M & K Bar-B-Q, Granite Quarry NC

People frequently ask us where we hear about the restaurants that we visit, and the honest answer is “lots of places,” but we have a great resource when it comes to this state. The North Carolina Barbecue Society features a famous Trail Map with, at present, 23 restaurants on it. At the conclusion of this trip, we’ve now visited 20 of them. I scheduled six new-to-us stops on this drive from their trail, but, and this is no exaggeration, my daughter and I also drove past at least nine other barbecue joints that we could easily have tried. Plus, Our State magazine has a BBQ NC app that will help anybody in the Old North State find something good to eat. Continue reading “M & K Bar-B-Q, Granite Quarry NC” →

Bill Spoon’s Barbecue, Charlotte NC (take two)

In February, I took another two-day barbecue tour, and on this one, I spent a little more money than I sometimes do, because I brought my daughter along with me. She’s seventeen, a high school sophomore thinking about her college options. Or, more specifically, her old man’s thinking about her college options while she’s complaining about boys on Snapchat. Anyway, I dragged her along to North Carolina and visited seven new-to-me places and revisited a couple that I wanted to try again. First up was Bill Spoon’s, which Marie and I visited on our honeymoon road trip seven years previously. Continue reading “Bill Spoon’s Barbecue, Charlotte NC (take two)” →

If I Only Had a TARDIS

So here’s a silly April Fool’s Day look at what I’d do if I could traverse time and space for a few meals. Here are some real places, sadly lost to time, that I either genuinely miss or never got the opportunity to try, and I could perhaps revisit with the assistance of a good time machine. I’ll take a stolen Type 40 that answers to the name “Sexy,” please. Continue reading “If I Only Had a TARDIS” →