BBQ in Lexington, NC

RE: BBQ in Lexington, NC (surrycounty)

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 11:05:00 GMT

faine, I'm afraid I've never met anyone with those surnames in Mount Airy, at least not that I know of. Actually, there's another restaurant in Mount Airy that I consider roadfood-worthy besides Snappy Lunch. It's the Olympia Restaurant, at the corner of Riverside Drive and Linville Rd., east of the downtown area. I've only had breakfast there, but I've had it many times, and they've never disappointed me. It's my favorite place for country ham ( I love that stuff! ), and the hash browns and biscuits are also very good. I'm really looking forward to my breakfast there this Friday.

RE: BBQ in Lexington, NC (faine)

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 20:20:27 GMT

Man, you probably know my relations! My grandfather also went to school with Mr. Andy. We're Greenwoods and Hills if you know any of us. :) And yes, the BBQ in Mayberry proper ain't so hot, is it? The only real Roadfood I know of in town is that magical porkchop sandwich from Snappy's. (Which is quite an impressive specimen of roadfood!). My dad, who is Mt. Airy born and raised, has become an obsessive backyard pit-master since we moved to California....you think getting good BBQ in Surry county is hard? We have to make it ourselves!

So nice to meet someone else with Mt. Airy roots. Someone needs to do a Snappy's trip report soon!

RE: BBQ in Lexington, NC (surrycounty)

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 10:29:30 GMT

Welcome to Roadfood, faine! Great photos ( I love No. Carolina 'que, especially Lexington style. ) Your family's from Mount Airy? Mine too... my dad was born and raised there; he even went to grade school with ol' Andy. Later this week I'm driving down to Mount Airy to visit relatives - I love North Carolina and generally make the trip twice a year. Unfortunately, all four of the barbeque places in "Mayberry" are pretty mediocre, especially the Aunt Bea's mini-chain, so I'll be having my 'que somewhere other than Surry County.

RE: BBQ in Lexington, NC (faine)

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 08:45:28 GMT

Hey there...first post! I was at Lexington #1 two weeks ago and enjoyed it very much. My family hails from Mt. Airy, so we're huge barbeque snobs, and Lexington #1 always works just fine for me (especially with all that scrumptious bark). It's always crowded, but the wait is absolutely worth it. Has anyone tried the smoked turkey? I saw someone with a plate of it this go round and was in lust. And speaking of Speedy's, we like them just fine in our barbeque-partisan family...

I can't get enough of that BBQ slaw. Wish it was found more places then just NC! We make a decent version at home in California when we fire up our smoker, but it's not quite the same.

Can't get enough of them hushpuppies. Light as air and addictive.

RE: BBQ in Lexington, NC (DLnWPBrown)

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 12:36:26 GMT

Rapunzll, there's no such thing as an old BBQ posting.

Dennis in Cary

RE: BBQ in Lexington, NC (Rapunzll)

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 08:05:49 GMT

I don't know their hours, but their phone number is here: Lexington #1

Edited to say I just realized that the message I was replying to was an old one!

Re:BBQ in Lexington, NC (DLnWPBrown)

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:03:54 GMT

Avoid Jimmy's as they no longer cook over wood. We were there about a year and a half ago and the waitress admitted they gave up using wood a few years back. They cook with (GASP) electricity now.

Dennis in Cary

Re:BBQ in Lexington, NC (3fan4evr)

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 11:29:21 GMT

Also try Speedy's on old Hwy 52 coming in from Winston-Salem.

RE: BBQ in Lexington, NC (Wabbit)

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 02:20:31 GMT

The Travel Channel had a BBQ special on, and they did a feature on Lexington NC. The visit was during the BBQ festival. The streets are closed down, and it draws quite a crowd. They even have train service during this event to help with parking. I have tried BBQ in many places, but something about the smoked piggy in Lexington just gets you hooked!

RE: BBQ in Lexington, NC (V960)

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 11:15:48 GMT

Read this thread and you'll understand why folks that live close to Lexington kind of giggle when people talk about good BBQ in where ever.

RE: BBQ in Lexington, NC (Hillbilly)

Mon, 20 Mar 2006 21:19:46 GMT

I just got home from Lexington # 1 after downing another large tray of chopped lean brown Q, sauce drenched coleslaw and hushpuppies washed down with sweet tea . What a great meal!!

RE: BBQ in Lexington, NC (tgfny)

Mon, 20 Mar 2006 19:04:15 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by dendan

Don't try Lexington on a Sunday. We found NONE of the BBQ places were open for lunch. Nice day for a drive, but had to settle for something else.

Was in Lexington yesterday(Sunday.) John Wayne's was the only one open. I was worried because it advertised an all you can eat fish plate on its sign. Scared me for two reasons, I prefer quality to quantity and I think if ya got good 'cue, you shouldn't need to sell anything else. The size of the people waiting outside and the fact a cop car was there, got me to go inside. Hate they don't pit cook, but found the 'cue really good. Meat was very flavorful and slaw was good. Found their dip a touch sweet and cloying. Very good hushpuppies and got the $10 buns, slaw, pound special to take back to NYC today. Halfway done and will be finished by dinner tomorrow. All in all, a very good barbecue experience.

RE: BBQ in Lexington, NC (dendan)

Mon, 11 Apr 2005 16:06:56 GMT

Don't try Lexington on a Sunday. We found NONE of the BBQ places were open for lunch. Nice day for a drive, but had to settle for something else.

RE: BBQ in Lexington, NC (Dsorgnzd)

Fri, 25 Mar 2005 17:19:42 GMT

You can get a map of Lexington, showing the location of most, if not all, the bbq restaurants, at the Visitors Center in the middle of town. I've also seen the map available at the front desk of one of the local hotels, maybe all of them have it. I have a copy on which I list my own personal rating of each restaurant (1 to 5 stars) that I try - I've only hit 4 of them so far, but I just started a couple of months ago. Anyway, for anyone who is interested in the bbq places in Lexington, the map is a very good reference. Anyone who is interested might email them and ask for a copy by mail.
http://www.lexingtonnc.net/index.asp

RE: BBQ in Lexington, NC (brentk)

Sun, 06 Mar 2005 10:36:47 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by Hillbilly

It has more of the outside meat, exposed directly to the wood smoke and direct heat. You can als ask for "outside brown" at a lot of Q joints and get similar meat. It is heavily smoked and there are some who don't particularly like it that way.

I always order it "outside brown." Now I know what you are talking about.

RE: BBQ in Lexington, NC (Sundancer7)

Sun, 06 Mar 2005 09:47:16 GMT

In Lexington, TN, the outside is commonly called "the bark". A couple of weeks ago Dennis Hays brought us all a huge pan of freeby pork bark, rib bark and middling bark. It made a real good beginning to our lunch. A little chewy, very tasty, very smoky and real good.

"The Mayor" took a large pan of bark home with him. He indicated that he may use some of it to cook with but I am not sure it lasted that long.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

RE: BBQ in Lexington, NC (Hillbilly)

Sun, 06 Mar 2005 09:40:52 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by brentk

quote:
Originally posted by Hillbilly

I had a large tray of "Lean Brown" (not on menu, just available by request) at Lexington # 1 Thursday and bought an additional 3 pounds(plus 3 pints of slaw) to take home for a gathering Friday night. What a treat!!

Lean Brown is a new one to me. What does that mean?

It has more of the outside meat, exposed directly to the wood smoke and direct heat. You can als ask for "outside brown" at a lot of Q joints and get similar meat. It is heavily smoked and there are some who don't particularly like it that way.

RE: BBQ in Lexington, NC (brentk)

Sun, 06 Mar 2005 08:51:18 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by Hillbilly

I had a large tray of "Lean Brown" (not on menu, just available by request) at Lexington # 1 Thursday and bought an additional 3 pounds(plus 3 pints of slaw) to take home for a gathering Friday night. What a treat!!

Lean Brown is a new one to me. What does that mean?

RE: BBQ in Lexington, NC (Hillbilly)

Sun, 06 Mar 2005 08:15:27 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by carlton pierre

What does Lean Brown cost per pound?

$9.95. They don't ship, but they keep a supply of styrofoam coolers on hand to ice down your order for the trip home.

RE: BBQ in Lexington, NC (carlton pierre)

Sun, 06 Mar 2005 06:02:04 GMT

What does Lean Brown cost per pound?

RE: BBQ in Lexington, NC (Hillbilly)

Sat, 05 Mar 2005 22:49:17 GMT

I had a large tray of "Lean Brown" (not on menu, just available by request) at Lexington # 1 Thursday and bought an additional 3 pounds(plus 3 pints of slaw) to take home for a gathering Friday night. What a treat!!

RE: BBQ in Lexington, NC (carlton pierre)

Thu, 03 Mar 2005 20:16:42 GMT

Not to worry, Paul, I'll be heading back that way again. Your earlier posts indicated you were going there and were going to give a review.

What happened was I'd order a pizza the previous night from a place in Fayetteville called Tony's Pizza which never came so I had pizza on the brain on my way home. Stopped at a neat little place in Siler City, NC called Big Daddy's Pizza and was eating that as I passed thru Lexington. NC, that is.

RE: BBQ in Lexington, NC (Sundancer7)

Thu, 03 Mar 2005 20:02:59 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by carlton pierre

I drove by Lexington BBQ today, yes, I drove by, did not stop. it sure was tempting. I was eating a pizza I'd bought earlier. But, this place looked so neat. It was cold today and the brick building next to the restaurant ( I assume the smokehouse) was billowing out about 4 chimneys of BBQ smoke that I could smell from the road.
I wanted to try bbq on this trip but honestly, there were so many joints it would be impossible.

Too bad you missed some great "Q" in Lexington. Many will say that this is the best place in the USA for great smoked pork. Others may argue that Lexington, TN is the best. I have never visited Lexington, NC and I look forward to that great experience. You may have missed a wonderful time.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

RE: BBQ in Lexington, NC (carlton pierre)

Thu, 03 Mar 2005 19:39:03 GMT

I drove by Lexington BBQ today, yes, I drove by, did not stop. it sure was tempting. I was eating a pizza I'd bought earlier. But, this place looked so neat. It was cold today and the brick building next to the restaurant ( I assume the smokehouse) was billowing out about 4 chimneys of BBQ smoke that I could smell from the road.
I wanted to try bbq on this trip but honestly, there were so many joints it would be impossible.

RE: BBQ in Lexington, NC (kansascarolinian)

Wed, 06 Oct 2004 19:34:53 GMT

Don't forget to head west on highway 64 to Asheboro (about 25 miles), and give Hop's BBQ a try. Also try Henry James BBQ , I love their coleslaw and tangy sauce

RE: BBQ in Lexington, NC (signman)

Wed, 25 Aug 2004 01:08:50 GMT

Lexington is still on my "must do" list. Just returned home from trip to Atlanta done only to hit a few roadfood places. Will post a full trip report soon, but didn't have time to stop southbound, had to make do with Stamey's in Greensboro and passed thru nothbound on Sunday with everything closed.

RE: BBQ in Lexington, NC (seafarer john)

Mon, 23 Aug 2004 16:19:15 GMT

The couple of BBQ's that have opened in NYC have gone thru Hell
trying to get permits because of that sweet and healthful smoke that bureaucratsjust don't understand.

cheers, John

RE: BBQ in Lexington, NC (GordonW)

Mon, 23 Aug 2004 15:55:53 GMT

You know Lexington bbq is the real deal when it poses an environmental hazard.

Quoted from the Raleigh "News & Observer":

June 15, 2004 News & Observer, The (Raleigh, NC)
Not bad air, county says, just good barbecue

Wade Rawlins Staff Writer

It seems barbecue smoke by another name -- in this case, pollution -- just doesn't smell as sweet. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says Davidson County doesn't meet a new, tighter standard for particulate matter -- pollutants that include microscopic particles of dust, dirt, soot and smoke. It has considered putting the county on the state's dirty air list, to be released this fall. Being on the list can make it difficult to recruit industry, and

RE: BBQ in Lexington, NC (seafarer john)

Mon, 23 Aug 2004 15:39:40 GMT

We arrived home Saturday from a short trip to western NC where we spent two days and ate at four Lexington BBQ's.

Our first stop was Lexington BBQ where we forgot to ask for "outside brown" and we made the further mistake of ordering sliced pig. The large thick odd shaped chunks of pork just did not make it for us.
The "dip" was excellent -vinegary and spicy, and the red slaw was also delicious. The hush puppies tasted like they might have been made in a factory someplace and warmed up in the kitchen. But I'd go back with no hesitation the next time I'm in Lexington.

Second stop was Smokey Joe's. This was our favorite, the BBQ ws nicely chopped with a mixture of outside brown and white meat, the sauce was excellent - a little more tomato than at Lexington . the slaw was fine, red, and tasty. The hush puppies were better than at Lexington, but still not the greatest.

We had a late afternoon snack of a BBQ sandwich at Jimmy's which was also very very good. they offered two sauces, one spicier than the thinner one which I learned was just the spicier one watered down a bit. The slaw was excellent .

We drove out to Cook's, a place off the beaten path ,about five miles out of town and pretty much hidden in the woods. The chopped BBQ was delicious, the sauce was spicy without too much heat, and the slaw was the best we had in Lexington. The hush puppies were great - little round slightly larger than a grape sized nuggets of pure corn meal delight. And we had a pleasant conversation with a man and his wife who had grown up in Stone rRidge, NY , a town just over the mountain from us - small world...

We had breakfast of eggs and "livermush" at Jimmy's - the stuff is just like scrapple and I love scrapple. And the huge biscuit at Jimmy's was superior!

Lexington is a great little town to visit. We discovered a wonderful Arts Center, the biggest hardware store I've ever seen, and the people were universally friendly and helpful. The service in every place we went was fast and friendly, and the prices are remarkably low considering the quality of the really fine BBQ available every place we went. BTW: we were given a list of 26 BBQ in and around Lexington to choose from.

Cheers, John

RE: BBQ in Lexington, NC (Jim in NC)

Mon, 23 Aug 2004 14:30:20 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by apacheplume

Can anyone tell me if there's still a place in Charlotte that served Lexington-style bbq called "Camp Greene"? Used to go there in the late 80s while working as a reporter for the Charlotte Observer. Or, we'd try to go there; he'd only open up when he felt like it, which wasn't often; he didn't have a phone; and you'd just have to drive by to see if the door was unlocked. It was located in an ancient log-cabin type deal from the 1940's in the warehouse district. I still dream about it.

That would have been Old Original Barbecue located on Camp Greene St. They were real log-burners and pretty damn good, especially for Charlotte. They closed 10-12 years ago.

Jim