Eastern N.C. Style Barbecue in the Blue Ridge Mountains

It’s a topsy-turvy world. Now you can travel west to the Blue Ridge Mountains to enjoy eastern North Carolina-style barbecue. Since it opened in Asheville in 2015, Buxton Hall Barbecue has been a destination for barbecue fans.

Could this building have been home to a roller rink?

The food is made right in front of you in a wide-open kitchen. Whole hogs are smoked low and slow for 18 hours over hardwood coals in the traditional eastern N.C. style and basted with a vinegar mop based on a family recipe of chef Elliott Moss, who grew up in Florence, S.C. True to eastern N.C., the menu lists “BBQ mop,” not sauce, as the baste that moistens and flavors the meat.

The wide-open kitchen adjoins the dining area.

Loyal to its region, Buxton Hall sources its pasture-raised hogs, produce and other ingredients from area farms. Although pulled pork is the reason many customers visit Buxton Hall, fried chicken and catfish are also popular, and South Carolina-style “hash” is served in a combo plate with barbecue. In addition to plates that come with cornbread and pickles, sandwich options include barbecue, chicken and catfish, and the sandwiches are as good as the plates. In fact, the “Fried Chicken Sandwich of the Year” as proclaimed by Bon Appétit in 2016 is the one made at Buxton Hall.

A cooked whole hog has just been taken out of a smoker.

The dozen sides at Buxton Hall deserve special mention and are very appealing. Narrowing down to the two that come with a plate is difficult. The collard greens, which has flavors of sweet and sour, are worth taking home to serve to company if any are left over. The green beans are good but have a spicy kick that need to be calmed down with a sip of a cold beverage. Next time I will try the chicken bog -- a combination of rice, sausage and peas. The spiced peaches with fromage blanc also are tempting.

The sauce bar satisfies more than one regional preference.

The hushpuppies are crispy and convey buttermilk and jalapeño flavors. Other appetizers include mussels cooked under the pig (not the typical menu offering of a barbecue pitmaster) and smoky pimento cheese.

My pulled pork plate with collard greens, green beans and cornbread is ready to be enjoyed.

Because Buxton Hall has an in-house bakery, all desserts are homemade. I couldn’t leave with trying the banana pudding pie, which was delicious. With a wafer crumb crust and a brown sugar meringue top, it was the perfect end to the peppery and vinegary entrée. Although I’d order the same dessert on another visit, the nectarine poundcake and black forest cake were also top contenders on the dessert list. On the day I visited, the black raspberry pie wasn’t available. If it had been, I would have taken home a serving.

Banana pudding pie is a clear favorite.

Buxton Hall represents the “new” style of barbecue establishments, as explained by food writer Kathleen Purvis. Traditional barbecue fare is offered in a large restaurant with meat sourced locally and cooked over wood by an owner whose reputation was made in fine dining, a long and interesting list of sides, creative appetizers and craft beer. Buxton Hall not only has craft beer but also the “world famous” Buxton Slushie, a frozen concoction of bourbon and Cheerwine, along with several creative cocktails. An extensive list of beer and wine is available as is the traditional iced tea (sweet or unsweet).

The Buxton Slushie (bourbon and Cheerwine) is "world famous" (well, it's becoming better known).

The restaurant’s historic location is on Asheville’s South Slope. The enormous space has been a boat showroom, the site of auto shops and even a wood-floored roller rink. Along the walls are several murals, well worth preserving, that date to 1936.

A skier in a mural on a side wall seems to be airborne over wood cut for the kitchen.

The steady stream of customers who arrive each day don’t seem perplexed at finding whole hog barbecue prepared in the style of eastern North Carolina in western Asheville. Moss and his partner Meherwan Iran (both are James Beard nominees) say that they are “revitalizing Carolina barbecue history,” and the customers enjoy experiencing that renaissance.

The menu includes plates, sandwiches and an extensive list of sides.

Surviving the Wind and Rain in Ayden

Ayden is a classic Southern barbecue town. Because it is the home of two BBQ kings of North Carolina: Bum’s and Skylight Inn, it has earned a well-deserved spot on the N.C. Historic Barbecue Trail. It is also home to one of my favorite cookoffs, the Kings of Q, held each May.

Cooking teams set up in open spaces in downtown Ayden.

For 2018, the enthusiasm was high, but the weather was less than favorable. For the third annual rendition of Kings of Q, appropriately named to honor the city’s two regal pit master families and the legacy of their BBQ restaurants, 38 teams competed for a total of $10,000 in prize money in less than ideal conditions. The night before the judging took place, a major storm arrived and dumped several inches of rain, and heavy rain continued throughout the day of the festival, significantly reducing the turnout of the crowd.

As Stephen Tripp, the mayor of Ayden, welcomes judges, he points to the locations of the town's two BBQ kings. 

However, because the People’s Choice contest was conducted indoors, it offered a brief respite from the rain and was more popular than usual. The awards ceremony had to be moved indoors, and the festival was closed early because of rain. The team Muttley Crew, which won the cookoff, had high scores in all meat categories – chicken, ribs, pork, and brisket – and even earned a perfect score for its chicken entry.

Voters in the People's Choice contest appreciate the indoor space and avoid the rainy weather.

When all the judging activities were over and the judges were dismissed, I returned to my car only to find that the heavy rain had made the unpaved parking lot treacherous. My car immediately was trapped by mud when I started driving. Fortunately, a festival volunteer saw my trouble and paged town employees to pull me to safety. After a delay of about 45 minutes, I was out of the mud and carefully on my way home (but had to stop at The Collard Patch before leaving town).

Gray clouds that bring heavy rains hover over the cooking throughout the festival.

I look forward to returning to Ayden for another cookoff. However, next time, if it is raining, I’ll look for a safer parking area while I participate in the judging activities. Ayden is a fabulous place to be even in inclement weather, but it’s more enjoyable when the sun is shining.

The public works truck that pulled me out of the mud stays safely near the edge of the parking area.

Inaugural Event in a Legendary Town

Ayden, NC, is the home of two legendary barbecue establishments: Skylight Inn and Bum’s Restaurant. When town leaders decided to hold a barbecue cookoff and festival, they were inspired to name the event in honor of their two kings -- Kings of Q was an easy choice for the contest’s name.

It’s surprising that a barbecue town such as Ayden never before had a barbecue festival. The town clearly enjoys a homegrown festival because it has hosted the Official Collard Festival of North Carolina since 1975. When Stephen Tripp, the town’s mayor, spoke to judges at their initial meeting, he said, ”We want to book summer with two festivals” as he explained why town leaders wanted a second festival as a companion to the collard festival.

Teams set up in BBQ Village.

Officials were very excited to be conducting their first barbecue cookoff and festival. “You’re making history with this inaugural event,” Tripp told the judges. He also said that he had given the same message to the cooking teams the night before.

The Smokin' BBQ team prepares its chicken entries.

Tripp told the judges that they would be “tasting the best barbecue ever judged because Ayden is known as the barbecue capital of the world.” In a nod to the two kings – Skylight Inn and Bum’s Restaurant – Tripp said, “We have the best barbecue in the world. When the cookers get permeated with that legacy, they’ll produce the best barbecue that the teams have ever made,” the mayor projected.

A contestant prepares a tray for the People's Choice category.

I have to agree with the mayor. For a first-ever event, the contest was well organized, and the cooking results were exceptional. Of the entries that I judged, the beef brisket in particular was superior, which is typically difficult for some teams to prepare. The other entries – chicken, ribs, and pork – were also better than expected. The teams must have been inspired by not only being in Ayden but also the opportunity to compete for a total prize amount of $10,000.

Amanda Reed of Coastal Smoke looks happy with her cooking results.

Because many judges were aware of the importance of Ayden in the history of N.C. barbecue, several traveled from out of state to be a part of the inaugural event. Cooking teams from Texas and Pennsylvania also joined in the competition that featured mostly N.C. teams. For the cookoff, 30 cooking teams registered, and 30 judges were required. Fortunately, I had submitted my application when the contest was first announced and assured my participation by being one of the early judges to apply.

Music plays during the festival on the main stage at the center of the street scene.

Even before the event was over, the organizers were so pleased with the event that they began planning for the “second annual” next year. The good news for me is that all the judges who participated will be invited to judge again before registration is made available to others. Because Ayden is one of my favorite small towns, I’m looking forward to being part of the festival again.

Near the main stage, the trailer of Skylight Inn stays busy selling barbecue sandwiches.

A Place Unchanged After 50 Years

As soon as I entered through the door, I knew that I had arrived at a place that many people would call their favorite restaurant. “Sit anywhere you want,” says the nearest server as someone comes in. I picked the closest table to the checkout counter, which is in front of the kitchen, and watched families and other groups amble to their regular places.

A moon, hanging in fog, watches over Stephenson's late in the evening before it closes.

Although most of its business today is with local residents, Stephenson’s does attract out-of-towners as the guest register at the front entrance indicates. Its inclusion on the North Carolina Barbecue Trail keeps new faces arriving. Travelers from Kentucky, New Jersey, and Virginia had signed recently.

A guest register is prominently displayed at the entrance.

Located on NC Highway 50 about 20 miles south of Raleigh in a community known as McGee’s Crossroads, Stephenson’s would have been a regular stop for families traveling to the North Carolina coast. Highway 50 begins in Granville County (adjacent to the Virginia border) and travels south to Topsail Beach in Pender County. Traversing only 164 miles, it once would have been the primary road for summer destinations for many residents in central North Carolina before the days of Interstate travel. Now that Highway 50 has been supplanted by I-40 for fast travel, Stephenson’s is almost forgotten by the beach traffic (except for those in the know), although it is less than three miles from the nearest interchange with I-40.

The parking lot lined with cars indicates Stephenson's popularity, although it's no longer on the primary road to the beach.

Stephenson’s was opened because William Paul Stephenson, Jr., a farmer, decided he could make more money by operating a barbecue business and selling sandwiches than by selling the hogs that he was raising. The building, in the shape of a barn, looks vintage 1958, the year that Stephenson opened his restaurant. A Pepsi sign near the entrance simply stating “Bar-b-que” also has a 1950s look. With only “Stephenson’s Bar-B-Q” in white letters above the entrance, a fast traveler might not even notice the building because it is set back from the road and no sign by the road marks the place.

The sign by the front door looks like it hasn't changed since the 1950s.

The classic red-and-white checkered tablecloths provide an easy, at-home feel. Soon after I had sat down and ordered, my server brought a tall pitcher of tea with a small pan of crushed ice -- more than adequate for a single customer and more ice that I would expect in February. I appreciate the service that patrons have plenty of tea -- with lots of ice.

Tea comes with all the ice that you need.

The barbecue is pit-cooked daily, hand-chopped, and seasoned lightly with a pepper-vinegar sauce in the finest traditions of eastern North Carolina, although Stephenson’s cooks only pork shoulders, not whole hog. For someone who needs more sauce, only two kinds – a pepper-vinegar sauce and the commercial Texas Pete – are on a table.

Although the menu lists chicken, barbecue brings in the customers.

The sandwiches are reasonably priced -- $3.65 for barbecue pork with slaw. For plates, the BBQ choices are simple: only two sizes -- small pig and large pig. On weekends, ribs are also available. The sides are typical for a barbecue restaurant in eastern North Carolina (except no baked beans): coleslaw, collards (in season), cabbage, applesauce, spiced apples, green beans, corn, and potatoes (boiled or french fries). Other sides include gizzards and livers! As a traditional barbecue house, Stephenson’s does offer dessert but only one: banana pudding.

The counter is always busy with customers placing takeout orders.

For large groups, Stephenson’s serves an all-you-can-eat, family style meal of pig, barbecue chicken, and Brunswick stew with boiled potatoes, coleslaw, and hushpuppies. (The menu warns, “Please don’t ask to take leftovers home.”)

Stephenson's pit is at the back of the building -- no wood pile here, Stephenson's cooks with hardwood coals.

Because I couldn’t miss on trying Brunswick stew, I ordered it as a plate with chopped barbecue that comes with two sides (for me, collards and coleslaw) and hushpuppies (that are excellent) or rolls. Everything more than met my expectations, and having a full glass of iced tea without having to ask for service was a nice touch for the family-operated business, now run by Stephenson’s son Andy.

On my plate of chopped barbecue and Brunswick, I ordered coleslaw and collards.

Stephenson’s deserves its place in the legends of pit-cooked barbecue, and it will continue to earn this respect for a long time as the second generation honors its traditions begun in 1958.

The founder, who died in 2008, opened the restaurant in 1958.

Bum's in Ayden

The huge pile of cut wood captured my attention as I drove north on West Avenue in Ayden, NC, towards the center of the business district. In a mostly nondescript paved parking lot, the pile guarantees that a barbecue pitmaster is onsite.

Although smoke usually is seen first, the wood pile outside Bum's tells you that good barbecue is inside.

Bum’s Restaurant lies in the heart of the Ayden Historic District, which was listed in 1994 on the National Register of Historic Places. Bum’s obviously contributes to the historic credentials of Ayden, but it contributes even more to the legacy of whole hog cooking in eastern North Carolina.

Bum's Restaurant is in the heart of the historic district of Ayden, NC.

Bum’s opened in 1966 in a town as famous for collards as it is for wood-cooked barbecue. When Latham “Bum” Dennis began his restaurant, he drew upon family cooking styles that date to the 1930s. Now operated by his second and third generation family members, the restaurant still serves fresh vegetable sides that are family grown: cabbage, black-eyed peas, rutabagas and collards. Although the sides are remarkable, customers arrive wanting barbecue, which is chopped bigger than that prepared at the equally famous Skylight Inn, operated by a cousin, also in Ayden.

Garden fresh vegetables, as promoted in the sign, distinguish Bum's from other BBQ establishments.

The Dennis family claim to be descendants of the first U.S. barbecue operators. Skilten Dennis, an early ancestor (born in 1842), started selling smoked hog meat and cornbread out of a wagon in the mid-1800s. The legacy continues today in Bum’s that N.C. writer Daniel Wallace describes as “unpretentious as a middle school cafeteria.”

The unpretentious counter of Bum's is where many customers enjoy their favorite barbecue and vegetables.

After the smokehouse in the back of the restaurant was engulfed in flames in early January, Larry Dennis (the second-generation operator) returned Bum’s to full working order in the first renovations to the complex. Given the honor of lighting the new wood stove in May was Billy Parker of Parker’s Barbecue in Greenville, NC, another family-run whole hog restaurant in eastern North Carolina. With the renovations complete, Bum’s continues to build to its legacy and history.

Bum's brags about its new "coalmaker" on its Facebook page.

At Bum’s, history comes alive one plate at a time. Usually it’s surrounded by smoke too.

The Capital of ‘Cue

The drive to Ayden, NC, had been a journey I wanted to take for some time. I initially became aware of the small town in rural Pitt County because it’s the home of the official N.C. Collard Festival, a four-day extravaganza in August. The town of fewer than 5,000 expands with several more thousands who line the streets to watch the annual parade and participate in other festival events.

The silver dome marks "the Capital of Barbecue."

Throughout the rest of the year, the historic Skylight Inn attracts almost the same large crowds. It boasts that it’s “The Capital of Barbecue” and even proudly tops its building with a dome replica of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. Some of Skylight’s bragging rights date to the 1980s when founder Pete Jones went to the Washington, DC, and defeated a team from South Carolina in a barbecue cooking contest. In addition, National Geographic has proclaimed that Skylight Inn is the “capital of ‘cue,” and the N.C. BBQ Society starts its barbecue trail at Skylight.

Chop, chop, chop are the sounds you hear when you enter the Skylight Inn.

The signature chopped whole hog (with the crisp skin mixed in) is seasoned with a little salt, pepper, vinegar and hot sauce and nothing else. When you walk in, you hear the constant rhythmic sounds of chop, chop, chop. As you stand in front of the counter, you watch as a huge pile of pork barbecue is chopped by a member of the kitchen staff. The chopping board is part of the spectacle of Skylight Inn, but it also conveys a message, just like the “Hot Now” light at Krispy Kreme. Whole hogs cooked had been cooked all night (for about 16 hours) in open brick pits heated by scoops of hot coals.

A historic family recipe is used to make the skillet cornbread.

The skillet cornbread tastes just like the mid-1800s because Skylight Inn uses a family recipe that dates to 1830 and the initial creation of Skilten Dennis, an early ancestor who began cooking whole hogs in the area. Made with drippings from barbecued hogs, the dense bread is somewhat greasy, soft on the inside but has a crust on the outside.

A tray of barbecue includes cornbread and cole slaw -- everything made according to family traditions.

Often referred to as “Jones’ Barbecue” in deference to Pete Jones, who began the restaurant (as well as the other Joneses who have followed him), Skylight Inn is unpretentious -- except for the big dome on top. The menu still reflects his character and offers a choice of a BBQ sandwich or tray. Money is also handled in an old-fashioned way – piled on the back counter rather than being placed in a cash register. Having not changed since 1947, Skylight Inn, named by Pete Jones after his experience of flying small airplanes from the airstrip behind the restaurant, remains authentic to its traditions.

Bruce Jones (left) introduced himself to me as the "father of Samuel ... and son of Pete."

When Pete (born Walter B. Jones but always known by his nickname) died in 2006, his son Bruce embraced the challenge of continuing the family’s barbecue traditions. Now the notoriety has been passed to his son Samuel, who in an interview with A Chef's Life said, "If the sign says BBQ and you don't see any smoke, you probably ought to keep on driving. In fact, when I met Bruce Jones, he introduced himself as the “father of Samuel, the young one featured on the cooking shows, and son of Pete.”

Skylight Inn is one of the few American restaurants that displays a James Beard award.

Even with the expanded recognition, the display wall of mementos near the counter doesn’t seem to have been updated since the early 1980s. On a far wall is displayed with little fanfare a medal from the James Beard Foundation, which celebrates and honors the nation’s diverse culinary heritage. The foundation selects the most beloved regional restaurant each year by bestowing the America’s Classic designation, which Skylight received in 2003. The award recognizes timeless appeal and quality food served at a locally owned and modestly priced restaurant that reflects the character of its community.

The letter from N.C. Gov. Hunt proclaims Skylight Inn as the "king" after winning the contest in Washington, D.C.

The visit to Skylight Inn is like a journey back in time. It is an American classic that earns its high praise for good reason.

The woodpile in the back is
proof of traditional cooking.

Coals are made in the fireplaces.

The line of customers frequently
extends out the door.

The pit is where good cooking happens.