A recent message from The Pit excitingly states that the episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay that features the local BBQ joint will air May 27th on The Food Network.
“May 27th Throwndown with Bobby Flay. He came, he saw, see the results on The Food Network. Come down and watch it with us. Eat MOR BBQ!!”
- The Pit BBQ
Bobby Flay heads to Raleigh to challenge local BBQ legend Ed Mitchell to a ribs challenge.
Throwdown w/ Bobby Flay
Food Network
Wed, May 27
8:30 PM
ed will slay flay
The pit has really captured a ton of national attention/exposure in its short existence!
Vince,
Since this episode has already aired once, are you trying to make a bet?
MMI - no thanks.
“slay flay” just sounded cool. i don’t care who wins, i’ve been eating mitchell’s since i was a kid (way before it came to raleigh) so i’m already biased.
vince,
I gotta ask then, was it better before he came to Raleigh?
Cause though I love alot of the other stuff (chicken, ribs, pork chops, brisket) his chopped BBQ has never impressed me. When the chopped turkey BBQ is about as good as the chopped whole pork BBQ, you’re doing something wrong. I mean, I’m a little embarrassed when I hear it representing North Carolina. (though I’ll admit my bias for lexington bbq)
Don’t worry, guys—I’ll keep mum about who won the contest.
I was at the filming. It was a Ribs and Baked Beans competition, not a competition on BBQ. And Ed’s ribs were by far superior.
The Pit just called and is having OLD HABITS play in the bar tonight @ 7pm. Plus more tunes after the show. Come on down for BBQ, Bluegrass and Brews! We had a great time playing at the filming in March. Ed’s Ribs were quite tasty…
i missed it. who won?
Echoing tc’s comments above. There is absolutely nothing special about the BBQ at The Pit, except that it is served in an exceptionally nice restaurant (for a BBQ place), at prices 2x what you would pay at one of the truly great BBQ joints in NC.
It is totally worth a day trip to Lexington for those of you that haven’t been, to dine at the Lexington six-pack. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~thc/bbqtour/lexington.html
I must admit a lot of Charlotte-envy for their BBQ, solely because of Mac’s Speed Shop, which is the best “big city” BBQ in NC, by a landslide. The Pit doesn’t hold a candle to Mac’s, their prices are lower, and the atmosphere beats The Pit by a long shot.
All that said, The Pit is still pretty good and I’ll eat there again, if for no other reason than their great bar.
Saw it last night. Half the fun was seeing spots in Raleigh on national TV. At first, they showed mostly the Pit and the block around it. Looked like the competition itself occurred at Haywood Hall though? Which kinda looked odd to me….stereotypical historic southern plantation-like atmosphere instead of a modern growing city. But I guess that’s just me.
Yeah, theres nothing special about it, but it keeps getting in the national spotlight. its just your everyday run of the mill bbq spot.
WTF
Matt,
I like the list, BUT, the restaurant called Lexington Barbeque, ranked 4th on that list, is far and away the best in town, and state. (known by locals as ‘the monk’). They would disagree whole-heartedly with Ed’s ‘whole hog’ comments, as they use only pork shoulder, and they’re right to. I was shocked to see Lexington wasn’t even on Flay’s NC map of BBQ (pffft, amateur). I guess it might be because Lexington supercedes the western/eastern argument, as they serve a tomato-based bbq, that has alot of vinegar, and the only sweetness, is just a touch in the red slaw, and in my mind, it is the only slaw that should EVER touch my chopped bbq.
I should add, I only meant to question their chopped bbq, I think the fried/bbq chicken, ribs, brisket, and pork chops at The Pit are definitely great, and arguably the best around. I’m absolutely thrilled to have a restaurant in downtown Raleigh that pit-cooks all their meat, and I do love that he accentuates the meat, and not the sauce.
tc, I agree, Lexington BBQ is absolutely the best of the bunch. I miss the days when I had to regularly drive the 85 corridor from here to Charlotte, and I could stop off at Lexington for the coarse chopped plate. Absolutely heaven.
HOWEVER, out of the other 5, John Wayne BBQ does give Lexington a run for its money. The meat itself is not as tasty, but the side items are superior across the board. They also serve baked beans, which for some inexplicable reason Lexington BBQ does not offer. It’s also a hell of a lot less crowded, for those days when you don’t want to stand in line for 15 minutes waiting for a table @ Lexington.
For any of the true NC BBQ aficionados, there is a great book named “Holy Smoke: The Big Book Of North Carolina Barbecue” that is a really entertaining read.
Also, not to belabor the point, but the best BBQ place in the Triangle that I have found to this point is Bullock’s BBQ up in Durham. Worth the drive if you have the craving.
I’d go with Allen&Son;‘s and then Cooper’s, over Bullocks.
Bullock’s uses gas, though, right? IMO, you can make good BBQ with gas, but you’ll never be great unless you smoke with wood. In that regard, Allen & Son wins every comparison I have ever made, and that includes the otherwise very good Honey Monk’s (a.k.a. Lex BBQ).
Embarrassingly, I have yet to try Allen & Son, but everything I have heard has been overwhelmingly positive so I really need to get over there. I used to shy away from BBQ places that had more than one location, but I have come off of that now that Mac’s in Charlotte has opened two other locations that each serve BBQ with identical quality to the original.
Well, Allen & Son just has the one other location, so it’s not like they are really a “chain.” More importantly, they are not a franchise. If you do go, just do yourself a favor and resist the temptation to put sauce on your BBQ before you have a chance to taste it. Odds are that you won’t even need it. That sounds crazy, I know, but trust me.
First bite at a BBQ place is ALWAYS sans sauce. I’m going to check it out this weekend, haven’t been to CH/Carrboro in a long time anyway, seems like a decent way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
It’s not located in a place that you would normally consider as “Chapel Hill,” so make sure you Google Map it first. If you’re coming from Raleigh, get off at the Hwy. 86 exit (the one beyond 15/501) and take a RIGHT. You’ll feel like you’re in the boonies, and you will be. Go about a mile & look for the house on the left. It’s located at an angled road junction. Like The Roast Grill, it has an old Coke/Pepsi sign (sadly, I think this one is Pepsi) that looks like it’s about to fall off of the pole.
My wife and I got the chance to try out Lexington BBQ last Wed. We were headed to Charlotte and stopped in Lexington. My wife had heard that Lexington BBQ and BBQ Center were both really good. We stopped at the Timberlake Gallery to figure out the GPS, while there I asked someone that worked there which she preferred, which was Lex BBQ. We picked up a couple sandwiches (slaw on the side) to go and it was really good, nice smoky flavor, didn’t need sauce. On the way back, we stopped again, and ate again, I tried the sliced bbq, i didn’t care for it as much as the chopped, but the best i think is the course chopped that we took a couple pounds of home!
Just a few questions, why the Name Honey Monk’s? any experience with the BBQ Center, and does anyone know if the Throwdown with Ed is going to air again?
It’s a family name, I believe.
who won?!?!?
I like Pages Cackalacky plug!
FYI, that episode will air again this coming Saturday (June 6th).
...and it turns out that the setting was outside at Haywood Hall. That’s downtown near the Governor’s Mansion, in case ya didn’t know.
“It’s a family name, I believe.”
Yep, owned and founded by mr. HONEYcutt and wayne MONK. The former has passed away (i think), therefore sometimes ‘honeymonk’ is shortened to ‘the monk’.
I love Allen&Son;‘s, but can’t put it on par with The Monk. They’ll give you whatever suits you. Brown, white, chopped, coarse-chopped, even lean coarse-chopped, and if you’re lucky (and bold), they might have some ‘skins’ to try. Not to mention, I’m addicted to the slaw, anytime a BBQ place puts mayo in their slaw, I’m automatically turned off.
I believe the BBQ Center has electric cookers, which just doesn’t sit right with me.
and yes, hearing the term Cackalacky always brings a smile to my face.
Eastern NC BBQ is a real dish.
Western NC BBQ is ketchupy tripe!!!
328 W. Davie Street
Raleigh, NC 27601
Lunch:
M-Fri 11:30am-5pm
Dinner:
M-Th 5-10pm
F-Sat 5-11pm
Copyright 2007-2008 New Raleigh News Blog All Rights Reserved
New Raleigh 323 W. Martin Street, Raleigh NC 27601
Welcome to New Raleigh. We welcome your participation in the ongoing discussion. Before posting we ask that you read our Comment Policy and we invite you to register with our site. If you want to keep up with the news on our blog, subscribe to the RSS feed or get emailed every time we post.