artist or painting,
Thanks, vinouspleasure! that’s helpful. I find that I now judge appearance based on flavor. Hash on rice in SC is a good example. A look at it inspires a lot of “I’ve stepped in it but never eaten it” type comments. Of course, it’s usually possible to judge freshness by sight. Smell is important, but that’s really taste.
Actually, Wilber’s menu has gotten substantially more extensive. The original menu is still the best part, although the new sides add a lot of value. There are specials occasionally, like chicken pastry, which I adore. The hushpuppies remain among the very best. I’ve never photographed a whole serving
I had a lot of business trips to the Research Triangle in the 1980s. High pressure stuff, working with statistical experts for long hours.
But twice I managed to take off early to get over to Allen & Sons well before their posted closing time (8 pm if I remember correctly). Both times they were sold out already. One of the great disappointments of my life.
My directions in recent years about where to eat in eastern Carolina have very much been shaped by John Tanner.
Based on visits in the last couple of years, I’d put B’s in Greenville and Sid’s in Beulaville at the very top.
Just a tad behind would be Wilber’s and Skylight. My guess on Wilber’s is that it slipped a notch upon reopening when they started serving ribs, which they pulled from the whole hog, making their flagship dish a touch less fatty and less “ribby.”
A slight step behind them would be Grady’s (but as John says, really nice people).
Way back would be Sam Jones (the original in Winterville). It was good and I’d probably eat there pretty often if it were in the DC area, but it was a major disappointment. A lot of people play up the lineage between Skylight and Sam Jones, but I ate at both of them on the same day (after listening to a charming Sam Jones on a podcast on the way to Winterville), and I am positive that (on this day at least), there is a chasm of difference between Skylight and Same Jones (my wife feels the same way, only even more vehemently than me).
Pulling up the rear with barbecue that wasn’t even good is Bum’s in Ayden. The lesson is probably that you should never eat in a barbecue place right before they’re going to close on a Friday night. But Bum’s barbecue and chicken were both on the verge of inedible the night we were there.
I keep lobbying John to give some love to my barbecue spreadsheet on his estimable Barbecue Blog, but I’m either too subtle or John has developed a real distaste for spreadsheets in his years of working with statisticians on southern voting rights cases.
“IF you each had to nominate ONE best eastern NC place…could you choose just one?”
B’s in Greenville.
John doesn’t do spreadsheets
I just posted on the Skylight Inn, where I at after B’s. It’s great, of course. Note that they have Sam Jones sauce on the tables. They do not use the Sam Jones sauce on their meat, and after looking at the ingredients, I wouldn’t either. Itis certainly not a classic ENC sauce.
If it makes you feel better, it was one of my favorite bbq restaurants but not my favorite bbq. The first time I went, for whatever reason, the pork was a little burnt and dry. didn’t see the need to return but one of my friends kept on raving about the place so I returned and the pork was very good, but when the waitress asked if i wanted the 75 cents hand cut fry add-on, I thought “here’s a place that wants my business”.
After the third meal the waitress remembered my order and asked if I wanted her to save a piece of fresh pie before they sold out. I never eat lunch but there I was, eating pork, fries, slaw and pie 2-3 days a week!
This video is about a lot more than Allen and Sons, imo it’s essential viewing for every bbq enthusiast:
Thank you, great video. It doesn’t make me feel better about having missed Allen & Son, however.
