5/17/10 UPDATE: SEE COMMENTS SECTION!
A few alert readers have written in to let us know that The Barbecue Joint in Chapel Hill appears to have closed several weeks ago. Since then we have been working hard–or at least hardly working–to confirm this rumor. Sure enough, the doors to the restaurant are closed and there is a sign from the Sheriff’s department saying that anyone who enters the restaurant is trespassing, or something to that effect.
Recently we heard from a highly placed source (given the Watergate-esque nature of this story we will refer to this source as “Hush Puppy” to protect his/her identity), who confirmed the joint’s closing. Hush Puppy told us, “they’re flat out of business and the lock on the door is the landlord’s, for non-payment of rent. Apparently they got over-extended… The scheme for raising money by offering $2,000 worth of future food for $1,000 now was made necessary by some major backers pulling the plug.”
Bad news for The Barbecue Joint’s loyal fans, especially any who ponied up $1,000 or more to invest in the place when it announced plans to move to a larger location awhile back. Allen & Son is now back to being Chapel Hill’s only NC barbecue joint. As much as I love Allen’s, maybe this opens the door for a new barbecue joint in town?
Filed under: Restaurants & Reviews | Tagged: Chapel Hill, Orange County, Rumors and hearsay, Signs of aporkalypse |
BBQ Jew 
As soon as I posted this story, I saw the Barbecue Joint’s catering van driving down highway 15-501. Hmm…
Do you think they’re about to open again? Or may be they’re already rounding up their stuff? I feel for you, sometimes it’s not just the food (well, of course it matters the most, I love barbecues to death, lol) but the company you get to hang around when you’re there. You sort of get used to the place, to the people and to their food. Well, you’re right though, probably it’ll open the doors to new barbecue joints just waiting to be discover or rediscover!
Looks like I spoke too soon. An article on the N&O website reports that they will be reopening in the fall in a larger location: http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/04/21/446386/both-ends-of-the-seafood-spectrum.html#ixzz0lkY3GMpo
There must be something more to the story, as their old location closed rather abruptly to say the least.
[…] is opening in the space where the barbecue joint called The Barbecue Joint was located before its doors were padlocked shut. There are also rumors that The Barbecue Joint that used to be located in the place where the new […]