What is North Carolina barbecue?

Pork.

Seasoned with salt.

Cooked over hardwood coals.

Chopped, not pulled.

Combined with a thin vinegar- and red pepper-based sauce before serving.

Seasoning the pork with only salt keeps the flavor consistent through every bite. Cooking the pork over coals gives it a subtle smoke flavor rather than an overpowering, pungent one. Chopping the pork is like cutting steak against the grain. Combining the chopped pork with sauce before serving makes the meat, fat, smoke, and vinegar+red pepper flavors meld together. The result is a food that is entirely different than pulled pork served with a thick sauce. Better or worse, you decide: different is the point. You're not going to find North Carolina-style chopped pork barbecue outside of North Carolina. Regional foods are worth trying!

Eastern style vs. Piedmont Style

There are two types of North Carolina barbecue. Both feature a thin vinegar/red-pepper sauce: the difference between Eastern-style barbecue and Piedmont-style barbecue is

• whole hog vs. whole shoulder (not boston butt)
• no ketchup vs. a little ketchup (still thin)

The dividing line is Raleigh: to the east is Eastern style, to the west is Piedmont. But not all the way to the mountains.

Eat this food while you still have the chance

This site highlights North Carolina-style barbecue restaurants that have been around since before barbecue became a hip food, before barbecue competitions, and before the internet. This matters for just one reason: the recipes for the barbecue and the sides are different than what you will find elsewhere in the country and different than what you will find at newly opened barbecue restaurants in North Carolina. We must patronize these restaurants before they close--many already have in recent years! You will never be able to eat the food served at Allen & Son BBQ in Chapel Hill, or Jack Cobb & Son's BBQ in Farmville, or Richard's BBQ in Salisbury, ever again! So don't miss Grady's or Barbecue Center while they still exist.