I’ve been meaning to get back to my trip to the beach. Day 1 was in Eastern NC. Day 2 started with breakfast in Mooresville at Athena’s’, a local spot.
That’s a fantastic country ham biscuit, and a livermush egg and cheese biscuit. The biscuits were great, and it’s a shame we only get city ham in restaurants in the DC area. (I covet correction.). And livermush is delicious – much like scrapple (which many people won’t try – but with greater depth of flavor.
then I started toward Lexington with a plan that evaporated when I saw smoke coming from this place.
and stopped for a tray.
This was very good barbecue. Very good. And for those unfamiliar 3ith red slaw, it’s more or less slaw dressed with Piedmont style barbecue sauce – nice and tangy. It came, of course, with hushpuppies.
Does any place match the NC hushpuppies.
Then on to Lexington to Welcome and Jimmy’s.
Rick’s used to be in that location and, briefly, Cafe 71, ion with of which I’d posted. I got another tray
Again, great barbecue. That’s a thicker sauce than I usually like, but it really worked. It didn’t interfere with the lovely flavor of old school pit-cooked pork. Cooking directly over coals makes such a difference.
And that’s an awful lot of hushpuppies for one person, but …
I’ve posted on each of these on my blog. I’ll add that I expect changes in my Piedmont Top Ten later this year, and that, as in the East, some terrific barbecue places are overshadowed by big name places. The biggest name in the East isn’t the best, or third best, and both Jimmy’s and Tarheel Q – of which no one has ever heard – are right up there with the best, just a notch behind Lexington #1, Red Bridges, and Bar-B-Q King.
