It is with considerable sadness that I report the recent closing of the venerable Blue Mist Bar-B-Q, which I would hazard a guess was one of North Carolina’s most visited and loved barbecue joints over the years. Blue Mist was established in 1948 and for as long as I can remember occupied a modest piece of real estate on the eastern edge of Asheboro, just off of Highway 64, which for many years was (along with Hwy 70) one of two key east-west highways in the state. Highway 64 stretches from the far western corner of the state to the Outer Banks, following a meandering path through much of the state’s tobacco, textile, furniture and BBQ belts. Blue Mist was my family’s go to spot on trips to the North Carolina Zoo, and it was on a trip to the zoo this past weekend that I discovered it had closed. At least for now, the small white pig statue still stands sentinel the front door, but he is looking a little more nervous than usual, perhaps wondering if he will soon join his Zoo-dwelling friends in a cage.
According to Asheboro’s Courier-Tribune, Blue Mist closed its doors for the last time on July 7th due to no more exotic reason than a decline in customers. (Read the article here.) Blue Mist was not among the best BBQ joints in the state but it was plenty good and had maintained its traditional wood-fired cooking methods, which put it in increasingly elite company over the years. If we are to believe that all good things must come to an end, then we can be happy that Blue Mist was good for as long as it was. Still, it will be missed.
My last plate at Blue Mist, as it turned out.
Filed under: Restaurants & Reviews |
BBQ Jew 
That is indeed sad news.
Terri and I have stopped by the Blue Mist many times driving home from visiting kin and always found it a great place to dine.
Thank you for the information.
Oy veh! Another one bites the dust. There are so many _bad_ barbecue restaurants that could have closed instead, why did it have to be one of the handful still doing it right? I never could understand why the Blue Mist wasn’t on Jim Early’s Historic Barbecue Trail. Maybe someone should start a trail connecting the sites of great places that are gone.
Porcophile, your idea is terrific: The NC BBQ Ghost Trail. It might have to originate at Melton’s in Rocky Mount. As with most things I’d like to pursue on this website, time and energy are major barriers but I’ll definitely file that away in the greasy recesses of my brain. As for Blue Mist closing, definitely a shame. I could name places in Asheboro itself that I would have much preferred get shuttered…
For the Ghost Trail: Turnage’s and Dillard’s in Durham alone. Huey’s in Burlington. Ed Mitchell’s in Wilson. Guy Parker’s in Raleigh. Just for starters. And what about places still in business, but now just serving roast pork that they _call_ “barbecue”? Naw, too many of those.
[…] Blue Mist Bar-B-Que has closed down in Asheboro; I’ve never been there and haven’t been to the zoo in 20 years but they […]
My Brother-in-law and my sister ran the place. Into the ground. Poor quality, you can check Yelp reviews is actually what killed the place.Not the bypass. Too much, wide menu, forced the place to close. Nothing to come back for, they lost focus, except for the money, lol. Just bad management and bad decisions about business led to the downfall, and i was well-deserved.
When the money left, they bailed, like Sarah Palin.
My man Wayne Monk had the same issue, and he did not go under, he went big:
http://www.ourstate.com/lexington-barbecue/
Adding to my last comment, “Why did Blue Mist Close”?
The reason Jeff gave was complete BS. “The bypass gon’ kill muh bidness, wah. Imma go cry now….”.
The 64 bypass would have actually doubled traffic to the restaurant, as it closes a mile east of the location. Literally dumping all of that traffic within 1 mile of the restaurant. Everyone saw those news stories where he was almost crying, blaming the bypass, lol.
Again, the food quality suffered ( I used to fire the BBQ until 1998-99. Shoveling actual wood coals under the pit racks, 12-16 hours, three cooks per week. ) due to no one caring about or watching the pit. They doubled up the line cooks with firing the Q, lol. Guess what happens when cooks get busy on the line? That Q gets off temp. The last YELP reviews were all about people getting sick.
That pit they had though, a thing of beauty for an old-schooler. Sad to see it go.
After that, I guess the “new” wore off for my brother-in-law and sister, my bro-in-law also had substance abuse issues, used to like to get caught whacking off in cars and beating on local cops, cheating on my sister, etc. He went to rehab a couple of times but meh. Lost focus. The reason for the decline in customers was likely because people read the local paper back then.
My sister also changed the original sauce from the Lexington Style, clear vinegar sauce with a little ketchup to a heavy almost Texas BBQ sauce. No one wanted that in the Piedmont, lol, because they wanted that original sauce that Virgie Cox and the family had there for years before them.
Just as an FYI, you can purchase the “Sauce that Killed The Blue Mist” from my sister’s website (but I wouldn’t recommend it) here:
https://bluemistbarbecue.com/
The fact that she even says that it is “Lexington-Style” on her page and you see the red should tell you, “IT AIN’T”, lol.
Be good guys. And don’t be like my extended family and disrespect good BBQ, and you will be fine.
God’s Speed.