Barbecue Bros Reveal the Carolina Barbecue Reviews & Blog

[00:00:02] [SPEAKER_00]: What you want when you want it, where you want it. This is The Mesh.

[00:00:14] [SPEAKER_04]: We all know that Barbecue's good, but it's even better when it's enjoyed with good friends.

[00:00:21] [SPEAKER_04]: You can pull resources by one of everything on the menu eat it in good company and go home happy.

[00:00:28] [SPEAKER_04]: Don't believe me? Just ask the Barbecue Bros. 3 North Carolina natives who launched a website

[00:00:33] [SPEAKER_04]: and perpetual road trip focused on experiencing barbecue in all forms and locations.

[00:00:39] [SPEAKER_04]: Wait a minute, you don't have to ask the question that's what we're going to do today.

[00:00:43] [SPEAKER_04]: As we welcome one of the Bros. Tommy aka Monk to The Low and Slow Barbecue Show.

[00:00:48] [SPEAKER_04]: Thanks for joining us today Tommy.

[00:00:51] [SPEAKER_01]: Hey, Chager. Thank you for having me. I'm excited for the conversation.

[00:00:55] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, and we're going to find out all about the barbecue Bros. How they got started.

[00:00:58] [SPEAKER_04]: We're either headed next and we'll also get advice you can use when you're ready to explore

[00:01:03] [SPEAKER_04]: Uncharted BBQ Spaces on your own. First, a quick reminder, visit us at low and slow BBQ

[00:01:09] [SPEAKER_04]: Show.com that's low-slow BBQ Show.com to get more barbecue stories, blogs and barbecue recipes.

[00:01:17] [SPEAKER_04]: While you're at low-slow BBQ Show.com, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter, the Low Down.

[00:01:23] [SPEAKER_04]: The Low Down delivers the latest Carolina BBQ News directly to your inbox on Tuesday mornings.

[00:01:27] [SPEAKER_04]: In fact, you might even get a link to the BBQ Bros. The latest restaurant review produced by today's guest.

[00:01:33] [SPEAKER_04]: But before we get into all those reviews, let's just find out more about the BBQ Bros.

[00:01:38] [SPEAKER_04]: Tommy, what is the BBQ Bros? Tell us or tell our audience what it's all about.

[00:01:43] [SPEAKER_01]: Sure.

[00:01:44] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, BBQ Bros is really a blog. It's kind of an old-style blog that we created in May of 2012.

[00:01:53] [SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, we have a little bit of a social media Instagram presence.

[00:01:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Obviously, kind of more picture-focused there.

[00:02:00] [SPEAKER_01]: But the words and kind of the longer form posts appear on the blog.

[00:02:07] [SPEAKER_01]: So it really is kind of an old school barbecue blog.

[00:02:10] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah. So tell us how you got started. You create a blog.

[00:02:13] [SPEAKER_04]: You've been a bunch of stuff out there where take us to the beginning.

[00:02:15] [SPEAKER_04]: How did you guys get started with this?

[00:02:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Sure. Way back in May of 2012. Sorry, 2012.

[00:02:21] [SPEAKER_01]: I had actually been living in Charlotte, which is where myself and at the time,

[00:02:27] [SPEAKER_01]: Speedy, one of the other Bros lived.

[00:02:30] [SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, we had an idea.

[00:02:33] [SPEAKER_01]: We went searching for BBQ.

[00:02:35] [SPEAKER_01]: And so we consulted the Yale Previews, which, you know, what we found was probably the best source at the time

[00:02:42] [SPEAKER_01]: to kind of figure out what would be the best BBQ in Charlotte.

[00:02:45] [SPEAKER_01]: And we came away pretty disappointed, honestly, with what was listed as a number-one barbecue place.

[00:02:51] [SPEAKER_01]: And Charlotte back in 2012.

[00:02:54] [SPEAKER_01]: And so, from that point on, we kind of said, well, let's why don't, you know, we eat a lot of BBQ in our life.

[00:03:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Why don't we figure out what the best BBQ in the Charlotte area is?

[00:03:03] [SPEAKER_01]: And maybe other people will be interested.

[00:03:06] [SPEAKER_01]: Let's start a blog. Let's start a Twitter.

[00:03:08] [SPEAKER_01]: This was before Instagram.

[00:03:10] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, let's just kind of document our findings there.

[00:03:13] [SPEAKER_01]: So it really started with, let's find out, let's try all the places we can in Charlotte

[00:03:17] [SPEAKER_01]: and find out what the best BBQ place is according to our own tastes.

[00:03:22] [SPEAKER_04]: Okay, now you started out on Charlotte, but you've expanded.

[00:03:27] [SPEAKER_04]: So how has the mission and the goal evolved since that 2012 mission statement?

[00:03:31] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, that's right. And actually pretty early on, I mean, literally,

[00:03:35] [SPEAKER_01]: I think after kind of making the decision, we posted on Twitter that we were going to start a BBQ blog.

[00:03:41] [SPEAKER_01]: And one of the other Bros, who goes by Rudy, was actually living in Austin at the time.

[00:03:45] [SPEAKER_01]: He saw that and asked if you wanted a beef correspondent.

[00:03:48] [SPEAKER_01]: And we were like, absolutely. I mean, that, you know, get additional coverage in the area.

[00:03:54] [SPEAKER_01]: And personally up to that point, I hadn't had a lot of BBQ in Texas.

[00:03:57] [SPEAKER_01]: So I was curious for him to kind of explore that area and document it for the blog.

[00:04:04] [SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, we had some, you know, we had some Texas stuff early on.

[00:04:08] [SPEAKER_01]: And then generally when I'm traveling or any other guy to traveling for work or for, you know,

[00:04:14] [SPEAKER_01]: a pleasure or whatnot, if there is a BBQ spot, you know, good or bad.

[00:04:19] [SPEAKER_01]: Oftentimes, you know, bad we would check it out for purposes of document on the blog, writing it up,

[00:04:25] [SPEAKER_01]: reviewing and kind of just, you know, anywhere we went, if there was somewhere have decent that was we're trying.

[00:04:31] [SPEAKER_04]: That's what we would do. Okay. So, all right, there's speedy, Rudy and Mong.

[00:04:37] [SPEAKER_04]: You want to take us into the, the names and I know you guys kind of go back a little way.

[00:04:41] [SPEAKER_04]: So take us into your history little bit.

[00:04:42] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, absolutely. We all went to high school together.

[00:04:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Rudy and I were the same class.

[00:04:48] [SPEAKER_01]: Speedy was just here behind us, but we all hung out going back to high school and still keep up to these days.

[00:04:53] [SPEAKER_01]: I actually just saw those guys recently and hopefully have, you know, another review with them shortly,

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_01]: which is kind of few and far between these days.

[00:05:01] [SPEAKER_01]: But in any case, we decided to pick kind of, uh, pen names so to speak for the blog.

[00:05:08] [SPEAKER_01]: No particular reason we just thought be fun.

[00:05:12] [SPEAKER_01]: And so Mong is based off of the, the monk family who owns and run has run the Lexington BBQ restaurant.

[00:05:20] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh yeah.

[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Recently met, well, a couple years back met Nathan Mong. He is, I believe, the fourth generation monk I'm not mistaken.

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_01]: Kenny or speedy, he picked another Lexington BBQ joint, speedy's which I think he had the fondness for from going back in college.

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_01]: He went to, uh, Wake Forest University.

[00:05:41] [SPEAKER_01]: And then Rudy kind of refers to the chain of Texas BBQ restaurants that are kind of gas state, you know,

[00:05:46] [SPEAKER_01]: start out of a gas station. I think there's a bunch of them now, but, you know,

[00:05:50] [SPEAKER_01]: that's kind of the first thing that came to mind.

[00:05:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe one of his early, you know, Texas experiences with BBQ once he moved their shortly after college.

[00:05:59] [SPEAKER_04]: Okay. That makes a lot of sense. You got some pin names that are tribute to the heritage of BBQ and the Carolinas.

[00:06:06] [SPEAKER_04]: That's right.

[00:06:07] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah. What, what will people find when they go to your website? And of course, they can do that as BBQbrows.co.

[00:06:13] [SPEAKER_04]: That's BRowest.co.

[00:06:15] [SPEAKER_04]: But take folks through what they'll find when they come to the website.

[00:06:19] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. I mean, we still, you know, I still publish, you know, reviews, you know, straight up reviews of, of, in the same format that we've been doing for most of the past 12 years now.

[00:06:30] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, those, you know, post when we can, there was a period where I was posting at least once a week for, for most of a year.

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_01]: It's slowed down a little bit, but there's, you know, well over 350 reviews on the site.

[00:06:45] [SPEAKER_01]: Going back to the full 12 years.

[00:06:48] [SPEAKER_01]: There are, you know, what we like to call Friday finds where if there is a podcast, such as this one, which we've, you know, linked to and featured a few times podcast,

[00:06:59] [SPEAKER_01]: YouTube videos, you know, anything like that where it's something where we kind of spotlight just something new that we found that's worth kind of listening or watching to or watching.

[00:07:12] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, that's what we call our Friday find and then occasionally I'll do a roundup of links that are barbiki related, whether it's, you know, North Carolina focus, which is what I tend to try to focus on, but, you know, there's,

[00:07:25] [SPEAKER_01]: barbiki news and, you know, Texas always has barbiki news and there's anything kind of in the hotspots around, you know, all around those up when I call a link down it's kind of a report me into for link rundown, which I've kind of used in a few different barbiki or blog formats going back.

[00:07:40] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, a few years now so there's a kind of the three main posts that we do and kind of what you'll find on the blog.

[00:07:47] [SPEAKER_04]: Okay, yeah and I love visiting the website. You've got a nice map and it shows the stars of the place that you visited and reviewed and it's fine.

[00:07:54] [SPEAKER_04]: If I know I'm going somewhere in North Carolina and I haven't been before, I pull up the map and say, well, what are the pros reviewed in this region?

[00:08:01] [SPEAKER_04]: So it's a good, a good way to find good barbiki but take me into the rating system. How do you guys review a restaurant? What's all involved in that?

[00:08:10] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so I mean like I said earlier, this really hasn't changed in the 12 plus years that we've been doing the blog.

[00:08:18] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, we like to rate the experience on not only, you know, the meats, the sides, you know, we rate each meat individually, depending on what we order.

[00:08:30] [SPEAKER_01]: We rate the sides if there's any desserts but usually there isn't room for desserts, we kind of group things in with the sides.

[00:08:36] [SPEAKER_01]: And then we do like to kind of, you know, if we're going to a restaurant like to comment a little bit on what we call the atmosphere on beyond.

[00:08:44] [SPEAKER_01]: So there's a feel like a kind of sterile chain barbiki restaurant even if the barbecue itself is good or is it kind of a mom and pop or a classic barbecue joint, you know that.

[00:08:53] [SPEAKER_01]: It doesn't, you know, weigh in as much as the meats in the food but it certainly, you know, plays a role.

[00:08:59] [SPEAKER_01]: So we like to kind of acknowledge that as well both in the, you know, the right up itself as well as the ratings.

[00:09:05] [SPEAKER_01]: And then we rate each of those on a zero to five hog scale, we do have hogs.

[00:09:11] [SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, between zero and five hogs, five being the highest.

[00:09:14] [SPEAKER_01]: And then we kind of, you know, it's an in exact science.

[00:09:17] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't exactly average them all up. I kind of wait them in my mind and, you know, we'll come up with a kind of overall rating based off of atmosphere on beyond all of the meats and the sides.

[00:09:27] [SPEAKER_01]: So that's kind of what we start honestly, we started with that really early on. I think with that first review, we had more or less the same rating system then as we do now for the most recent review I posted on the on the blog.

[00:09:41] [SPEAKER_04]: And that's a pretty clever review method with the hog zero to five hogs and and I've visited to the website and again you can go check out the zero hogs or the five hogs and you've got them all broke down between zero to five and which ones are the best and maybe not so good.

[00:09:56] [SPEAKER_04]: And as you've got these reviews out there into the world, what kind of response have you been receiving from first of all from the pit masters these guys that are running the barbecue restaurants when they get let's say they get a five star.

[00:10:08] [SPEAKER_04]: How do they respond or you hear anything back from these folks?

[00:10:11] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, I think people are reading the blog less and less or early is commenting on it. I think most of the feedback we get would be, you know, if we are, you know, pushing on Instagram and tagging the restaurant or the pit master if we happen to know.

[00:10:26] [SPEAKER_01]: You know what their handle is. Then, you know, whether it's stories or the actual post then we get a lot of just, you know, thank you for coming in.

[00:10:35] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, occasionally we'll get to know some of the actual pit masters themselves, you know, geron as well as wife Kelly from John Gs is kind of early on we got to, you know, they reached out invited, you know, me to check them out and early on and you know, got to, you know, taste it taste their barbecue and then kind of got to know them over the years so that's probably kind of the most.

[00:10:55] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, the example where we got to know them the most and interact kind of frequently.

[00:11:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Occasionally sometimes it's just very, you know, thanks for coming, you know, hope you enjoyed a type, you know, comments on, you know, Instagram stories or posts. So, honestly I don't get a ton of feedback, you know, directly from pit masters or restaurants themselves.

[00:11:15] [SPEAKER_04]: Okay, well, you mentioned that you have folks invite you John G and invited you to come out. Do you get those types of invitations from barbecue restaurants often?

[00:11:23] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, I think a case, you know, it's kind of comes in waves. There are certainly times where folks will, you know, reach out.

[00:11:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Oftentimes it's kind of community barbecue is like, hey, you know, reason when I got with someone, you know, in a couple hours west does, I think it's a church fundraiser barbecue but they, he sent me some photos saying, hey, love to have you because he kind of, he cooks at the old way with a burn barrel and an ember.

[00:11:52] [SPEAKER_01]: And kind of direct heat. So he's a, you know, love to have you come check it out.

[00:11:57] [SPEAKER_01]: I've gotten a few of those and then in terms of the restaurants, yeah, occasionally we'll get some invites directly from the pit masters or even, you know, if they're big enough and they have, you know, kind of PR folks, you know, gets them invite there to come check them out.

[00:12:12] [SPEAKER_01]: So wide variety of different kind of invites come, you know, it's a different types of barbeque use or fundraiser or, you know, things just check out, you know, I always flatter where people think, you know,

[00:12:22] [SPEAKER_01]: I, you know, to invite me to the separate things. So yeah, that's it kind of comes it like I said in waves.

[00:12:30] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, 12 years you've been doing this, you know, you've kind of been sticking to a good routine. I'm sure it kind of comes in waves, the production just like the audience does but look ahead for the future. What does the horizon hold for you guys.

[00:12:43] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, I think this has definitely become, you know, less of a focus for the other two rows and they, they contribute when they can which I totally get, they have, you know, kind of busy lives.

[00:12:55] [SPEAKER_01]: I really see it as I keep going because, you know, I just find that I really love, you know, kind of, you know, the whole experience, you know, I like to document it, let's take photos, I like to put my thoughts out, you know, I just kind of the whole, you know, old school blogging, you know,

[00:13:11] [SPEAKER_01]: I've been doing it for decades at this point, you know, I still really enjoy that and I think that's probably where the future is is, you know, if the other guys are able to contribute occasionally, you know, great.

[00:13:20] [SPEAKER_01]: We were all three together in Portland Oregon and went to a great place called Matt's Barbecue recently so hopefully we'll get to kind of collaborate on that one.

[00:13:29] [SPEAKER_01]: But if, if they aren't kind of sending in kind of the one-off reviews that they're doing by themselves, that's okay.

[00:13:36] [SPEAKER_01]: I'll probably be keeping it going, you know, as long as I still feel like I, you know, like you said, it kind of comes and bits and starts.

[00:13:44] [SPEAKER_01]: But I feel like once I even if I've taken a break once I get going again, I really kind of, you know, the creative juice is start flowing and I kind of get really excited about it kind of all over again.

[00:13:53] [SPEAKER_01]: So I don't know that there's going to be a ton of, you know, big changes in the future.

[00:13:58] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, I do like, you know, I mentioned kind of the three types of posts earlier. I do like to kind of step back and maybe write a little bit more, you know, wider or broader stories about, you know, perhaps, you know, what I'm seeing and whether it's, you know, Charlotte itself or kind of, you know,

[00:14:23] [SPEAKER_01]: maybe try to continue those different types of posts, not just straight up reviews.

[00:14:27] [SPEAKER_04]: Okay and you mentioned collaborating with your friends out in the Pacific Northwest there and I led the episode with this climb and I'm going to ask you now as I promised, why do you feel like barbecue is better enjoyed with friends?

[00:14:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, there's obviously the communal aspect of barbecue, you know, whether it's, you're smoking in your backyard, it's always fun to invite folks over even if they're not directly contributing to the cooking.

[00:14:51] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, hanging out, listening to music, you know, drinking a beverage if you're into that.

[00:14:58] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, there's always that and then oftentimes if you want to try all the meats, you need a lot of other mouths to help you eat it or otherwise you're going to take a bunch of leftovers and which you may may not eat later on.

[00:15:12] [SPEAKER_01]: So it's, I think even just purely from a waste perspective you want to, especially if the food's good all of the effort that's gone in the cooking at.

[00:15:22] [SPEAKER_01]: And you want to try all the meats, I think it's, you know, the communal aspect comes into it as well when you're eating with friends at a restaurant but definitely just, you know,

[00:15:32] [SPEAKER_01]: from practical logical purposes, it's, it's, it's fun and then you know, of course you got the communal aspects as you're eating it and enjoying it.

[00:15:40] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, critiquing it, there's some disagreements, things like that so, you know, I think that's, that's kind of my answer, why it's better to eat with friends.

[00:15:48] [SPEAKER_04]: Come Rotary and conversation, good times together, that's, that's all great reasons to get barbecue together. So as you guys have been out, I think you dropped a number there just a moment ago.

[00:15:57] [SPEAKER_04]: Have any barbecue joints do you feel like you've been to during all this time?

[00:16:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, there's, you know, I just checked this recently. There's over 350 reviews on the website.

[00:16:09] [SPEAKER_01]: Some of those will be repeat viewings but you know, I can confidently say well over 300 reviews of unique restaurants.

[00:16:17] [SPEAKER_01]: I probably have been involved in, you know, two, maybe even three-fourths of those directly, whether I'm eating and writing.

[00:16:28] [SPEAKER_01]: Some of the other ones are kind of one offs for the other guys as they are, you know, whether their Texas or traveling across the US or, you know, wherever.

[00:16:37] [SPEAKER_01]: But yeah, I mean, well over 300 unique kind of reviews on the site.

[00:16:42] [SPEAKER_04]: Are there any restaurants that you've been to that you don't get a review on the site that's either so bad that you don't review it or you just don't have time or any of those.

[00:16:50] [SPEAKER_04]: And I got to go.

[00:16:51] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, I think we used to kind of relish those bad reviews with certain extent and like ripping, you know, whatever restaurant, you know,

[00:17:11] [SPEAKER_01]: try to find things that I like with each one. So, you know, I'm not going to write, you know, kind of a completely negative review.

[00:17:19] [SPEAKER_01]: But, you know, at the same time, I don't think, you know, generally I do try to post something even if it's short and kind of duck focusing too much on the negative.

[00:17:28] [SPEAKER_01]: I do generally try to post, you know, something on the blog, you know, I went to the effort.

[00:17:33] [SPEAKER_01]: I spent the money on mine as well, kind of get some content out of it. I guess what's how I look at it.

[00:17:37] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, sure. And of course, the media world in 2012 when you guys got started maybe is a little bit of fun to kind of poo poo.

[00:17:44] [SPEAKER_04]: Right. The media world now is a lot more negative and I don't think we want to see as much of that. Let's let's put people up and if it's bad.

[00:17:52] [SPEAKER_04]: Just kind of keep that on the back burner. So yeah, yeah, exactly.

[00:17:56] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, so how deep into the barbecue world are you? I know you're eating your reviewing your reporting pictures videos.

[00:18:02] [SPEAKER_04]: Are you cooking?

[00:18:03] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, I am a backyard cook.

[00:18:08] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, I think the easy thing to do, especially in especially being from North Carolina would be pork shoulders and honestly, since a pandemic, I pulled out the old you know, Weber kettle, which this point is probably nearly 20 years old and I find that I really, you know, especially during the pandemic, you had the time you could took a good rechargeable.

[00:18:28] [SPEAKER_01]: I found that I really enjoy using that Weber kettle, even though it's parts of it are starting to fall apart.

[00:18:35] [SPEAKER_01]: But for the most part, it's really holding up and I'm able to get like really good portion of the out of it. So that's kind of the main things I do.

[00:18:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Kasia, I'll do ribs. I don't mess with beef other than like maybe a try tip or a kind of a beef tenderloin, you know, I haven't done a brisket a long time.

[00:18:52] [SPEAKER_01]: But you know, I think the coolest thing I did, which I eventually had like to kind of replicate is I did a whole hog in my backyard, you know, center block pit, you know, rebar and all.

[00:19:04] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, father's a week in 2018 so had a big party because obviously that's a ton of food but you know, I'd really love to do that again.

[00:19:13] [SPEAKER_01]: I just, you know, I kind of thought about it and started to do it a few times, but just haven't pulled the trigger to to do another whole hog in the backyard again. But you know, hopefully hopefully soon.

[00:19:26] [SPEAKER_04]: Well, I can definitely validate you on the Weber kettle. I have a smoking mountain that I know I've had for 20 years and it's still a whole and that that for a place the great in there a couple of times that man is still worth fantastic love to use that.

[00:19:39] [SPEAKER_04]: And so if in the time and dried, you get ready for that whole hog, be sure and send us an invitation.

[00:19:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, absolutely. I will be inviting friends again going back to the there's a lot of food there. So I don't want to go to waste. I love to, you know, have people try it. So absolutely.

[00:19:55] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah. So what do you feel like has been your most memorable day of barbecue? Any any best bites or exotic lifeless stops that you've been to?

[00:20:03] [SPEAKER_01]: I think probably so I guess you kind of mentioned them up earlier and, you know, being in kind of Charlotte and growing up in kind of the peedmont region, you know, just north of Lexington and grew up in high we all grew up in high point north Carolina.

[00:20:15] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, that's really the style of barbecue that I've explored the most.

[00:20:19] [SPEAKER_01]: And so I don't have as much experience out east.

[00:20:23] [SPEAKER_01]: But a few years back, you know, for my oldest daughter's gymnasics tournament was in Greenville, North Carolina. So it over kind of one actually one in a half days went to bees barbecue skylight in and then the next day was a Sunday. So the only kind of real barbecue joint that was open was a Sam Jones barbecue which is in itself is really good, but you know, kind of it those three in succession.

[00:20:46] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, over the course of a weekend and then actually a few days later.

[00:20:51] [SPEAKER_01]: There's kind of a whole hog theme to this, this little trip and went to Palmera Barbecue when they result the food stall in Charleston, North Carolina and tried their whole hogs.

[00:21:01] [SPEAKER_01]: So that was kind of over a couple of days, but you know, hitting a bunch of whole hog places.

[00:21:05] [SPEAKER_01]: I think I'd loved to always hit more, but you know, with the family and this was a gymnastics trip.

[00:21:11] [SPEAKER_01]: I felt pretty good about hitting those four kind of in quick succession.

[00:21:15] [SPEAKER_04]: What about the opposite side of the coin for a getable day of barbecue?

[00:21:20] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I mean, there's been places where, you know, speaking of gas station barbecue in Rudy's earlier, there was a true gas station with a restaurant attached to it probably was like, you know, an old, you know,

[00:21:34] [SPEAKER_01]: gas food or fried chicken place and they had barbecue and, you know, always hopeful of there's whole in the well places, but this this place and kind of up states out the Carolina just I don't think it's in business any longer.

[00:21:48] [SPEAKER_01]: It just it really did not hit the mark.

[00:21:51] [SPEAKER_01]: The barbecue itself was most likely cut a day or two before and just kind of microwaved or that for us.

[00:21:58] [SPEAKER_01]: So completely dry, almost an edible, you know, everything out, you know, the hushbubbies were clearly from frozen.

[00:22:05] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, I think they did actually attempt to do kind of a house made kind of red slah.

[00:22:13] [SPEAKER_01]: But other, you know, everything else that was kind of completely unsuccessful.

[00:22:17] [SPEAKER_01]: There's been other places like in, you know, we went to a place in Brooklyn where, you know, I know people like to poo poo New York barbecue, but there are some really good places like home town barbecue and in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in,

[00:22:28] [SPEAKER_01]: in the winter, but this was a place in Brooklyn that really was just missed the mark pretty badly.

[00:22:36] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, the brosket was kind of roast beef consistency, very dry rubbery.

[00:22:42] [SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, there's probably a few that come to mind. The other guys have had some zero hog reviews.

[00:22:49] [SPEAKER_01]: I think in one was in Arizona and, and Sedona the other actually was in Raleigh.

[00:22:55] [SPEAKER_01]: And so, you know, I was kind of taken a look and, you know, there are some zero hog reviews.

[00:23:00] [SPEAKER_01]: None of them are mine. The ones I did were probably more like a one hog.

[00:23:04] [SPEAKER_01]: But, um, yeah, there's probably kind of amongst three of us kind of the worst experiences we've had with barbecue.

[00:23:10] [SPEAKER_04]: You mentioned the restaurant that closed that was wasn't a great experience.

[00:23:13] [SPEAKER_04]: And in that of all the 300 reviews that you've got up there, do you ever spend any time going through and say, okay, these guys have closed.

[00:23:19] [SPEAKER_04]: We're going to take them off of their any updating a refreshener or once it goes out there, it's out there,

[00:23:23] [SPEAKER_04]: and you don't fold any of that anymore.

[00:23:26] [SPEAKER_01]: Um, I could be better about that.

[00:23:27] [SPEAKER_01]: I do like to update the map where, you know, I, like you said, I like to start the ones that are kind of exceptional.

[00:23:34] [SPEAKER_01]: I always link to the review.

[00:23:36] [SPEAKER_01]: If it's closed, ideally, I'd kind of, I think I'm going to always keep it out there.

[00:23:41] [SPEAKER_01]: But maybe note that it's closed and both on the map and ideally on the blog post.

[00:23:46] [SPEAKER_01]: But that's kind of just if I think about it or come across it, I'll make an update.

[00:23:51] [SPEAKER_01]: But, you know, I guess in general, it's just once it's out there, it's out there and maybe I'll go back later and kind of note it that was closed or maybe I won't.

[00:23:59] [SPEAKER_04]: When you go out there and you're, you're visiting these restaurants and you're trying to figure out what is going to be.

[00:24:04] [SPEAKER_04]: Is there anything that you order in particular that you sort of base your opinions on?

[00:24:08] [SPEAKER_04]: Is this like the benchmark?

[00:24:10] [SPEAKER_04]: I'm always get this and kind of make it a decision on how this restaurant is.

[00:24:15] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, you know, I always like to, you know, trust the restaurant in terms of if they, if there are Texas joint, you know,

[00:24:20] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to try the brisket, you know, obviously if there are North Carolina joint, you know, I'm going to try the pork.

[00:24:29] [SPEAKER_01]: If it's kind of more of a, you know, what I've, what's referred to as an international house of barbecue where they have all the styles and I can pick from any number of them because they're not, you know,

[00:24:38] [SPEAKER_01]: necessarily one-cell or the other at the restaurant, I'll always default to pork just kind of being from North Carolina, you know, growing up near Lexington.

[00:24:45] [SPEAKER_01]: Whether it's kind of Lexington or Eastern or they don't have a particular style, always kind of try the pork.

[00:24:53] [SPEAKER_01]: If it's not kind of clear like if it's a Texas place, yeah, I'm going to try the brisket and the ribs and the sausage if it's all in the menu, but otherwise, yeah, I'll always try the pork.

[00:25:02] [SPEAKER_04]: What do you generally look for in a barbecue restaurant?

[00:25:06] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, I think the biggest thing is kind of authenticity.

[00:25:09] [SPEAKER_01]: If it's, you know, clearly that can be done if it's an old kind of classic restaurant, it just kind of it oozes the authenticity.

[00:25:20] [SPEAKER_01]: Just because it's maybe a newer kind of chain restaurant, you know, it can still be authentic in some ways, even, you know, if it's kind of a shinier kind of cleaner type place.

[00:25:31] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, I always am going to look to see what their smokeer is if there's a wood pile out back, you know, even with, you know, always preferring the wood smoke, you know, kind of classic type of smokers.

[00:25:45] [SPEAKER_01]: But if there is like a southern pride or, you know, a gas fire do are they even adding wood, you know, or they just solely relying on kind of the electricity.

[00:25:52] [SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, I always like to, you know, I don't love to see a gaser, but if there is a wood pile then at least they're kind of trying some things.

[00:25:59] [SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, I think that's probably the biggest thing in terms of, you know, wood pile and the authenticity and kind of the, I think it goes back to the atmosphere and ambiance of the restaurant I was mentioning earlier for the ratings.

[00:26:11] [SPEAKER_04]: Okay, so you guys got started in a place where we need to find the barbecue of Charlotte and let everybody know what the good barbecue is.

[00:26:19] [SPEAKER_04]: If I'm now that we've, and now you've created a great resource for North Carolina, but let's say, you know, Joe Q. public can go to barbecuebrows.co and and playing in our journey, but let's say we don't have access to that.

[00:26:31] [SPEAKER_04]: What do you feel like is the key or the secret to planning, you know, a good barbecue road trip and find an destination and an unfamiliar place?

[00:26:40] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, I always like to check at different resources. So if it's, if it's, you know, a place with a Texas joint, Texas monthly Daniel Bonne, obviously everyone knows him he's kind of, you know, his word is is kind of bought it is kind of golden.

[00:26:55] [SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, that's always a resource I'll check if there's an eater, the website eater, if they do like a barbecue list generally, I feel like there's writers tend to know what they're doing.

[00:27:07] [SPEAKER_01]: Not always, but you know, I think that's that's always something to kind of check for if there's a local.

[00:27:13] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, city magazine or you know all weekly kind of that's people on the ground that live in the city that are trying the barbecue, you know, I'll always check to see if there's anything like that.

[00:27:25] [SPEAKER_01]: And then, you know, friend of mine, you know, John Tanner he's got a great barbecue blog so if there's any place that he's happened to check so I think I try to check a few different sources if if the restaurant's going to be there.

[00:27:39] [SPEAKER_01]: If there are the restaurants thought any of those then, you know, I'll look at pictures whether you know going back to yelp if they're there's pictures on the site that other people have taken hopefully they've taken pictures of the smoker or the woodbile.

[00:27:53] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, that's always helpful if there's, you know, any kind of random, you know, blogs, you know, maybe they're defunged but they have you could reviews.

[00:28:03] [SPEAKER_01]: So it's really just a lot of research and then, you know, feeling that I'll just, you know, take a take a leap of faith and try to try it out and that's where, you know, maybe I'll get lucky but that also could be a bad experience.

[00:28:16] [SPEAKER_04]: Sure, so you mentioned yelp there and you mentioned it later on where does yelp and Google reviews fit in the hierarchy of you know reference information.

[00:28:26] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, I don't typically, you know, based off that not only just based off that initial experience in Charlotte with what was in the number one restaurant but I think in general.

[00:28:37] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't, initially trust yelp when it comes to barbecue so that's where I'll see you know if there's yelpers that have taken great photos again hopefully it's of this moker of a woodbile not just kind of like the decor or whatnot.

[00:28:51] [SPEAKER_01]: Google maps or you know kind of Google again kind of the same thing that's really worrying too much about the content of the reviews but if they've got, you know, additional photos.

[00:29:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Kind of those are probably, you know, the furthest down on the pecking order of kind of those two those failing all those other, you know, resources I mentioned earlier then I'll check those.

[00:29:12] [SPEAKER_01]: And see if I can get a better sense of the restaurant.

[00:29:14] [SPEAKER_04]: Okay, you started out in in 2012 and it was a Charlotte topic and and it's been a long time this 12 years for Charlotte barbecue and I know you've been about this and talked about this before but tell me how you feel like the Charlotte barbecue.

[00:29:28] [SPEAKER_04]: A reiner environment or the barbecue community has evolved over those 12 years.

[00:29:34] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, when right before we had the blog midwood smoke house open which is since growing to kind of a regional chain but they were truly doing kind of wood smoke barbecue whereas most places in Charlotte at the time were probably really doing just more of a gas using a gas or maybe adding some wood.

[00:29:52] [SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, they were right before we started the blog, you know, we went to them early on and they were for a while kind of the best barbecue in Charlotte.

[00:30:01] [SPEAKER_01]: I think there's been some, you know, fits in starts. There's other places that have come along that are doing, you know, true cue with smoke barbecue.

[00:30:12] [SPEAKER_01]: And some of those have kind of survived some of those, you know, tried out and then find that, you know, you know, I'm not a restaurant to own myself but, you know, that business is pretty tough.

[00:30:24] [SPEAKER_01]: So I think, you know, recently within the past year there's been some new players on the scene that I've really enjoyed.

[00:30:32] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, Union barbecue is a food truck that is doing kind of text mix barbecue. I tried them for the first time recently. I think they started within Charlotte probably within the past year really enjoy them.

[00:30:44] [SPEAKER_01]: But, you know, Richard and culture started a barbecue that's a brewery. I started a barbecue program, taking a hiring a pitmaster from noble smoke and, you know, tried them as well and found that they're, you know, kind of doing some really interesting things.

[00:31:00] [SPEAKER_01]: So, I think there were some kind of contraction, especially because of COVID, a lot of places closed.

[00:31:06] [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm hopeful that some more places, not only kind of the homegrown places I mentioned that have kind of popped up but also it'd be great to, you know, just have someone like a Sam Jones or Rodney Scott open a restaurant in Charlotte just to kind of help elevate the barbecue scene.

[00:31:22] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, even someone like Brian Furman who, you know, has done Savannah and Atlanta but as a Charlotte native, I've been wanting for him to, you know, potentially open something in Charlotte, you know, since he kind of came on the scene.

[00:31:37] [SPEAKER_01]: So someone like that, like a well-known pitmaster, I'd love to see open, you know, whether it, you know, maybe not their first restaurant but like if they're kind of expanding to Charlotte, open their second or third or when that restaurant and just elevate the scene.

[00:31:51] [SPEAKER_01]: So I think it's continuing to grow. I think it's, it's stagnated for a while, it's growing again and hopefully just more folks will kind of continue getting inspired by, you know, the quality of barbecue that's open in the recent past and kind of do their own spin on it.

[00:32:07] [SPEAKER_04]: You mentioned a couple of folks that we've had on the show Ed Morse Moas from Resident Culture Brewing Company, he's the pitmaster there and came from Noble and as well as Matt Barry from midwood smokehouse, all these guys we've taught to, they've got a great store and a sweet lose their Charlotte.

[00:32:20] [SPEAKER_04]: It would be really cool as Brian Firman came up and, you know, we had him on the show here a little while back and I kind of pressed him on that topic and he said, don't count me out. You know, so it's not out of the question, keep your fingers crossed once he gets stuck going in it laying again, which I think he's going on, got working on this month.

[00:32:39] [SPEAKER_04]: Hopefully we'll he'll expand over here to Charlotte.

[00:32:42] [SPEAKER_01]: Actually, I'm glad you mentioned Lewis from Sweet Lose because obviously they cook over, you know, he cooks ever would but then also the Carolina BBQ Festival, which I know you guys were involved in and promoted.

[00:32:54] [SPEAKER_01]: I think bringing other pit masters to Charlotte saying that there is an audience for barbecue real barbecue.

[00:33:00] [SPEAKER_01]: I think is a great thing and can only help kind of elevate the city's barbecue so I just want to make sure I did mention kind of Lewis.

[00:33:09] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, and Lewis has got a big event. The next Carolina BBQ Festival sort of mini festival coming up in the I guess October around a Carolina Panthers game so you can go enjoy some whole barbecue and do that thing.

[00:33:19] [SPEAKER_04]: So it's cool. I'm like you, I'm looking forward to seeing how that Carolina BBQ Festival continues to expand in the region.

[00:33:25] [SPEAKER_04]: Let's take it out out of barbecue. What do you eat when you're not eating barbecue?

[00:33:31] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, my wife could eat probably Mexican food every day the week and if she had to and I'm kind of right there with her probably not quite as much enthusiasm but you know any time she mentions a Mexican whether it's kind of a kind of a kind of a kind of whole in the wild Mexican or kind of if it's kind of a upscale.

[00:33:52] [SPEAKER_01]: We're always game to try different places. You know, we've got a great sushi place that we like in Charlotte. You know pizza you know I'm really not picky. I'll eat most things my kids not so much but you know it was probably the favorite side say.

[00:34:09] [SPEAKER_04]: You mentioned the wife and then you mentioned the kids a couple of times here. How did they all tolerate your barbecue journey in your passion for meat smoke?

[00:34:19] [SPEAKER_01]: Right. Yeah, they I think tolerate is definitely the right word so especially if it's you know a trip where like I mentioned earlier some of their stops in Eastern North Carolina around Greenville.

[00:34:30] [SPEAKER_01]: I didn't take them to all of them but they went to you know all but one or two and because there was a few more probably on that loop.

[00:34:38] [SPEAKER_01]: They tolerated generally the nice thing is a lot of our ski restaurants will have fries or if they're newer kind of have like a grilled cheese so they're not you know being forced to eat barbecue every place, you know so chicken fingers you know case of deer or grilled cheese if that's on the menu plus fries my kids will be happy my wife.

[00:34:57] [SPEAKER_01]: You know she's game for it. I think there's been you know early on she you know kind of maybe fought a little bit but if she's going to eat barbecue we you know again that's a easy way to kind of share a big platter and try a bunch of different meats she's found that she really you know well done brisk it you know she really loves she loves.

[00:35:14] [SPEAKER_01]: You know if it's sausage is kind of house made and really good you know she she she's she's become on board so she hasn't fight it nearly as much as she used to.

[00:35:24] [SPEAKER_04]: We're getting kind of close to the end of our time here and we're going to get into the slow the low and slow show down here in just a moment but before we do I want to find out you know 12 years where do you continue to find the interest the motivation what really keeps your fire lit now that you've got started and got a decade plus under your bill.

[00:35:41] [SPEAKER_01]: You know honestly I think if I'm in a low it's because I haven't been you know listening to different podcasts like this one or tales from the kids or you know different just kind of consuming different content you know all the different YouTube videos.

[00:35:54] [SPEAKER_01]: I find that once if I haven't done that a while and I start listening to you know those types of content then it kind of you know gets the creative juices flowing and kind of reunites a passion so I'd say that's that's the biggest thing is just kind of.

[00:36:09] [SPEAKER_01]: You know the smoke sheet you know good friends with those guys and kind of look forward to reading that every week but in a case of contributing so it's just kind of like seeing other people kind of putting out you know different types of content or reading you know.

[00:36:22] [SPEAKER_01]: Texas monthly you know checking that out so I think that's usually what happens is I get re-agnited when I kind of find myself having not kind of been consuming that type of content and then kind of getting back into it and say okay alright.

[00:36:35] [SPEAKER_01]: What can I do now what can I do different you know what's my spin on it.

[00:36:41] [SPEAKER_04]: Okay low and slow showdown time we're going to hit these here.

[00:36:44] [SPEAKER_04]: Itters and maybe explain some of it maybe we just kick it with one word answer so first of all you smoke some in your backyard what is your favorite wood to use in your smoke.

[00:36:54] [SPEAKER_01]: It'll be it'll be oak just because it's so available in North Carolina.

[00:36:59] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah so what's the name of the barbecue joint that you grew up on.

[00:37:05] [SPEAKER_01]: So Lexington barbecue is kind of my favorite joint of all time because it was nearby but I guess in terms of writing my hometown of high point there was.

[00:37:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Kept leaves barbecue.

[00:37:16] [SPEAKER_04]: And when you say Lexington you're talking about honey mong course as you're that's right yeah absolutely.

[00:37:22] [SPEAKER_04]: What is your current barbecue go to.

[00:37:27] [SPEAKER_01]: So you know honestly in charlotte it would probably be sweet lose but you know in terms of a restaurant that's open every day.

[00:37:33] [SPEAKER_01]: You know I like where the special is he's doing kind of all the different you're constantly evolving the menu so sweet lose which probably might go to in charlotte.

[00:37:41] [SPEAKER_04]: What's your favorite protein to eat pork beef chicken turkey or something else.

[00:37:47] [SPEAKER_01]: It's going to be pork chop pork you know ideally Lexington style but yeah any well done pork.

[00:37:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Favorite side.

[00:37:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Colors my wife is actually big college fans she she can be picky so I like to always get her input if I am trying callers but if there's colors on the menu I'll try that.

[00:38:07] [SPEAKER_01]: I guess I'll also mention barbecue hash as well if it's on the menu.

[00:38:12] [SPEAKER_04]: Wow that is two answers that we don't normally get because you know color is not for everybody and actually for everybody either.

[00:38:20] [SPEAKER_04]: So I'm sure since you've been to Paul mirror you know their collards are far.

[00:38:25] [SPEAKER_04]: Yes definitely and they have great hash as well yeah they have great hash great beef cheeks everything at Paul mirror is good so favorite dessert.

[00:38:35] [SPEAKER_04]: But and a putting hands down what is the best state in these united states for barbecue.

[00:38:42] [SPEAKER_04]: Well of course it's North Carolina of course it is but what is the best North Carolina style eastern western or mustard.

[00:38:52] [SPEAKER_01]: It's it's you know my answer is it's what you grew up on and when I grew up on is electing to barbecue elections it's all feed months to barbecue so that's what I'll say but I think I have an appreciation for the others if it's again if it's well done.

[00:39:04] [SPEAKER_04]: If it's good all of it's good right exactly is it better with or without the sauce.

[00:39:11] [SPEAKER_01]: You know I think the sauce should be in the answer not something that hides you know so I think.

[00:39:19] [SPEAKER_01]: If if you know if it's the same which I'll always add slaw and sauce to like a chopport sandwich.

[00:39:27] [SPEAKER_04]: Last one and this is always a toughy for folks is barbecue a verb or noun.

[00:39:33] [SPEAKER_01]: It's it's a noun it's clearly an noun.

[00:39:35] [SPEAKER_04]: It is clearly a noun and that my friends is the low down for a month Tommy founder of barbecue bros Tommy thanks for joining us today.

[00:39:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely thank you Chager.

[00:39:45] [SPEAKER_04]: You've been listening to the low and slow barbecue show on the mesh dot TV network a podcast be sure to visit us online at low slow BBQ show dot com.

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[00:39:59] [SPEAKER_04]: Please be sure to give us a five star rating in your favorite podcast network that helps other people find this remember visit low slow BBQ show dot com and you can subscribe to the low down newsletter.

[00:40:09] [SPEAKER_04]: We'll send the latest podcast blogs recipes barbecue events and more all directly to your inbox on Tuesday mornings special thanks to our guests Tommy thanks as well it or producer Andrew mousse and the whole team at the mesh dot TV and.

[00:40:22] [SPEAKER_04]: Excuse me the mesh dot TV network a podcast most especially thank you for listening to the low and slow barbecue show remember for the best barbecue and the best barbecue podcast keep it low and slow.

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