Postgame video highlights, so to speak, from the 29 annual Barbecue Festival in Lexington. Visit the Lexington Dispatch for the video, and links to other Festival videos. Lots of (in?)action shots of people eating barbecue sandwiches…
Filed under: 'Cue Culture | Tagged: Davidson County, Festivals, Lexington, Lexington style | 1 Comment »
I finally made it to Speedy Lohr’s a couple of weeks back and it was well worth the visit. Speedy Lohr’s is located a bit outside of Lexington in the (what I shall call) hamlet of Arcadia, and they cook their barbecue over wood as God intended. As you can see in the photo below, Speedy Lohr’s adds a bit more sauce dip than I prefer but quibbles aside it was good ‘cue.
Filed under: Restaurants & Reviews | Tagged: Davidson County, Grade A, Lexington, Lexington style, Wood-cooked | 2 Comments »
Thanks to John Shelton Reed for sharing the below music video about Lexington barbecue. Eat your heart out, MTV:
Filed under: 'Cue Culture | Tagged: Lexington style, Music | 2 Comments »
Holy Smoke author and wood-cooked barbecue evangelist John Shelton “Reverend Smokey” Reed was kind enough to send along the below picture. Being a Billy Graham-level traditional barbecue preacher, John titles the picture, “Not really smoke free, praise be.”
In case you need further explanation, the Bar-B-Q Center is one of the state’s oldest (and best) barbecue joints and still cooks the pork in traditional wood pits, despite the state imposed ban on smoking in the dining room. Praise be indeed.
Filed under: 'Cue Culture | Tagged: Davidson County, Lexington, Lexington style, Wood-cooked | Leave a comment »
1317 Winston Road, Lexington, NC
336.248.2410 or 336.248.2092
Website
Hours: Mon-Sat 10:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
BBQ Jew’s Grade: B+
Porky Says: “Better Than Average B.B.Q. Everywhere.”
(Or at least the best BBQ for a block or two.)
Barbecue Braggadocio
Despite the tendency of customers to have strong opinions about who makes the best barbecue, most barbecue restaurants in North Carolina are quite modest and humble. When I visited Speedy’s Barbecue, the sign outside the restaurant read, “Best B.B.Q. Anywhere.” As I set foot inside Speedy’s I wondered to myself whether the hyperbole on the sign (not to mention the needless periods in “BBQ”) was a good omen or a bad one.
It turns out that Speedy’s is neither the best BBQ anywhere nor completely unworthy of such a claim. I found their barbecue to be far better than average, but not quite as good as some other joints in the barbecue Mecca of Lexington. The fact that one of the superior joints, Smiley’s, is located within a few blocks of Speedy’s is irrelevant but amusing.
A Pig on Wheels
The other notable part of Speedy’s sign is the demented looking pig in roller skates and a t-shirt (and pantless as far as I can surmise). This is easily one of the better barbecue logos, as it mixes humor with a nod to Speedy’s motto: “Quality, Quantity and Quick Service.” (The skates are also a nod to the joint’s long tradition of providing curb service.) Speedy’s prides itself on those three Qs and delivered all of them on my visit.
Others must agree that Speedy’s provides those three Qs, as the place draws a large crowd. Even at the early hour of 5:00 p.m. on a Saturday when I visited,the joint was jumping… to the extent that a bunch of mostly olders folks eating chopped pork can be called jumping.
Quality
The barbecue at Speedy’s is good. Not calm down and take a cold shower good but good nonetheless. The tender and almost too-moist ‘cue is served with dip provided in a cup on the side, as is common but not universal for Lexington-style joints. I found Speedy’s dip a little ketchupy for my palate, which tilts toward straight vinegar and pepper flakes, but the dip typifies the style in this part of the state so it’s not a fair critique.
Quality, Quantity and Quick Service indeed.
Accompanying the pork were tasty, dense/firm puppies and classic Lexington-style BBQ slaw (cabbage sauced with modified dip and completely mayo-free). I enjoyed my meal and found Speedy’s lived up to its three Qs, if not it’s claim to serve the best BBQ anywhere. One major caveat: I have it on good authority that their pork is not cooked in a wood-burning pit. It’s pretty good nonetheless, but something short of traditional barbecue.
Filed under: Restaurants & Reviews | Tagged: Davidson County, Gas/electric-cooked, Lexington, Lexington style | 4 Comments »
Rick Scott and Ryan Pitz teamed up to form The North Carolina Barbecue Company, a mail order business established “to deliver to doorsteps across the country the unique culinary culture of our great state.” The North Carolina Barbecue Company is unique in offering both Eastern and Piedmont/Lexington-style ‘cue and slaw for delivery. Recently I sat down (at my laptop) and interviewed Rick and Ryan about how they got into the barbecue business, battle boxes, and why mail order hush puppies are an elusive goal.
Follow this link to read the interview with Rick and Ryan. (Or if you are hungry already, just click on over to their online order page.)
Filed under: BBQ & A | Tagged: Eastern style, Greensboro, Guilford County, Interview, Lexington style, Mail order pork, Words of wisdom | 2 Comments »
1101 South Main Street, Lexington, NC
336.249.0135
Website
Hours: Mon-Sat 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
BBQ Jew’s Grade: A-
Porky Says: “Much better than your average Joe.”
Barbecue pilgrims who come to pay their respects in the Land of Abundant Pork (aka Lexington) tend to favor the BBQ Center and Lexington #1. However, locals know that the nearly 40-year old Smokey Joe’s is the real deal too. There is no doubt that Joe’s serves up ‘cue that is worth a visit whether you are a Lexingtonian or a barbetourist. 
Joe’s dip is a classic Lexington dip, which is to say it is a bit ketchupy for my taste but that’s the style they like in Lexington and it is is a good exemplar of the style. As an aside, it may be Lexington #1’s distinctive, non-ketchupy dip that causes me to rate it at the top of the pack of Lexington joints. Joe’s mayo-free barbecue slaw also sticks closely to the Lexington tradition, with fine chopped cabbage coated in dip. The slaw is both crisp and squeaky (you’ll know what I mean if you’ve ever had barbecue slaw) as you chew it. The hush puppies were a bit on the dry side, not fried as perfectly as they should be but passable. I ended my meal on a down note, as I sampled some of my dining companion’s side vegetables and found them lacking in flavor and freshness (instant mashed potatoes, it seemed, for instance).Filed under: Restaurants & Reviews | Tagged: Davidson County, Grade A, Lexington, Lexington style, Wood-cooked | Leave a comment »
The weather was damn near perfect last weekend when the 27th Annual Barbecue Festival took over the streets of Uptown Lexington. My wife and kids joined me on the Amtrak from Durham to Lexington (the one time a year the train stops there), and we were joined by dozens of other barbecue-happy passengers. We even met some New Yorkers on the train–they’d come down from Long Island to Lexington just for the Festival, which speaks to how big the event has gotten over the years. (Of course, maybe they were just trying to drown their Yankees’ baseball sorrows.)
And when I say the event has gotten big, I mean it. The Festival apparently drew a record crowd this year, with “more than 200,000” people in attendance according to the inexact-yet-official estimate. That estimate might sound like hyberbole but if you were there–and given how large a crowd it was I am guessing you were–then you’ll have no problem believing it. It was CROWDED, folks. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many people in one place and I am not sure I care to again. But I did enjoy myself. And luckily I ate a BBQ sandwich before the tents sold out–at 4:00 p.m., two hours before the end of the event.
For excellent photos of the Festival, visit the website of Lexington’s daily, The Dispatch, by following this link and clicking on the October 24th festival gallery.
Filed under: 'Cue Culture | Tagged: Davidson County, Festivals, Lexington, Lexington style | 6 Comments »
It’s that time of year again, time for hordes of hungry hog lovers to descend on little Lexington and devour thousands of pounds of barbecue. Yes, the Barbecue Festival takes over the streets of downtown Uptown Lexington on Saturday for the 27th time. The annual event often draws more than 100,000 people to Lexington, a town of just 20,000. The Festival culminates a month full of events, including the Tour de Pig bicycle race and the Hawg Shoot air rifle competition. For a complete schedule of Saturday’s happenings visit the entertainment section of the Festival website.
This year the Festival was once again named one of the southeast’s Top 20 Events for October, a distinction that would be more impressive if there were more than 19 events taking place in the region this month. Just kidding, The Barbecue Festival is a terrific event and worthy of its Top 20 status. I hope to see you somewhere along Main Street on Saturday. I’ll be the guy wearing the grease-stained BBQ Jew t-shirt…
Filed under: Hog Happenings | Tagged: Davidson County, Festivals, Lexington, Lexington style | Leave a comment »
BBQ Jew 