North Carolina BBQ Forums Q&A

Hey Y'all,

Just wanted to let all-y'all know that I've been doing LOTS of research on barbeque in North Carolina and I am willing to share my findings with you.  To date (3/27/2010), I have personally visited, eaten at, and rated/reviewed the barbeque at 256 different establishments in North Carolina (as well as numerous others outside NC).  If anyone would like information on any particular Q-joint or information on Q-joints in different areas around NC I would be more than happy to share my ratings/reviews.  Please keep in mind, that these are only one person's opinion and everyone's tastes are different, but if you want my opinion, please let me know.  At some point I intend on putting all my information up on the web, but for now - just ask and I'll let you know what I thought about a place or recommend somewhere for you to go in most areas of NC.  I definitely haven't been to ALL Q-joints and other restaurants serving barbeque in North Carolina, but I've been to a bunch!  If I haven't been there yet, I'll strive to get there and then let you know what I think.

Thanks for this opportunity to share my opinions.

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Tom (aka "Another_Q_Lover" & "BBQ.TOM")
CMJ w/ KCBS
CBJ w/ MBN, NCPC, NCBS, & NCBBQA
OBJ w/ BBQ Critic.com
CTC w/ KCBS
Pitmaster and Chef - 4 Lil' Pigs Competition Barbecue Team
Author of "A 'Q' Review"

Cool beans!! Don't wait on us to ask, just go ahead and post what you know.....you just never know who has been where, and who is going to end up somewhere needin' a que fix....

Wow..I thought I was doing good! I do get direct requests from people all over who are traveling through the state and want some recommendations (just a few weeks ago it was from NY for the Charlotte area).

So I'm going to break down the state into the major areas, create a separate forum for that area, and allow everyone to recommend their favorite places to eat. This will be a great benefit for anyone looking for new places across the state or just traveling through.

So I’m looking for the best way to break this down. I’m thinking along the lines of the major cities breakdown ie, Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, Pinehurst, Goldsboro, Ashville, Boone, Winston-Salem-Greensboro, Wilmington, New Bern, OuterBanks.

Any additions/changes, etc before I ‘lock-in’ the breakdown?

Don, that sounds great.  Another cool idea from the reviews would be a GPS location...some of these places are out there, and the dog laying on the rt side of the road might have moved...you know that dog, where just as soon as you pass him, you need to take a left turn???...But this is a good idea for us.  THanks man,

I like the idea of "regional" reviews, but it might be better not to limit it to "cities" unless you are looking for the city titles with restaurants surrounding them as well.  Just a thought.

I'm looking forward to contributing my opinions!

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Tom (aka "Another_Q_Lover" & "BBQ.TOM")
CMJ w/ KCBS
CBJ w/ MBN, NCPC, NCBS, & NCBBQA
OBJ w/ BBQ Critic.com
CTC w/ KCBS
Pitmaster and Chef - 4 Lil' Pigs Competition Barbecue Team
Author of "A 'Q' Review"

Don, Q lover, sounds like we are after the same product...it might just take a few reports from all over the state to finalize the review button.  Like everyone else, I'm looking forward to them also.

Here’s what I’m trying to address. I get an email from someone like the following:

“Hi, I’m visiting [Raleigh, Charlotte, Ashville, whatever city]. I can travel [30-60 miles] from there. What BBQ joint/restaurant do I need to eat at for the best NC BBQ.“

So instead of lumping all the restaurants together and they have to wade through them, I want to break them down by region. I really only see two choices: by City (within a [60] mile radius) or Area (Piedmont, Sandhills, Mountain, Costal, etc). I don’t think visitors will know our Area breakdown though, so that’s why I leaning more to cities with a 60 mile radius or so.

I guess we could also add another forum group too that includes the ‘Must Visit’ category ie if you’re in NC, no matter where you are, you need to eat here…

This ‘area definition’ is pretty important right now as it will lock-in the listings moving forward. What does everyone think?

I definitely like the "Must Visit" category, as well as a break-down of cities/areas.  I agree that most folks from out-of-the-area will not know the "regional" designations that we know; therefore, I guess that the city category breakdown will probably be best.  I was just thinking about places that aren't located near large cities (Bladenboro for example).  Most places will be geographically close enough to lump them in to a city somewhere.

Whatever you think best sounds good to me!

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Tom (aka "Another_Q_Lover" & "BBQ.TOM")
CMJ w/ KCBS
CBJ w/ MBN, NCPC, NCBS, & NCBBQA
OBJ w/ BBQ Critic.com
CTC w/ KCBS
Pitmaster and Chef - 4 Lil' Pigs Competition Barbecue Team
Author of "A 'Q' Review"

Don, I like the city category also...it'll be easier to find on the map.  THanks Don,

Another idea is to have a couple "route lists" so that if someone is traveling through NC on I-95 we can list Q-joints close to I-95 (or I-40 or I-85).

Just a thought.

I too have been asked for recommendations on another forum by people traveling through NC heading to Florida or Myrtle Beach.  It would be great to have a pre-prepared list available for them.

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Tom (aka "Another_Q_Lover" & "BBQ.TOM")
CMJ w/ KCBS
CBJ w/ MBN, NCPC, NCBS, & NCBBQA
OBJ w/ BBQ Critic.com
CTC w/ KCBS
Pitmaster and Chef - 4 Lil' Pigs Competition Barbecue Team
Author of "A 'Q' Review"

I like that idea too. So I'm thinking we'll create two lists: 'By City' and 'By Route'. Of course there will be overlap but this caters to both requests. I'll try and put something together this weekend. Please let me know of other cities we should also include, other than what I listed...

A couple other cities you might want to list could be:

Wilmington, Greenville, Winston-Salem/Greensboro, Lexington/High Point/Thomasville, Wilson, maybe Fayetteville and/or Goldsboro.

Feel free to add to or subtract from these suggestions!  Just trying to cover a lot of the state.

I know that I've suggested a bunch, but I'm just trying to help.

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Tom (aka "Another_Q_Lover" & "BBQ.TOM")
CMJ w/ KCBS
CBJ w/ MBN, NCPC, NCBS, & NCBBQA
OBJ w/ BBQ Critic.com
CTC w/ KCBS
Pitmaster and Chef - 4 Lil' Pigs Competition Barbecue Team
Author of "A 'Q' Review"