Pik-n-Pig Destroyed by Fire

The Pik-n-Pig barbecue restaurant south of Carthage NC was destroyed by fire Saturday night. 

ABC News Coverage

The restaurant was notable for being a "fly-in" restaurant. It was situated on the runway of a small rural airport. To get there, you drove past houses with garages for airplanes. You may have to dodge a plane taxiing home. I ate there once and had a mixed experience, so I haven't reviewed the place. It was a typical barbecue joint. I bought some unusual Christmas ornaments at the counter. Another local icon is gone. Given the current state of the world, I would guess that they will not rebuild.

The Great NC BBQ Map

There is a kickstarter campaign to create a map of NC Barbecue restaurants. It is to be all inclusive, listing every barbecue restaurant in the state. The map's web-site, where you can pre-order the map is http://www.thegreatbbqmap.com/ To back the kickstarter campaign, the link is https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/920714852/the-great-nc-bbq-map

Ole NC Barbecue, the Saga

Ole NC Barbecue in Durham is in its third location since I first ate there many years ago. All three locations have been in or adjacent to North Duke Mall.
Originally, the restaurant had a pretty good size slot in the south side of the mall, where El Rodeo is now. They served a Southern buffet for years.
Sometime in the 1990's, the restaurant moved into an outbuilding that had housed a steakhouse. They expanded the buffet, but kept much of the steakshouse decor. It was one of the fancier old time BBQ joints I'd eaten at.
This year, the bank repossessed the building. It is now sitting empty with an "Owned by Bank" sign. The restaurant has moved into a small space with few tables in the back side of the mall. It is no longer a buffet restaurant, but serves a limited "Meat and Two or Three" and BBQ sandwiches from a counter.
I tried a BBQ sandwich. It was acceptable, but a little spicy to my taste.

Allen and Son (Pittsboro) acquires Jackson Brothers in Sanford

Jackson Brothers in Sanford has closed and become an Allen and Son restaurant. Hopefully, they'll continue to use the same smoker and barbecue sauce recipe.
My review of Jackson Brothers

RIP, Jim's Famous BBQ, Chapel Hill

Jim's Famous BBQ has closed. I liked the barbecue there, but found the menu of bar food, NC barbecue and Memphis style barbecue to be a mixed bag.
Recently, there opened a wood burner in Lumberton which I was looking forward to reviewing. It closed before I could get there. In the meanwhile, I have visited a couple of little joints on my travels around the state, but have not found anything to recommend. My newest place to try is the Fire Pit in Wake Forest.

There's a Barbecue Truck in Chapel Hill

On evening at Johnny's I encountered the Old North State BBQ food truck. The eastern style barbecue sandwich was pretty good. It had some nice brown bits. The meat holds up nicely. I was a bit disappointed in their hush puppies, finding them hard. They cook their food at a common food truck kitchen up in Durham, which explains the hush puppies. The truck shows up at the Rainbow Soccer fields in Chapel Hill  and Johnny's, along with other spots in town. Follow their twitter feed at http://twitter.com/onsbbq . It's worth checking out.

RIP, Barbecue Inn, Asheville

According to the Asheville Citizen-Times, the Barbecue Inn, a 50 year old institution, closed over the Fourth of July weekend. NC barbecue feels the loss.

RIP, A&M Grill in Mebane

According to the Burlington Times-News , the A&M Grille in Mebane closed for good Monday June 27 2011. Every time one of these old timer barbecue joints close, we lose a little bit of North Carolina history. I was never a fan of the barbecue sauce there, but the joint had a lot of fans.