BBQ Jew’s View: Carolina BBQ

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Porky LeSwine

2307 N College Road, Wilmington, NC
910.392.1955
No Website
Hours: Monday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
BBQ Jew’s Grade: C-
Porky Says: “The biggest (not best) BBQ joint in the state.”

Big Enough to Swallow a Lion
Carolina BBQ has a couple of locations in Wilmington, one in Kenansville, and one somewhere in Virginia, if my waitress was telling me the truth.  I stopped at the N. College Street location, which is a mile or so from Interstate 40 at exit 420.  Speaking of 420, one would need to be mighty stoned to think the barbecue is good here, but I still enjoyed parts of my meal despite being stone cold sober.

The best part about a visit to Carolina BBQ at N. College Road is the atmosphere.  It must be the largest barbecue restaurant in the state in gross square footage (the picture at left does not do the vastness of the space justice).  It feels like you could fit an entire grocery store inside the restaurant, which is quite true given it inhabits a former Food Lion.  As the hermit crab-like replacement for Food Lion, Carolina BBQ is the de facto anchor tenant in a strip mall that features a nail salon, Subway, and a few other non-descript businesses (I would describe them were they not so resolutely non-descript).  I was sincerely impressed with the interior decorating job, which managed to make a grocery store feel almost homey.  Sure, the seating capacity is enough to house probably 10 times the number of people ever likely to enter Carolina BBQ at one time, but it is a creative and attractive reuse of a difficult to fill space.  The large historical BBQ photos printed on the far right wall are particularly interesting.

All You Care to Eat (and Then Some)
Carolina BBQ features “buffet style” dining.  This means it is a buffet.  I am not sure where the style comes in. Continue reading →

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Porky’s Pulpit: Smokin’ at the Piggly Wiggly

Posted on January 8, 2010 by Porky LeSwine

A recent story in the StarNews of Wilmington, NC notes that a local Piggly Wiggly has been slow cooking barbecue in house for more than a year.  The store is located in the small town of Leland, which is in Brunswick County (no relation to the stew) just outside of Wilmington.  According to the article, “Beef brisket, ribs, pulled pork, hams, chickens – the deli counter at this grocery store is a barbecue lover’s dream.”

Last year the Leland Piggly Wiggly paired with a Georgia company called SmokeRise.  According to the SmokeRise website, their “program” (ain’t that a clinical term?) is as follows:  “After a detailed, in store analysis, we recommend all items needed… to place a turnkey business in your location…  We also provide a complete, comprehensive training program to ensure your staff is fully trained in all processes of the business.” 

The SmokeRise-installed cooker at Piggly Wiggly is fueled by propane but uses real hickory logs, sort of a hybrid approach to cooking.  Although this is not quite the traditional art of barbecue, it sure sounds like a positive step compared to the pre-packaged swine-swill often sold at grocery stores.  That said, it does make me a little nervous to have the SmokeRise men marching from Georgia through North Carolina like long-lost members of Sherman’s army.

The critical question, of course, is how good does this Georgia barbecue invasion taste?  Well, let’s turn back to the StarNews, which reported positively on the barbecue produced in the Piggly Wiggly in a 2008 story.   At the time, the reporter said it changed her opinion of grocery store barbecue.  Being better than typical grocery store barbecue is a pretty low threshold to cross, but it’s something.  And it sure seems like it makes good business sense to offer decent ‘cue at a grocery store.

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BBQ Jew’s View: A & G Bar-B-Que & Chicken

Posted on June 24, 2009 by Porky LeSwine

800 S Lake Park Blvd, Carolina Beach, NC
(910) 458-8620
No Website
BBQ Jew’s Grade: D-
Porky Says: “Put some SPF 30 on your tongue.”

The hot light's on, but you can drive past.

The hot light's on, but you can drive past.

Beach Blanket Barbecue
Based on my limited experience eating barbecue at or near the beach, I think the best advice I can provide for such situations is not to indulge.  Perhaps it’s the over-supply of sunshine and sand, the undersupply of hickory, or the BBQ joint owners having mercury poisoning from all the nearby shellfish, but for some reason beach BBQ joints rarely offer ‘cue worth eating.  A & G Bar-B-Que & Chicken, located on the main drag just off the waterfront in Carolina Beach and featuring a generous two ampersands in its name, does nothing to change my mind about beach ‘cue.   That’s the bad news.  The good news is that next time you are in Carolina Beach you can skip the ‘cue and have plenty of room for donuts from Britt’s, which vies for the title of Best Donut Shop in America, in my opinion.  More on that later.

The good people of Carolina Beach are lucky enough to live in a nice beachfront community and they know how to shag (it’s just a style of dance, relax), but they really should head inland if they want to eat barbecue.  Since I don’t have much good to say about the barbecue or sides I sampled at A & G, I’ll talk about something positive instead…

Continue reading →

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