BBQ Jew’s View: Grady’s BBQ

Posted on May 11, 2009 by Porky LeSwine

3096 Arrington Bridge Road, Dudley, NC
919.735.7243
No Website
BBQ Jew’s Grade: A+
Porky Says: “I can now die happy.”

A sneak peek inside the pearly gates.

A sneak peek inside the pearly gates.

I thought about leaving my review at this: go to Grady’s.  That would have been enough said, but the folks at Grady’s deserve a little more good (albeit virtual) ink.  As far as I am concerned, Grady’s is among an elite few of the best barbecue joints in the state.  Unfortunately, their off the beaten path location has kept them in relative obscurity, even though they’ve dished out terrific barbecue for more than 20 years and many well known joints can’t hold a pig’s wax candle to Grady’s pork.

Luckily, it's what's inside that counts.

Luckily, it's what's inside that counts.

To say Grady’s is unassuming at first glance is an understatement.  Let’s start with the location.  Grady’s is in the tiny town of Dudley, about 15 minutes south of downtown Goldsboro–a town featuring the well-known joints Wilber’s, Scott’s and McCall’s–and just a few hundred yards north of a road called Squirrel Ridge Drive.  The building itself (pictured above) could easily be missed were it not standing all by itself on a quiet stretch of windy road, and were it not for the prominent Continue reading →

Filed under: Restaurants & Reviews | Tagged: , , , , | 38 Comments »

How to Find Good Barbecue

Posted on May 4, 2009 by Porky LeSwine

It’s not easy to accurately judge a book by its cover, but your friends at BBQ Jew are always willing to try.  Our goal is to prevent you from wasting too much of your valuable time–or too many points on your cholesterol level–eating mediocre barbecue.  You deserve better.  Below are our tips (commandments?) for separating the wheat from the chaff meat from the gristle when it comes to finding good barbecue joints.

Viva le wood!

Viva le wood!

WOOD IS GOOD
– If there is a wood pile outside it’s worth going inside. The wood pile may be tucked away in the back, it may be right up front, but it must be somewhere if they cook with it. Once you find the pile, check for signs that it has been used recently and isn’t just there for decoration (this trickery has been reported, though if the BBQ Jew was king such deception would be a criminal offense).

NEW IS OLD NEWS – Be very suspicious of a barbecue joint if the building it is located in was built less than 20 or so years ago. Sure, there are some good joints that challenge this rule of thumb, but a shiny new building is at best a honkin’ big red flag.

PARKING LOT PARADISE – Glance around the parking lot. Ideally, there will be a diverse mix of beat up pickup trucks, vans with commercial tags, compact cars, lawyer mobiles (Mercedes, BMW, etc.) and more. If all those different people think the ‘cue is worth eating, you probably will too. Continue reading →

Filed under: 'Cue Culture | Tagged: , , , | 15 Comments »

Porky’s Pulpit: Sign of the Apocalypse

Posted on April 29, 2009 by Porky LeSwine
No smoking, unless your smoking a pig! Photo used with permission of the photographer, Dale Vogel Reed

No smoking, unless you're smoking a pig! (Photo by Dale Volberg Reed, used with permission)

First the swine flu and now an even more certain sign of the apocalypse: a smoke free dining billboard in Davidson County, NC.  Why is this billboard a sign of the apocalypse?  Well, in case you don’t know/ain’t from ’round here, the main town in Davidson County is Lexington.  Lexington is, of course, perhaps the most important barbecue town in North Carolina and even dubs itself the “barbecue capital of the world.”  This title is one Lexington can make a legitimate claim to given its rich history and its present day status: roughly 20 barbecue joints, most still cooking over wood in the traditional manner, serve the town of just 20,000 people.

Apparently Davidson County’s Health Department is working with area restaurants to help them go smoke-free.  Luckily, this initiative targets cigarettes, cigars and the like, and not the wood pits out back.  As a matter of fact, quite a few barbecue joints in Lexington have signed on to the County’s list of smoke-free restaurants.  Even The Barbecue Center and Lexington #1 are among the joints that have gone smoke-free, but rest assured they still burn plenty of hickory wood when they cook their pork.

In all seriousness, the fact that so many barbecue joints are going smoke-free is interesting, given how closely tobacco and barbecue have been linked throughout NC’s history.  See this interesting article in the Raleigh News & Observer on the subject.

Filed under: Porky's Pulpit | Tagged: , , , | Leave a comment »

BBQ Jew’s View: A&M Grill [Now Closed]

Posted on March 15, 2009 by Porky LeSwine

OUT OF BUSINESS AS OF JULY 2011!

401 E. Center St., Mebane, NC
919.563.3721
No Website
BBQ Jew’s Grade: A-
Porky Says: “Damn fine swine, well worth your time.”

It’s the Barbecue, Stupid.
I love the A&M Grill, but it’s definitely not for the faint of heart (then again, neither is reading online reviews of barbecue joints so you can probably handle it). The outside is unassuming at best and the interior is not what I’d describe as warm and cozy. But who cares? The barbecue is what matters, and the A&M delivers great ‘cue.

The Reeds hit the nail on the head when we asked them what they look for in a barbecue joint and they told us: “Barbecue… The meat’s what matters, at least as far as I’m concerned. I don’t give a damn about the décor or the ‘ambience.'”  They’re right: if the swine is fine, let’s dine! And if you can’t cook the swine, I ain’t got the time.

Not scenic, but still a glorious sight

Behind the A&M Grill: not scenic but still a glorious sight.

Hard Work Pays Off
In my humble opinion, the A&M serves some damn fine swine. The pork shoulders are wood-cooked the old fashioned way and the A&M’s efforts pay off in the form of succulent, tender, hickory-kissed pork that has plenty of outside brown. The Lexington style dip is thicker than I tend to prefer, with more ketchup than needed, but Continue reading →

Filed under: Restaurants & Reviews | Tagged: , , , , | 4 Comments »

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