EDITOR’S NOTE: As a result of COVID-19, some restaurants’ hours may have changed, or they may be offering take-out only. Please call ahead.

Find barbecue joints in your region.

The owners of Buxton Hall Barbecue bring fresh ideas to the table, yet they never lose sight of the whole-hog tradition at the heart of their restaurant.

Buxton Hall Barbecue

32 Banks Avenue

Asheville, NC 28801

(828) 232-7216

buxtonhall.com

Old Hampton Store & Barbeque

At Old Hampton Store, eat hickory-smoked barbecue served on sourdough rolls in a historic 1920 general store that was once the original train stop for Tweetsie Railroad.

Old Hampton Store & Barbeque

77 Ruffin Street

Linville, NC 28646

(828) 733-5213

facebook.com/oldhamptonstore

Switzerland Café and General Store

Just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, Switzerland Café (open spring through fall) offers hickory-smoked barbecue with a signature sauce — a blend of Lexington- and eastern-style flavors.

Switzerland Café and General Store

9440 NC Highway 226A

Marion, NC 28752

(828) 765-5289

switzerlandcafe.com

Customers have come to Herb’s Pit Bar-B-Que for more than 30 years for pit-smoked barbecue covered in a “sweet-and-sour” sauce, plus onion rings and four-layer chocolate pie.

Herb’s Pit Bar-B-Que

15735 U.S. Highway 64

Murphy, NC 28906

(828) 494-5367

facebook.com/herbspitbbq

Since 1946, customers have come from near and far for tender, hand-chopped pork, painstakingly pit-cooked over a bed of glowing hickory and oak, then slathered in red, Lexington-style sauce. Oh, and for the hush puppies and red slaw.

Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge

2000 East Dixon Boulevard

Shelby, NC 28150

(704) 482-8567

bridgesbbq.com

From its humble backyard beginnings in the mid-1940s, Hursey’s has become something of a pork powerhouse. The hickory-smoked pork shoulders are best topped with Hursey’s Old-Fashioned Barbecue Sauce, which is just a little east of western, and west of eastern.

Hursey’s Bar-B-Q

1834 South Church Street

Burlington, NC 27215

(336) 570-3838

hurseysbarbecue.com

The meat is the thing here, enhanced to perfection by a dark, thin sauce — or dip — that is neither too mild nor too fiery.

Lexington Barbecue

100 Smokehouse Lane

Lexington, NC 27295

(336) 249-9814

lexbbq.com

In Lexington, the city’s namesake-style barbecue — pork shoulder meat dipped in a tomato-based sauce — draws devotees to this former drive-in.

Speedy’s Barbecue, Inc.

1317 Winston Road

Lexington, NC 27295

(336) 248-2092

speedysbbqinc.com

Little Richard’s barbecue is pure Lexington-style. It’s pulled from pork shoulders, which are slow-roasted over wood coals for 12 to 14 hours. As for the Lexington-style dip, Little Richard’s blend is still strongly vinegar-based, with a bracing dose of pepper.

Little Richard’s BBQ

6470 Stadium Drive

Clemmons, NC 27012

(336) 766-0401

littlerichardsbarbeque.com

This whole-hog barbecue joint tinkers with tradition, but it still shares time-honored cooking methods with its small-town brethren.

Picnic

1647 Cole Mill Road

Durham, NC 27705

(919) 908-9128

picnicdurham.com

Founded in 1930, Stamey’s is well known for its Lexington-style pit — they cook exclusively over hardwood hickory coals — and its tangy-sweet vinegar-and-tomato sauce.

Stamey’s

2812 Battleground Avenue

Greensboro, NC 27408

(336) 288-9275

stameys.com

2206 West Gate City Boulevard

Greensboro, NC 27403

(336) 299-9888

stameys.com



Fuzzy’s Bar-B-Que

Fuzzy’s embodies the personality of an Eisenhower-era diner, looking much as it did in 1954, when T.H. “Fuzzy” Nelson opened it. The moist and zesty barbecue is served with long, curvy hush puppies and vinegar slaw.

Fuzzy’s Bar-B-Que

407 Highway Street

Madison, NC 27025

(336) 427-4130

fuzzysbbqmadison.com

Clyde Cooper’s has been serving barbecue since it opened on New Year’s Day of 1938, making it one of the oldest barbecue restaurants in the state. Don’t forget to order plentiful sides — collard greens, potato salad, slaw — and make sure to save room for banana pudding.

Clyde Cooper’s Barbeque

327 South Wilmington Street

Raleigh, NC 27601

(919) 832-7614

clydecoopersbbq.com

Much of Short Sugar’s reputation comes from its thin, dark sauce, which seems to have less ketchup or tomato paste than other Piedmont dips.

Short Sugar’s Pit Bar-B-Q

1328 South Scales Street

Reidsville, NC 27320

(336) 342-7487

shortsugars.com

Pulled pork shoulder — pit-smoked over hardwood charcoal — comes with a tangy sauce. The only day the pit isn’t fired up is Sunday, when the restaurant is closed.

Stephenson’s Bar-B-Q

11964 NC Highway 50 North

Willow Spring, NC 27592

(919) 894-4530

Richard’s opened in 1979 on Main Street, right between the courthouse and the railroad station, and that’s where it stands today. The eastern-style sauce has not been fiddled with in all that time, and slaw is the vegetable of choice.

Richard’s Bar-B-Q

522 North Main Street

Salisbury, NC 28144

(704) 636-9561

Fuller’s Old Fashioned BAR-B-Q

Fuller’s is home to a huge all-you-can-eat buffet, which includes biscuits, barbecue, cornbread, and more. Need we say more?

Fuller’s Old Fashioned BAR-B-Q

113 North Eastern Boulevard

Fayetteville, NC 28301

(910) 484-5109

fullersbbq.com

This fly-in barbecue restaurant is located at an airfield. But you don’t have to be a pilot to pay a visit. Here, an order of pulled pork comes with a view of the runway.

Pik-N-Pig

194 Gilliam McConnell Road

Carthage, NC 28327

(910) 947-7591

pik-n-pig.com

The Pit provides a rather upscale setting for Raleigh patrons to enjoy authentic, pit-cooked barbecue.

The Pit Authentic Barbecue

328 West Davie Street

Raleigh, NC 27601

(919) 890-4500

thepit-raleigh.com

You won’t find a “best barbecue in the world” sign on the window, but after a bite of barbecue or a sniff of the woodsmoke wafting through downtown, you’ll see why Bum’s doesn’t need one.

Bum’s Restaurant

566 East Third Street

Ayden, NC 28513

(252) 746-6880

bumsrestaurant.net

Skylight’s hickory-smoked, eastern-style barbecue is legendary in the eastern part of the state. The hog’s skin is blistered and mixed with the meat, and it’s served with a vinegar-based sauce, coleslaw, and a flat, heavy cornbread.

Skylight Inn BBQ

4618 South Lee Street

Ayden, NC 28513

(252) 746-4113

skylightinnbbq.com

Sides of steamed cabbage, slaw, collards, and more are made from family recipes. The hush puppies are light and crispy. And the eastern-style barbecue is cooked over hickory and oak.

Grady’s BBQ

3096 Arrington Bridge Road

Dudley, NC 28333

(919) 735-7243

Simple, yet legendary. This Greenville landmark has no phone, no frills, and no equal.

B’s Barbecue

751 State Road 1204

Greenville, NC 27858

(252) 758-7126

Morris Barbeque

Morris is only open on Saturdays — a tradition that began in 1956 — but the eastern-style barbecue is worth any inconvenience. Don’t overlook the hush puppies and layer cake.

Morris Barbeque

891 Morris BBQ Road

Hookerton, NC 28538

(252) 747-2254

morrisbarbeque.com

Each week, Parker’s smokes about 150 whole hogs — which are chopped and seasoned with a vinegar-and-red-pepper sauce — and fries about 8,000 chickens for 20,000 customers, who start coming early in the day.

Parker’s Barbecue

2514 U.S. Highway 301 South

Wilson, NC 27893

(252) 237-0972

parkersbarbecuewilson.com

Wilber’s is one of only a handful of remaining restaurants anywhere in the eastern part of the state where barbecue is cooked entirely over hardwood coals. Unlike a few other famous places in the Coastal Plain, this is a restaurant where the name above the door still means exactly what it did when Wilber Shirley bought the former Hill’s Barbecue and opened it under his own name in 1962.

Wilber’s Barbecue

4172 US-70

Goldsboro, NC 27534

(919) 778-5218

wilbersbbq.com