"Pig Out", from the Columbus Ohio Dispatch

"Pig Out" in the Columbus Ohio Dispatch is a northerner reporter's view of North Carolina barbecue. Steve Stephens visited three stops on the NC Barbecue Historic Trail: Bridge's in Shelby, Lexington #1 in Lexington and Hill's in Winston-Salem. There is a short video on Hill's along with the article.

For a northerner, Stephens does a good job of covering NC barbecue. He gets a few of the details wrong, but nothing important. If he had gotten to any of the pits east of Greensboro, the distinctions between Eastern and Lexington would have been made clearer.

NC Barbecue Society Historic Trail

The North Carolina Barbecue Society has created the NC Barbecue Society Historic Trail, which visits 25 Historic Barbecue Pits stretching from Ayden to Murphy. The trail description can be found here.

Unfortunately, the term "historic" refers to past reputation, not necessarily current quality or reputation. There are a couple of places on the trail that have lost their lustre over the years. On the other hand, there are some real gems. The following are stops on the trail that I have visited and reviewed in this blog:

1. Skylight Inn, Ayden
8. Allen and Son's, Chapel Hill
9. A&M Grill, Mebane
10. Hursey's, Burlington
11. Stamey's, Greensboro
12. Short Sugar's
13. Fuzzy's, Madison
17. Lexington, Lexington

The trail is not a bad reference list for a barbecue tour. B's in Greenville and Stephenson's in Willow Springs have been on my radar for a while.