As one of the few participants in this forum who actually had the opportunity to eat at Ed Mitchell's eponymous whole hog joint when it was open, I can attest to the fact that the sides served with his barbecue were every bit as much an attraction as the pork itself was.

Nearly every bite of everything I ate there caused me emote a "holy sh*t" to my co-worker dining companion. The additional "to go" dinners that we packed to take home with us didn't even male it halfway through the flight back to Charlotte.

It's probably been 15 years since I ate those two meals from Ed's restaurant. I still remember them as two of the best barabeque meals I have ever eaten in the south...or anywhere else for that matter.

I'm planning a trip to North Carolina (and South Carolina) next month. I'll be following in Pigmon's footsteps to many of the places he visited, but I just got my latest issue of Garden & Gun in which there is a fine BBQ Tour article. http://gardenandgun.com/article/southern-roads

I will be in Winston-Salem for exactly one day and have one shot at having great BBQ in the area. It seems like Lexington's (Monk's) is the way to go for this one meal. Two questions: 1) is there where you would go if you only had time for one BBQ meal in the Winston-Salem area; 2) what would you order? (if you have another choice other than Lexington's what would you order there as well?)

Seems like a lot of folks get Chopped with Outside Brown at Lexington's.

rdstoll,

I've driven through Lexington several times without choosing a place to stop. There are many spots in Lexington to choose from and I can't provide a specific recommendation. I will say to be sure you have enough time to get from Winston-Salem to Lexington and back in your appointed window.

Other tips to consider, many BBQ places close on Sunday and are cash only. Call ahead and be prepared. I also make sure that the 'que I eat is cooked over wood if at all possible...

Another resource is the NC BBQ Society. http://ncbbqsociety.com/bbqmap/trail_map.html

I can't attest to the quality of each spot, but the few I've been to have been more than satisfactory.

Chopped with outside brown would be a solid choice. I like to go for a combo with fried chicken (dark meat) and 'Q. Brunswick stew is often a good side.

the historic bbq trail map is great. i had not seen that map before.
hope to try some of this place's soon

Amata wrote:Let me also mention here, for the sake of completeness, my second favorite place to get barbecue in Chapel Hill: The Barbecue Joint. I will say right away that the ‘cue is not as outstanding as Allen and Son, but it’s good. And if you are in need of ‘cue on a Monday (our situation last May)

I thought this was a godsend when I pulled up to a closed Allen & Son yesterday. I had a good idea it wouldn't be open and figured I could easily find a good alternative nearby. I had a few hours to kill before take-off and figured it was worth a shot.

Alas, The Barbecue Joint was closed in a much more permanent way. I should note, however, that there were signs on the door announcing the forthcoming The Pig, purveyor of Carolina-style whole hog barbeque. Someone else will have to fill in details. I don't imagine it's too far off.

I ended up at Jim's Famous BBQ on Elliot Rd. I guess it was more interesting than eating at the airport.

Jim's Famous BBQ
www.jimsfamousbbq.com
115 S Elliot Rd
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
(919) 942-7427

Aaron,

So sorry you missed Allen & son, altho', as a K-Citian, you're not totally bereft of good que! But it's nice to be able to try something new. And, in fact, the mightily disloyal Other Dr. Gale *prefers* Allen & Son to anything she's ever eaten in KC. Go figger.

Better luck next time...

Geo

Hey Aaron,

sorry to hear about the Barbecue Joint, and especially sorry to hear that you ended up with mediocre barbecue.

I no longer go regularly to Chapel Hill since both of my parents have passed away, so I'm not current on the restaurant scene. But after seeing your post I googled and found this thread on Chowhound:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/699726

which in turn linked to this article in the Raleigh paper:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/04/21/ ... z0lkY3GMpo

which states that they hope to re-open in the fall in a new, larger location with a full bar. We'll see...

I thought this was a godsend when I pulled up to a closed Allen & Son yesterday.

Here's an alternative for the next time Allen & Son is closed.

Just came back from the DirtyDuckInn Honeymoon Tour '10 with the new misses in which our last stop was Raleigh, NC.

Went to The Pit because of the recommendations here and because what I seen on "Man vs Food".
I have to admit that I liked Mitchells (and from what I would guess Eastern NC) style of chopped BBQ (almost wanting to swear off...memphis style of Q...ALMOST! lol). The only downsides to the place were 1) it seemed to be a fufu BBQ restaurant, catering to high end clientele (and they didnt seem to thrilled to see two northerners dressed down entering the place as soon as they opened.) and 2) the amount of waitstaff per table (being told that 5 different waiters would be taking care of us) One for the water, one for the drinks and the order taking, one to deliver the meals, and another to check on use (barely). maybe Im old fashion but I like the same wait person from start to finish (I like to interact with them and get to know the place from thier perspective). The waitstaff gave us the impression that they couldnt wait to get us out so that they can turn the table (even though the place was only 25% full)

Had better Carolina BBQ in the south burbs of raleigh from a small family chain called simply called, "Carolina Barbeque". If I remember correctly, they dont serve ribs except on Mondays and Tuesdays but the chopped BBQ they had seemed to be more flavorful (my guess because of the higher dark meat ratio).

Pics, addresses and websites will be posted as soon as I get home from work. lol Plus I will throw in a review from a place in Las Vegas called "Memphis Championship Barbeque"

The Pit
328 W Davie St
Raleigh, NC 27617
919-890-4500

The Pig has opened in the old Barbeque Joint space in Chapel Hill. It's well worth a visit. Their menu goes beyond what a traditional Que spot offers. Check it out:

http://www.thepigrestaurant.com

been there twice and love the place. Not Allen & Son, but not trying to be. They make their own pastrami for pete's sake. Gotta love that!

going to stop at scott's bbq in hemmingway,sc. next week.
cant wait to strap on the feed bag at this place

WOW WHAT A THREAD!
Hi my name is Larry Dennis, If you have any questions as to why something is the way it is, maybe I can tell you.
Whole hog, this was done because of speed and efficiency. When William Tecumseh Sherman was released from the insane asylum to kill the women and children of the South, he claimed his band of thugs could perform this task on any living thing without taking a step out of time. Anytime you wanted to feed a large number of people, political functions, church gatherings, farm hands, family reunions ect, this was the best way to do it. Dig a hole, build a fire, throw some meat on it.
BBQ, spell it any way you want it does not mean beard to tail, everything but the squeal, "B" for the barb in his nose, "Q" for the "Q" shape his tail makes, "BEE" for everything that "be" in between, this is all hogwash and some gibberish someone came up with so they could mix it all up and sell it. The word describes how it was cooked and has nothing to do with what was done to it after it was done. Chopping it up and mixing it all together is a much more recent thing that cooking it, it is my understanding that we started cooking it five hundred thousand years ago but only started chopping it up and mixing it together 200 years ago.
Now, what goes in it? Feet and tail? No, the feet and tail would be completely dried up and ruined long before the pig got done. Cartilage? No, even if you scraped up even little bit it would only be a pound or so. Why would you go to the trouble to put something in it that might upset someone? Besides, our dog has to have a little something too! The head? No, the head, ribs, backbone was/are considered a delicacy and you could/can get more for those selling them on their own, it was/is a waste to pull meat off of those and chop it up. Now this has changed a little over the past forty or so years, some people consider the head a delicacy while it disgusts others, still I would not recommend chopping it into your Barbecue, if you do, you won't have one if someone wants one and you certainly don't want to disgust everybody else over a pound an a half of meat. I have three guys working for me that love a head, whoever puts on the pig, gets the head. If a place sells Barbecue and no one that works there likes a hog head, they need to reevaluate their staff, someone like that can give them much needed input!
Fire from the top, fire from the bottom? I fire from the bottom, everybody else in my family fires from the top. More taste from above, less clean up from below. Nothing says wood cooked like a mouthful of ashes but I'm a little on the lazy side.
Salt, years ago, a lot was ok as long as you had plenty on the table. These days no amount is right.
Family heritage, 181 years ago my (say great 6 times) grand daddy had someone write an article about what a great cook he was, I'm sure my family was cooking a long time before that and they still are. People often ask me "do you do it just like (put in a old guy's name here) did it?" No, I do not. I already mentioned salt and how that has changed, they didn't start making Texas Pete till 1930. I don't even do things the same way I did them a month ago or the same way I will next month. The thing I picked up from them was not how to cook, it was how to learn to cook. I have to have constant contact with my customers and if they say "it's too salty" I can't tell them someone said 100 years ago to put that much salt, I have to change. If I moved 20 miles in any direction or 10 years forward or backward in time, I would have to start over. If your taste buds agree with the majority of our customer's you will like our food, if not, try a little more salt. Still don't? I'm sorry, I can't please everyone.

Larry Dennis,
chief bottle washer for Bum's Restaurant.

OH! CHECK US OUT ON FACEBOOK, WE HAVE HIT THE COMPUTER AGE!!!!!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bums-Rest ... 4757229208

All this information is 100% accurate and factual, it can be proven or dis proven at anytime. It is the truth as I chose to tell it.

Hey Larry! Thanks for posting. I'm planning a visit to Bum's next time I'm in NC. I understand you've got some pretty good greens in addition to the BBQ.

I like em! LOL!
Ask for me when you get here, I Love talking!

BumDennisBBQ wrote: If a place sells Barbecue and no one that works there likes a hog head, they need to reevaluate their staff...

Banner quote

HAHA! That was pretty good!
But let me assure you, a man that enjoys a good crispy head is a Barbecue Restaurant's French pastry Chef, his touch and opinion on all the food that a Barbecue restaurant serves is both valuable and needed. Chances are he was raised around people that Love Barbecue AND all the fix'ns. Everybody in my kitchen Loves a head (as long as I don't cook the nose to hard).

I think I should add, my top cook calls a colander a "holey bowl"

Mr. Dennis,

SO great to have you respond in this thread.

Can you please give us your rendition of the amazing Dennis family history?

Thank you.

Whoa there, I'm just Larry, my Dad is Mr. Dennis HA!
I know a lot and I'll be glad to make up some too HAHA!
What exactly do you want to know? I'll do my best to get it right.
By the way, thanks for the kind words. This is a FANTASTIC thread!

The curmudgeon's counter:

Allen & Sons once, noon on a Saturday. Four of us. Two yankees, two native born Southerners. Same orders, and like consensus: Pork (chopped) sandwich comprised of tasteless potted meat. Would never reorder.

Lexington BBQ. Three times, all during busy lunch hours. Parking lot car hop service. Tasteless potted meat. Ok ketchup infused chopped slaw. Hush puppies poor to fair to good. Onion rings fair.

Steve Drucker wrote:The curmudgeon's counter:

Allen & Sons once, noon on a Saturday. Four of us. Two yankees, two native born Southerners. Same orders, and like consensus: Pork (chopped) sandwich comprised of tasteless potted meat. Would never reorder.

Curmudgeon: it's Allen & Son.

PIGMON wrote:Right down the country rode and just in town is Bum’s BBQ, a place I’ve eagerly wanted to try since learning of its amazing family history some years back. As mentioned above, its owner, Latham Dennis, is also a direct descendent (7 or 8 generations) of Skilton Dennis. Although I couldn’t get the exact Dennis family history pre-1900, according to Shirley Dennis (Latham’s wife), Bruce Jones, and Sam Jones ( Pete Jones’ grandson), there is an unbroken succession of whole hog making traditions in this family since Skilton Dennis in the 1830’s.

Several years ago when I was putting the above post together, I attempted to verify the unbroken presence of the Dennis family in Eastern North Carolina (specifically in and around the Ayden area) going back to the 1830s, if possible. I was only successful up until around 1900 with the assistance of a very helpful librarian from your area.

Larry, what's your take on the claims that your family has been making whole hog in the area since the 1830s?

***

BTW, I hear from reliable local palates in NC that The Pit (Ed Mitchell's Raleigh whole hog BBQ operation) has gone completely to shit. Rumor has it that most his present efforts are being directed elsewhere.

I'm 100% confident in it, mainly because EVERYBODY in this area cooked, they dug holes, they had their own cookhouses, they had brick pits in their back yard, every body Barbecued pigs, the town of Ayden even had their own very large cookhouse.
Now, my family is currently doing some research on this, I'll run some things by you.
Supposedly the Chicago Tribune did a story on Skilton Dennis in 1830 cooking and selling pigs for a church function, I have never seen proof of this event or that this man ever lived at all.
The oldest Skilton Dennis I have found in the Dennis grave yard was born in 1842 died in 1900, if this Skilton taught anyone anything I feel like that person would have had to be born 1885 or later (the only ocupations I can prove he had were Turpentine Worker and farmer), he had two sons, William Dennis 1872 - 1924, John 1874 - 1944. Up to this point I have not found any proof that anyone in our family was making a living Barbecuing pigs but as I said before, I'm sure they Barbecued pigs, everybody did.
William had four sons, two of which Emmit and John Bill, each opened restaurants offering local style food which of course included Barbecue, they also farmed, made cement blocks, sold grocerys and I'm sure other things to support their familys. These two men hired and trained Pete and Bum (plus alot of other family members though the years) to work for them. Pete eventually opened his own place, the Skylight Inn, he hired Bum to work for him.
Bum eventually took over Emmit's place, then he closed it and bought John Bill's place.
That is all I can prove. I can also assure you that no sauce recipe before 1929 is used on any Barbecue sold in Ayden today. It is very doubtful that anything we do today would match up to what they were doing even 50 years ago much less 200.
One thing you can have complete confidence in is that Bum's Restaurant AND Skylight Inn are both 100% dedicated to customer satisfaction, everyday.

Larry Dennis

The Pit, every time there is a slight change in a Barbecue restaurant, bad rumors always start. Time will tell.
I'm going up there to eat this Tuesday (my first time) then I am catering a big party for them and Bob Garner at their restaurant August the 16th. I'll keep you informed.

PIGMON wrote:BTW, I hear from reliable local palates in NC that The Pit (Ed Mitchell's Raleigh whole hog BBQ operation) has gone completely to shit. Rumor has it that most his present efforts are being directed elsewhere.

It's absolutely terrible. Ed hasn't worked there since he quit in May. This is no slight change at all. You can read more about it here: http://blogs.newsobserver.com/food/ed-m ... ng-the-pit .

Larry,

Thank you for taking the time to expand upon this thread detailing BBQ history and your family. I was fortunate enough to go on this trip with Pigmon and have fond memories of your restaurant (especially the greens ).

-- Skinny

Skinny, this is a great thread, Love all the pix (makes me wanna remodel ha!)
We grow our own collards (several different types of the cabbage collards for different times of the year) and we have learned though the years how to cook them, it would be tough to consistently cook a better collard than we do, under any circumstances.

BumDennisBBQ wrote:We grow our own collards (several different types of the cabbage collards for different times of the year) and we have learned though the years how to cook them...

Larry,
Can you please elaborate a bit more about the different types of cabbage collards, the Annual Ayden Collard Festival, etc.
I'd love to hear more (any facet) about your sensational collards.

Thanks.

I went to the Pit this week, it was the first time in my life someone served me Barbecue, I tried everything they had and it was all good. I'll be doing the cooking up there August the 13th,
read all about it here--> https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bums-Res ... 4757229208

Ayden Collard festival here--> https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ayden-Co ... 2400291138

Dad and some of his friends grow all our Collards, they are all Cabbage Collards, some variety's are more yellow than others, the yellower it is the better it tastes in the summer but they can't stand the cold. To get the color you want, you simply ride around looking, find some you like and buy some seeds from who ever has them.
Cooking, I do it like this, big pot 1/2 full of water with some lard in it, then I have a small pot with country ham and all my spices ect in it, put the collards in the big pot by the time they have boiled an hour the little pot has boiled 2 hours and now contains a thick gravy we call "special brew" I dump it over the collards, then turn the collards over in the pot, cook them till they are done. Don't waste your time on a Georgia collard, they can not be made to taste like a Cabbage Collard, they have a bitter kick no matter what you do.

BumDennisBBQ wrote:Ayden Collard festival here--> https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ayden-Co ... 2400291138

I love this post from the Ayden Collard Festival Facebook page:
"I am proud to be from the South! - where tea is sweet and accents are sweeter; front porches are wide and words are long; banana pudding is a staple; Y’all is the only proper pronoun; Barbecue is cooked with wood and collards with country ham; everything is darling and someone is always getting their heart blessed..."

BumDennisBBQ wrote:Dad and some of his friends grow all our Collards, they are all Cabbage Collards, some variety's are more yellow than others, the yellower it is the better it tastes in the summer but they can't stand the cold. To get the color you want, you simply ride around looking, find some you like and buy some seeds from who ever has them.
Cooking, I do it like this, big pot 1/2 full of water with some lard in it, then I have a small pot with country ham and all my spices ect in it, put the collards in the big pot by the time they have boiled an hour the little pot has boiled 2 hours and now contains a thick gravy we call "special brew" I dump it over the collards, then turn the collards over in the pot, cook them till they are done. Don't waste your time on a Georgia collard, they can not be made to taste like a Cabbage Collard, they have a bitter kick no matter what you do.

Wonderful stuff.

Thanks, Larry.

Today I'll be catering a meal to "The Pit", Valet parking, a maitre d' and oh yes, a bar! It's very different from what I'm accustomed to! However, they have alot of nice stuff to work with and I think it will be easy to turn it into a real nice Barbecue joint for one night anyway (LOL).
I'll be serving Barbecue, Collards, Barbecued Potatoes, Slaw, Cornbread, Sweet Potato muffins and of course, Banana pudding. WISH ME LUCK!
Larry Dennis

BumDennisBBQ wrote:Today I'll be catering a meal to "The Pit", Valet parking, a maitre d' and oh yes, a bar! It's very different from what I'm accustomed to! However, they have alot of nice stuff to work with and I think it will be easy to turn it into a real nice Barbecue joint for one night anyway (LOL).
I'll be serving Barbecue, Collards, Barbecued Potatoes, Slaw, Cornbread, Sweet Potato muffins and of course, Banana pudding. WISH ME LUCK!
Larry Dennis

Go get 'em, Larry!