At the NC State Fair

You can find BBQ sandwiches all over the midway at the State Fair. They tend to be flat and tasteless, because the pork has been cooked elsewhere and has sat around for a while. There is one place, though, that regularly has good pork and sides. It is the tent run by the NC Pork Producers. The tent is on the path from the west end of the Commercial buildings, where the Cheerwine stand is, to the southeast corner of Dorton. The BBQ is not bad and the pork loin and sides are very good.

At this year's fair, the tent in front of the Kerr Scott building, which has had exhibits from county fairs in the past few years, was of booths by NC food producers. One of the booths was giving out samples of what looked and tasted like good smoked pork. It was run by the NC Goat farmers. A goat "pullin" could be good eating.

Recommended - Danny's, RTP, Morrisville and Cary

311 Ashville Street, Cary NC Map
2945 S. Miami Blvd., Durham NC Map
9561 Chapel Hill Rd Morrisville, NC Map

The Danny's I have visited could not be more different. The restaurant in RTP is built for the RTP lunch crowd. It is counter service and police your own. The one in Cary is waiter service, very much what you expect of a typical BBQ place. The food in both is very good. The one in Morrisville is table service, but has more of a strip mall feeling about it than a bbq restaurant.

The sliced beef and pork is excellent. The chopped pork and sliced pork tenderloin is not as good.

There is a note on the menu about a pinkish ring in the meat, apparently an artifact of the smoking process. I have seen it, but it is not very noticeable.