Sunday, January 17, 2010

Recommended - Neil Holden Barbecue, Youngsville

Address - 582 Us 1 Hwy, Youngsville NC Map
Style - Sit-down Restaurant

Holden's is in a little cement block building across a side street from the Sheetz in Youngsville. You seat yourself and order from a single sided laminated menu. It is a typical NC barbecue place with terrific food.

Along with the typical offerings, there are daily Southern lunch specials, which I will have to try on other visits. What caught my eye was the lunch special of a barbecue sandwich, brunswick stew and hushpuppies for five bucks. What a deal!

The chopped barbecue in the sandwich was superb. There was enough color and flavor from the smoker and a decent Eastern sauce with the vinegar overtones. The brunswick stew was typical NC style, with the vegatables a bit overcooked. The star of the day were the hush puppies. The waitress brought a basket when I ordered (which is a habit I wish more restaurants would adopt). I took one bite and was floored. I usual prefer the lighter puppies you get in seafood restaurants on the coast over the heavier kind found in barbecue joints. These hushpuppies were in a class of their own. They were firm without being heavy. They had a true cornbread flavor that I loved.

I'll be back.

2 comments:

DaBlairs said...

Just moved to this quaint town and thought about checking out the local fare, thanks for the recommendation. Wonder if they have barbecue for breakfast since they're open at 7:30!

Dave said...

Since barbecue is a long slow cooking process, barbecue joints don't normally have it on their breakfast menus. Holden's has decent Southern biscuits for breakfast, I've been told.