Fuller’s During a Pandemic

My takeout order of barbecue with chicken pastry, turnips (greens), and fried cornbread.

The coronavirus pandemic that began during the winter of 2020-2021 has affected so many aspects of everyday life. The restaurant industry, in particular, has been hit very hard. As many favorite barbecue places have struggled to stay open, dedicated and long-time customers show their support by visiting frequently. 

The buffet station at Fuller's still offers many favorites, except now servers assist customers.

To reduce the spread of the virus, in-restaurant dining was initially prohibited before being restricted to a reduced occupancy. Because most restaurants don’t have any outside dining space, the amount of customers that they can serve is very limited. Customers stay the required “social distance” of six feet from others whether standing in line to order or sitting at tables, and they also wear masks (except when they are eating or drinking) as do the servers. In addition, servers regularly disinfect surfaces, including menus, and work behind plexiglass dividers when customers may have close contact such as at a checkout counter or cash register.

Fuller's in Fayetteville, NC, is still a popular destination, although the parking lot is not as full as before the pandemic.

Fortunately, the quality of the food at barbecue restaurants doesn’t seem to be affected by the pandemic. That explains why Fuller’s Old-Fashioned Bar-B-Q in Fayetteville, NC, continues to have a steady stream of customers, albeit much slower than before the pandemic. When I visited its location in the western part of the city on Raeford Road, more than half of the customers ordered takeout rather than dine-in (where trips to the buffet counters have always been unlimited). Although I had decided in advance to take out (until I receive the virus vaccine, I’m avoiding all dining-in situations), I couldn’t help but be envious of the customers who were enjoying their food inside and returning frequently to the buffet station. 

The dessert station is still self-serve but is no longer as plentiful as before.

However, what once were several buffet stations in a central area with an extensive variety of barbecue and other protein, sides, and desserts where customers left with mounds of home-cooked food on their plates is now limited to a small station with fewer choices. Servers wait on customers there and prepare their plates—a change from pre-pandemic procedures when customers served themselves without any help at the bountiful stations. 

The "front end" of Fuller's during the pandemic isn't used.

Watching customers mingle at the stations and take their time as they decided on what to take was part of the enjoyment of eating at Fuller’s before the pandemic changed so much. The atmosphere now in the restaurant seems so lifeless as customers waiting for their take-out orders stand quietly and avoid any social contact. There is no spontaneous banter among the servers and customers, so unusual for Fuller’s, which has been family-owned for more than 30 years. Its “regulars” always seemed to know each other and share special greetings. 

Let’s hope the pandemic ends soon and everyone, whether a server or a customer, can enjoy each other’s company. Let’s also hope that our favorite barbecue places can survive and continue to serve all the barbecue and sides that we want.

From Food Truck to Restaurant and More

The goal of some pitmasters is to begin small and grow as customers appreciate their barbecue. Sometimes when pitmasters want to venture into commercial enterprises, food trucks may be all that can be afforded initially. Such is the story of Michael Markham who began Big Mike’s in 2011 in Apex, NC.

BBQ egg rolls are popular appetizers.

What began as a food truck has since expanded to two “brick-and-mortar” locations – one in Apex and the other in nearby Cary. Known as Brew N Que, the restaurants feature pastured-raised barbecue and local craft beer. When I was at the Apex location, about ten beers and ciders were on tap. The beer is as important as the barbecue, and the bar scene confirms that some customers are more thirsty than hungry.

Chopped barbecue pairs well on a tray with smoked potato salad and cornbread (and extra servings of coleslaw).

Nevertheless, the serious side of the menu is the meat. The choices include Eastern NC-style chopped pork barbecue, beef brisket, and smoked chicken. In addition to typical sides of collards, baked beans, and mac ‘n’ cheese, the restaurants offer two unusual ones: blue cheese coleslaw and smoked potato salad. The dessert menu is limited but does include the obligatory banana pudding.

Redneck nachos (with cornbread) offer pork barbecue in an unusual format.

Brew N Que is another example of the “new” style of barbecue establishments (see my earlier visit to Buxton Hall), as described by food writer Kathleen Purvis, that offer interesting sides, creative appetizers, and craft beer with meat sourced locally. For example, several appetizers are entertaining. BBQ egg rolls come in two versions — pork barbecue with collards and chow chow, and buffalo chicken with blue sauce. Redneck nachos combine pork barbecue with baked beans, Fritos, and blue cheese coleslaw.

Several sides, including collards, are appealing.

Even with the success of its two locations, the food truck is still on the road. Its schedule and location are announced regularly by Twitter. Big Mike’s has also ventured into conducting smoking classes. In one class, each student learns how to smoke brisket and takes home a whole brisket when the class is over. Another class on smoking a pork shoulder includes a dinner in an outdoor picnic format.

Banana pudding is the favorite dessert of many.

With a food truck and two restaurant locations, Big Mike’s is well postured to satisfy the barbecue (and beer) cravings in central North Carolina. Its creative approaches will continue to attract hungry and thirsty customers.

Opening Day and a Dream Come True for a Pitmaster

Eating at a new restaurant on its opening day can be disappointing – what will go wrong, will the food be good? However, at the new barbecue restaurant of Jerry Stephenson Jr., being there on opening day was worth the drive – finding pulled pork and ribs that have garnered awards on a very competitive barbecue circuit.

The Redneck BBQ Lab is the dream come true for Jerry Stephenson Jr. after years of catering and competitive barbecue cooking.

Stephenson has achieved his fair share of fame as the pitmaster for Redneck Scientific, a competitive cooking team that has won repeatedly at cookoffs sponsored by Kansas City Barbeque Society. In five years, Stephenson’s team has won 16 grand championships, 6 reserve grand championships, and 6 perfect scores (of 180), a rare achievement. It has also placed in the top ten more than 250 times for the individual categories of chicken, pork, ribs, and briskets at these contests.

Trophies and awards won by Stephenson's cooking team on the competitive barbecue circuit are proudly displayed above the serving area.

Located in space previously occupied by a Dairy Queen in a building anchored by a gas station in McGee’s Crossroads, NC, just off I-40, Stephenson’s restaurant will soon be attracting barbecue fans traveling on the interstate as well as expanding his local followers developed during the past few years by his catering business. The new restaurant should also bring more barbecue fans into McGee’s Crossroads, where historic Stephenson’s BBQ has been in business for more than 50 years (and operated by a different Stephenson family – no relationship to Jerry).

Stephenson relaxes between conversations with customers on opening day.

When I arrived, a steady line of customers was waiting to place their orders – not bad for the first day. I recognized several customers -- barbecue judges and pitmasters -- from KCBS contests. “That’s the biggest compliment that I can receive,” Stephenson said when I asked him about how many KCBS members had come to opening day -- some as far away as the Charlotte area to the west and Jacksonville to the east (which made my 70-mile trip seem short).

Order a sandwich or take home a pound (or more).

For lunch, I ordered a pulled pork sandwich, which comes topped with slaw, but without sauce. On the tables is a vinegar sauce, traditional in eastern North Carolina, that seemed to be the choice of local customers. Also on the tables is a thicker, sweeter, tomato-based sauce that Stephenson uses at KCBS cookoffs and has been indispensable for his high contest scores and multiple awards. I alternated between the two as I ate the sandwich but clearly preferred Stephenson’s competition-style sauce.

A sandwich with perfectly cooked pulled pork piled high and topped with slaw makes the trip worthwhile.

For supper, I took home a half rack of ribs (with cornbread). As excellent as the pulled pork was, the ribs were even better. They were moist, tender, and perfectly prepared. When I ate them later that night, they reminded me of the best ribs found at KCBS cookoffs. In fact, I was glad that I was not judging at an event so that I could eat more than one rib. (At a contest, a judge receives only one rib from a cooking team and usually can take only two or three bites of the sample to have room to taste other entries – although ribs this good are saved and eaten, if not after the category has been judged, soon after the contest has ended.)

Ribs (with cornbread) taken home for supper were moist, tender, and perfectly prepared.

The restaurant doesn’t serve hushpuppies -- a minor disappointment, although I somewhat agree with the reason that Stephenson gave me: “We don’t need hushpuppies -- all you need is barbecue.” He also said, “Hushpuppies don’t go with collards -- cornbread does," and his cornbread is excellent. (Collards is one of the sides available daily on the menu.)

Although the draw to the restaurant is competition-winning barbecue, the restaurant offers several sides: collards baked beans, green beans, BBQ potatoes, jalapeno mac and cheese, and slaw.

For opening day, Stephenson told Raleigh food writer Andrea Weigl that he would be smoking 450 pounds of meat. In addition to pulled pork and ribs, the restaurant also serves chicken and brisket (although it had sold out of the brisket when I arrived). After I got my takeout order, ribs were also sold out, at least for a few hours until more could be prepared.

On the wall is Stephenson's definition of "redneck," which names his restaurant and cooking team.

Stephenson is living a pitmaster’s dream -- opening his own restaurant and having a dedicated group of followers show up on opening day. It’s a dream that will continue to make many customers very happy.

Fair warning: Don't show up too late or the "sold out" sign might be on.

Worthy of a Presidential Visit

Few barbecue establishments can boast that a president of the United States while serving in office has visited them — with all the entourage required for security. In Asheville, NC, 12 Bones has gained media attention for repeat visits by President Obama as well as the long line of local carnivores that stretches out of its building into the parking lot.

The line at 12 Bones frequently stretches into the parking lot.

Before visiting 12 Bones, I had learned more about its popularity and food by watching a segment of the Bookwatch TV program broadcast by WUNC-TV. Head chef Shane Heavner and co-owner Brian King discussed the restaurant and their recipes in an interview about their recently published cookbook. As the 12 Bones owners and chef brag in the cookbook, Obama stopped there each time that he was in Asheville while in office, and he made an initial visit in 2008 when as a U.S. senator he was campaigning for president.

Ribs, the most frequent order, are heated before being served.

For the initial visit, take-out was ordered for Obama and his campaign staff, and it included ribs, brisket, and pulled pork with a double order of collards. For the next visit in 2010, Obama insisted going unannounced and standing in line to order. He and his wife ate in the restaurant to the fanfare of national and local media. Ribs with sides of baked beans, greens, and mac and cheese were ordered this time. A third visit in 2013 was similarly a media event that further enhanced the reputation of 12 Bones.

My order of ribs with corn pudding, mac and cheese, and cornbread was served very quickly.

Although a place of presidential proportions, 12 Bones is definitely a casual restaurant. Rolls of paper towels on the tables serve as napkins. Food is ordered at the central counter and then brought out by the staff after customers have picked their tables. A few orders are takeout, but most customers enjoy their lunch in the restaurant and in good weather pick a table in the outside, covered eating area.

The outside eating area is popular in good weather.

Because its popularity continues to increase, 12 Bones has opened a second location in the Asheville area, but many travelers, myself included, seek out the original location. It was opened in 2005 and brought to life a one-story brick building in the River Arts District that had been known as Kountry Kitchen. However, city planners are threatening to take the land that it occupies to relocate a road and build a roundabout. The current owners (Bryan and Angela King), who bought 12 Bones in 2013, are determined to keep the restaurant in the River Arts District if it has to be relocated.

Rib flavors are announced on a board at the order location.

Taking a cue from Obama and his preference for ribs, I knew before arriving that I had to try them (skipping brisket, pulled pork, chicken, and turkey – all smoked – that are on the menu and also deserving of consideration). The next choices were the sides: corn pudding, collard greens, mac and cheese, and mashed sweet potato. Everything at 12 Bones is made from scratch, and the recipes for each are in the restaurant’s cookbook.

Watching the crowd at 12 Bones is almost as enjoyable as eating the ribs. Although it’s hard to imagine that a president ate here, it’s easy to understand why he returned for encore visits.