Tag Archives: Barbecue

Barbecue, Brisket, Pulled Pork, Sausage, Smoked Turkey

City Barbeque Charlotte, NC (Ballantyne)

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City Barbeque (Ballantyne)
11212 Providence Rd W
Charlotte, NC 28277
http://www.CityBBQ.com
https://www.facebook.com/CityBarbequeBallantyne/

I’ve visited City many times, this location probably a dozen times; and another location in Garner, NC a few times which was my first experience. They’re a chain and yes, I know that you find better BBQ in the smaller places. But sometimes those smaller places are convenient, but you still want some BBQ. What I’ve found with City Barbeque is that it is a very good chain of restaurants. Management will matter if you go to a different location, and who is running the “pit”. Ok, it’s not a pit. But you know what I mean.

Because City has so many different offerings of meat, and I like them all. You’ll see additional reviews as I get around to eating there AND trying a different meat. I may also write if I attend a different location.

On this visit my wife was with me; we decided to share the City Sampler. I’m really trying hard to cut back on my quantity of input of calories; while maintain a certain level of quality input of taste! The Sampler comes with Brisket, Pulled Pork, Sausage and Turkey. The sides we selected was watermelon and Baked Beans with Brisket with Texas Toast as the side.

One of the reasons we made this visit, I wanted to give City’s Banana Pudding ONE more chance. After all Paula Deen cannot be wrong, can she? Read on for that answer.

 

City Barbque Ballantyne Charlotte, NC Brisket, Pulled Pork, Sausage, Turkey
City Barbque Ballantyne Charlotte, NC Brisket, Pulled Pork, Sausage, Turkey

The Sides

Watermellon – My wife wanted the watermelon. It was good, what are you going to say. This is probably as hit or miss as anything. All they do is buy the melons and cut them. They can try to select good melons obviously.

Baked Beans with Brisket – Look at them in that picture. Don’t they look good? Well they are, they are very good. My favorite side at City Barbeque. And it doesn’t hurt if you drop a little meat from your plate into it. I’ve tried other sides, this is my favorite by far. One of the better baked beans you’ll get anywhere. No not the best, but pretty darn good stuff right here.

 

The Meats

City Barbeque Ballantyne Charlotte, NC Brisket up close
City Barbeque Ballantyne Charlotte, NC Brisket up close

The Brisket – Let’s get this one out of the way first.  I’ve either ordered or had some of someone elses brisket from here almost every visit. There is variance in the final product you get. Sometimes it’s excellent, sometimes it’s just very good. This visit I’d say it was only very good; it was just a little drier than what I like to give top bill. Here we had good smoke hit and a decent bark on it. The cut was a little leaner than I’d ask for; give me a little of that fat in there.

I’ve had some excellent brisket over the past month, so it’s making it harder for others to step up to that level. But understand, I am only talking about a couple of places right now having better brisket, and none of them are in Charlotte. They do have the best brisket I’ve found in Charlotte.

Verdict: you Like brisket, you’ll really like theirs.

The Pulled Pork – Pulled Pork is one of my favorites. Growing up in North Carolina, we’ve had pork all our lives. Brisket is relatively new for our area.  I like City’s Pulled Pork. It’s moist, good smoke and they have a very nice North Carolina Piedmont/Lexington Style Sauce. It does a great job complementing the Barbeque. They also have a pretty good Eastern North Carolina style sauce as well. City may not be from North Carolina, but they’ve adapted nicely I’d say.

Verdict: This is excellent Pulled Pork

The Sausage: This is something that is hard to find. It’s something you’ll not find often in the “local” barbeque places that have one location. You’ll also find people try to offer it and they just don’t get it right. OK, City Barbeque does sausage right! No, not the best. I am hopeful to have a review next week of my absolute favorite. But this is one of the better that you’ll find in Charlotte people! If you’ve not had a good Texas Smoked Sausage, then you should give this a try. These are juicy, and have a very good flavor along with a hint of smoke.

A tip, I like putting that North Carolina Piedmont/Lexington Style Sauce on it after I cut them up into slices. You may prefer the other thicker sauces, they are good too with the sausage.

Verdict: This is actually my favorite meat at City Barbeque.

 

The Turkey: Oh man, this was the first time I’ve had their turkey. My picture may not properly represent the moisture that has been retained in the meat. It had a nice light smoke hit. I played around with different sauces trying to find the right one that paired with it. They were all good.

Verdict: City has something for everyone; if you don’t like beef or pork… well there you go. A very good turkey offering!

For Dessert

City Barbeque Charlotte, NC - Ballantyne - Banana Pudding.jpg
City Barbeque Charlotte, NC – Ballantyne – Banana Pudding

The Banana Pudding: I’ve tried their banana pudding several times and… During one of my last visits a sign was up about how Paula Deen had named this to a list of “10 to try”. I’ve tried to find this list but I cannot. I’m pretty good using search engines too by the way; so it must only be available to subscribers. Paula, if you think this is a must try banana pudding… I’m sitting here shaking my head. You had something different than what I’ve been getting.

I’ve got to say this, I don’t get it; and no, it’s not the caramel that throws me off. Yes, that is different and not traditional Banana Pudding. My problem doesn’t start there, it starts with the pudding itself. It’s not that special. It isn’t horrible, it’s an OK dessert. But there is nothing about this banana pudding that puts it over the top. And those that know me, know I’m a banana pudding freak. I’m also a banana pudding snob and I admit it. You can deviate from the norm, but your deviation best be spectacular.

They put the caramel on it, they also go for a caramelized crumbled, I guess nilla wafer maybe? But really, the pudding just doesn’t get it done for me. And how about putting bananas in this thing?

I really wish they had a banana pudding here that I could say that I like and I’ll get every time. But until I hear there has been a change to how this pudding is made, it’s not for me. You might like it so you should at least try it one time.

Verdict: No more for me until there is change. I’ll save the calories for something else!

Baby Back Ribs, Banana Pudding, Barbecue, Pulled Pork

Dem 2 Brothers & A Grill – Charleston, WV

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Dem 2 Brothers & A Grill
423 Virginia Street West
Charleston, West Virginia 25302
http://www.dem2brosgrill.com

I arrived about11:30AM, there was smoke everywhere. Smoking was taking place out behind the restaurant; I was told the process started about 7:30AM. It sure did smell good.

 

I made my way inside and was I wat taken to a table. I looked the menu over and decided on my order; Ribs, Pulled Pork, Baked Bean, Sweet Potato Casserole and Banana Pudding.

 

Dem 2 Brothers and A Grill Charleston, WV Pulled Pork, Ribs Bean Sweet Potato Casserole

The Ribs

 

Ribs had good hit of smoke, the sauce used on the ribs is outstanding – kind of like sweet baby rays – but the meat was a bit overcooked thus drier than I like my ribs. It’s a fine line, and a lot of BBQ houses do this. So, don’t be too alarmed. They were still tasty ribs.

 

The Pulled Pork

 

They put their sauce on the Pulled pork before serving – note that if like me, you would prefer to add sauce as needed -. In other words, give me Pull Pork without sauce and show me the sauce(s) available for me to try. The Pork had a good hit of smoke and flavor, but is was also a bit dry. The sauce is a thick paste sauce, which while it had a good flavor and great for the ribs, isn’t my style of sauce for pulled pork. But I try things the way the guy running show likes to serve them

 

Sweet potato casserole – was pretty good stuff. I liked it.

 

The baked beans – are good, but needed something in my opinion; I added some pulled pork to the beans and that made them better.

The banana pudding – was the best thing they had. Theirs is a thicker pudding, using possibly a heavy cream? It’s a bit sweet, but those that know me know I like banana pudding. I get a thick pudding like this by using heavy cream in the pudding. I’m not sure what they did here. It was a touch sweet, but that was OK.

 

Service by everyone was great.

 

 

 

Barbecue, Chopped Pork

The Smoke Pit – Concord, NC

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The Smoke Pit – Concord, NC
http://thesmokepitnc.com
796 Concord Pkwy N
Concord, NC 28027

 

Well I’ve heard of this place, even had a friend recommend it to me. But never got around to going to it; it was on my list of BBQ places to try. As I was driving back from the Raleigh-Durham area, I was getting hungry as I approached Salisbury. I pulled off to go to the location in Salisbury since they stayed open longer; but I couldn’t find a place to park so I went back to the interstate and decided it was probably best to try the original anyway. I could get there by 7:30, plenty of time to get my order in.

Holy cow, the line was out the door; but it only took me 12-minutes to place my order. Mainly because the woman in front of me… well I’ll say no more. I did hear that they didn’t have brisket; and since I was late and in a bit of a hurry I decided to just get the pulled pork. My order:

Hickory Smoked Pulled Pork – Regular size
Baked Beans
Texas Toast

The Smoke Pit Concord, NC Hickory Smoked Pulled pork
The Smoke Pit Concord, NC Hickory Smoked Pulled pork

The Side Baked Beans

These were great, even had some meat but I added some more! What more can I say?

Verdict: You like baked beans, you’ll really like these!

 

Hickory Smoked Pulled Pork

Yes, you can use other woods, but really in North Carolina? Sorry, I thought it was funny. You can use other woods. But in North Carolina most people use Hickory. I ordered Regular size because I’ve eaten so much BBQ this week. But the portion of meat was huge; maybe regular means only the one side. This pork had a little bit of bark chopped in, and I like that! The meat had the right hit of smoke and it was tender; I need to get here earlier in the day next time to taste it at it’s best. And their Lexington NC sauce, oh yes I like it. Very similar to mine; only mine has more kick.

I like the touch with the pickles!

Verdict: Yes I’ll get this again, and again.

 

Texas Toast

I had to throw this in, theirs is very good

Gee it’s a short review, I’ll be back

Banana Pudding, Barbecue, Brisket, Chopped Pork, Desserts

The Pit – Durham, NC

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The Pit Durham, NC
http://www.thepit-durham.com
321 W Geer St
Durham, NC 27701

While in Durham I’ve been seeking new places I’ve not been too. After a lot of off-line evaluation, I decided to go to the Pit in Durham. I’ve been to the Pit in Raleigh, NC. But I didn’t connect the dots until I was inside. This isn’t a bad thing, The Pit in Raleigh was good, just expensive for a BBQ place.

Parking is not good in this area of Durham. The Pit does have complimentary valet parking, which I did not use. I parked instead, up the street by a park. This turned out to be a good thing and I need to make some extra steps to burn some calories!

Alrighty then, I got inside and seated. No wait but then this was a Monday evening. As I sat there looking at the menu I decided to have a beer. They had many North Carolina selections, I went with Pig Pounder Boar Brown Ale. Pig Pounder is a brewery in Greensboro, NC.

Pig Pounder Boar Brown Ale
Pig Pounder Boar Brown Ale

I did my normal thing of ordering multiple meats. I do this so that I can sample as much as possible. They were not able to give me a good mixture, without overloading me. I had to go with their normal three meats offering. You’re going to learn that I don’t normally get Turkey or chicken as one of the meats. My order was for the following:

Eastern North Carolina Chopped Pork
Lexington Outside Brown Chopped
Brisket
Potato Salad
Baked beans
Banana Pudding

 

The Pit Durham, NC Brisket, Eastern Pork Lexington Outside Brown
The Pit Durham, NC Brisket, Eastern Pork Lexington Outside Brown

Eastern NC Chopped Pork

For those of you from outside of North Carolina, this is one of the more traditional offerings for BBQ. Eastern style is chopped different ways. This wasn’t chopped as fine as many do. Kind of a cross between chopped and pulled. Nice hit of smoke, with an even nicer tang from the vinegar; I love vinegar. I was however, just a little disappointed with their Eastern NC vinegar sauce.

Verdict: If you like Eastern NC style chopped pork, get it. I’ll eat it again.

 

Lexington Outside Brown Chopped

I like some “bark”, so when I can get it, I order it. They also have Lexington-Style Pork Shoulder. This was very good, better than the Eastern NC Style. Their Lexington style sauce didn’t quite get it done for me. I don’t know if it’s the vinegar they use – I think it is – but it could have been better. I had a debate with my waiter about what was used in the sauce. He said it was white sugar. I told him that sometimes people put white sugar in Lexington sauce; but always brown sugar, he said no brown sugar. After checking in the kitchen, he apologized and said, yes they use brown sugar and not white sugar.

For those that don’t like a big tangy hit from vinegar, a Lexington style sauce is for you. It’ll be a little sweeter. The sauces are cut with ketchup and brown sugar and then it’ll vary. I spice my Lexington style sauce up a bit.

Verdict: This was the best of the two Chopped Pork offerings I had. I’d get it again.

 

Brisket

The Brisket came to me with a little more sauce on it than I would normally like; I want it to come with NO sauce, and then I can see and taste the brisket before sauce. I can then enhance the taste by adding as much sauce as I feel is needed. So, that put me off on the first bite or two of the brisket; and at that point I was sort of underwhelmed with the meat. But I finally hit a little fat and that changed everything. The brisket turned out to be the best meat that I had.

Verdict: Give it to me un-sauced, I’ll have to remember to ask for that next time I am here. If you like brisket, I suggest you give it a try.

 

The Pit Durham, NC Banana Pudding
The Pit Durham, NC Banana Pudding

Banana Pudding

Yes, they had banana pudding on the menu; and it had meringue to top it off! I was assured that there were nilla wafers in the pudding. The process is to put four of them on the bottom and then add the pudding and banana. I didn’t think, the consistency was that of a a hard gram cracker crust used for cheese cake. The flavor was somewhere in between. This must have happened in the baking process for the meringue.  Don’t get wrong, this desert was a winner.

Here is a look inside the pudding…

The Pit Durham, NC Banana Pudding Inside
The Pit Durham, NC Banana Pudding Inside

Verdict: Get the banana pudding. You just ate barbecue; banana pudding is a great finisher.

 

Overall a bit pricey. But this is one of the top Barbecue places in Durham.