Barbecue tour - tag/photo fest

Depending on what time the bad weather rolls in here today, it might be time for a trip back out there.

I use to do the same thing with a buddy. Would ride all over trying different "Q" places or mexi food. Have had Q from Virginia to Texas.

Downside is for the past 5 or 6 yrs I started doing my own Q (pork, brisket, ribs, turkey, sausage) Got two smokers, a perfected dry rub, and two sauces (sweet mato based, and a carolina based). Give pint mason jars to people I like. Only ingrediant listed is "made with love"

I love Q, and once you start doing your own thing you will always compare yours to theirs. I spent 2 yrs perfecting my techniques, and even talked with a few people about opening my own place.

I will still eat at bar b q places, but truthfully I am never 100% happy with it. Thats the curse of doing your own.


Great thread though. Whatever gets you riding and enjoying your travels.

I completely get that. I brewed my own beer for many years and have started roasting my own coffee lately. But with both, even if I found the "perfect" recipe, I still love to try others. I enjoy the variations in all of it. Hell, I like both sweet AND unsweet tea.

Although I can do some pretty mean ribs, brisket and the like on the grill, I don't think I could personally come up with an acceptable pork barbecue. I've had some "amateur" attempts from friends and it was certainly edible, but I'd rather pay the pro on this one.

Love all forms of Q and love eating Q so I have no problem eating it.

for my pulled pork I have a little secret I use to ensure all the work of smoking the meat can be tastes in every wonderful bite.

seperates you from others pretty fast when all those wonderfuls bits of bark from smoking is being tasted from start to finish.



damnit now i am hungry for some Q, got some beef ribs in the fridge hmmmmm

Dang. Now I'm getting hungry....

New bike, gorgeous weather, holiday weekend.... barbecue, right? Well, that's what I thought. Couple guys at work had been talking about a place not too far away called Danny's Barbecue and speaking pretty highly of it. In retrospect, I should have paid attention to the fact that:
A) they're both from Florida
B) well, that should probably have been enough.

Danny's Barbecue

Three locations. I went to this one:
9561 Chapel Hill Rd
Morrisville, NC 27560
919-468-3995

http://www.dannysbarbque.com/index.html

The fact that all their locations are in or very close to Cary, should have been another giveaway about what was to come. Cary is often referred to as an acronym for Containment Area for Relocated Yankees. But, I went anyway.

Got to the address and it's a f'ng strip mall... Tucked neatly between the Food Lion and the Dollar Tree, I found it. No place to get a pic of the bike in front and honestly, I didn't want to just yet...:eek1


The menu proudly proclaimed that they were voted the best in the area by a local TV station's viewers for one month in 1997. Really? Is this damning by faint praise or what???


What the hell... I'm here, right? And the menu also says "Lean meat, great sauce", so, you know, how bad could it be? Since barbecue is lean meat anyway, isn't that a fuzz redundant???

First thing I notice is that they don't serve hush puppies, but "texas toast" with their barbecue. Who the hell thunk this up? And they have something called "fried corn". I asked about it and it's a half ear of corn on the cob dropped in the fryer. Wondering at this point if I should just walk next door and get some chicken or something from the Food Lion cold case.

Here's an interior shot. It's bigger than this, but just imagine four copies of this pic arranged in a neat strip mall format:



Their sauce selection. Remember, it's "great sauce". So there.


Okay. I'm here. Go for it. Ordered the Barbecue Plate with fries (yeah, I know...) and green beans. Sorry, not feeling adventurous enough to try and slug down fried corn on the cob.


The food.
Texas toast. Seriously? And just some thick sliced white bread that had been toasted on one side a while ago? Not only was it not hush puppies, but it was the lamest excuse for "texas toast" I've seen anywhere. That frozen crap from the grocery store laughs at this.

Green beans. Canned and likely nuked. Not even the good brand of canned, but the generic crap that comes loaded with stems and other garbage. Passingly edible, but nothing more.

Barbecue. Simply, the most bland excuse for barbecue I've had. Ever. Completely tasteless. You know how meat you've cooked previously tastes when it comes reheated out of the microwave a couple days later? Yep. It had a vague barbecue-like look and texture to it, but nobody that actually enjoys it would mistake this for it. I'd expect better if McDonalds ever started selling Pork McBBQ or the like. Seriously.

The sauce. Four different ones. All unlabeled, but two were vinagery and two were ketchupy. Both the vinegar ones lacked even a vinegar taste and were indistinguishable from each other even though they looked a good deal different. The ketchupy ones - one was, well, ketchupy and the other was the same but with some drug store generic heat added to it. One word covers all four: awful.

Fries. Wow. This is going to sound odd, but they were the highlight of the meal. Frozen to begin with, of course, but cooked perfectly. Hot, crisp and tasty. Went well with the actual ketchup provided. Maybe that was the "tasty sauce" they mentioned. When I looked around and realized that everyone that worked there, friendly as they may be, probably got their food experience in a fast food joint, it made sense.

Oh yeah, the tea was watery.

Even if I had been able to get a picture of my bike with the sign/entrance, I wouldn't post it. This place did nothing but make me try to figure out the worst place I'd been to for barbecue. Didn't matter though. This is the new winner in that category. Hands down. By far.

[Even if I had been able to get a picture of my bike with the sign/entrance, I wouldn't post it. This place did nothing but make me try to figure out the worst place I'd been to for barbecue. Didn't matter though. This is the new winner in that category. Hands down. By far.[/QUOTE]

Tell us how you REALLY felt about the joint, Bruce

Hop on the new bike ( nice looking ride!) and travel to this address to cure your BBQ blues,

194 Gilliam McConnell Rd, Carthage, NC
(910) 947-7591 Call before you ride. I don't know their hours for this holiday weekend.

<>< Fish

I'd rather replace my face shield with a bag of cicadas than go there again.

Is that where you all did the ENC dinner a short while ago? If so, I wanted to make that. Looked great. Just found their website. Carthage may be a good ride for today. Thanks.


<address> The Pik-n-Pig
194 Gilliam McConnell Road
Carthage, NC 28327
(910) 947-7591
</address> Hours of Operation
Tuesday thru Saturday from 11am - 8pm
Sunday 12 Noon to 3pm

Yep that is the place. If you are a fan of beef BBQ try the pulled pork & beef brisket plate. I've never been disappointed with anything I've had there.

Being it is a holiday weekend I would call before riding to make sure they are open today.

<>< Fish

Thanks. Debating heading north, south or west right now. Think I have to go to Winston Salem tomorrow, so it's likely north or south at this point.

I'm hoping they're open today. We're planning on taking my Mother-in-law there for her birthday!

Probably only one of us on a bike though.

Just called (10am) and got a recorded message with their typical hours. Nothing about different hours for this weekend, but I'm still going to get verification before heading that way.

Open

Cool spot...how was the Q? I've been reading alot of positive comments and something about coke cake made with coca cola

The Q is pretty good there as is the sauce. Brisket is usually very good, but they were out today. The real reason for the ride is the atmosphere. Years ago my in-laws used to have a small plane and would fly to various local airports for breakfast or lunch. It was great to take my Mother-in-law there to recall those times. I think (HOPE) she really enjoyed it.

Oh yeah, PinkMoose had the coca cola chocolate cake. She said it was great but that she had to keep testing it to see if she thought I'd like it. After the last forkful she decided I probably would have liked it... Oh well, I didn't want to weigh the bike down too much!

sounds good ...interesting too...will have to fly out that way...ofc I'll be piloting my ST

pretty neat spot. Brisket will really seperate people quickly in the BBQ world.

mother in law makes a coke cake.

went riding yesterday and tried to find a new mex joint with my buddy.. got to the new place and they are closed on Sundays., quick search and go to another, and its shut down.. buzz up the road 45 minutes to our dedicated go to mex joint.

I love brisket, but it's TX barbecue, not NC barbecue...