North Carolina Barbecue Joint Cited For Flies, Dirty Kitchen

This Popular North Carolina Barbecue Joint Cited For Multiple Flies and A Dirty Kitchen

MarinaZg

Flies, a dirty kitchen and improper food preparations. These are not the words you want to hear when describing your favorite restaurant. When you go out to eat you have a reasonable expectation of cleanliness. But this popular North Carolina barbecue joint was just cited for lots of flies and a dirty kitchen. It has been a west Charlotte favorite eatery for years but it just got slapped for a less than favorable health inspection.

The Bar-B-Q King at 2900 Wilkinson Boulevard received a score of 87 on November 30th according to the Charlotte Observer. Health department inspectors said flies were found throughout the establishment. This is the first time since April 2019 that the barbecue restaurant received a "B" score. Permits are immediately revoked if a restaurant receives a score of less than 70 percent. A 87 score is far above that.

These are other violations that the popular North Carolina barbecue joint received. According to our source, the Charlotte Observer:

Raw fish stored above ready-to-eat pickles
Large plastic containers and metal containers stored with food debris left on them
Containers of pork and ground beef chili stored above required temperatures
Employee preparing food with watches and bracelets
Rusted shelving throughout the facility Floors, walls and ceilings contaminated with food debris, grease buildup and dirt debris.

The Charlotte Observer reportedly reached out to the Bar-B-Q King prior to publication. To read the entire article check it out right here.

What Are the Most Popular Barbecue Restaurants In North Carolina?

If there is one thing you can say about North Carolinians it's that we LOVE our BBQ. There are different styles, different meats of choice, and different sauces. But we do it all well. And no the term barbecue should never refer to the outdoor cooking of hamburgers and hotdogs- that's a cookout for your northerners. There are so many incredible barbeque restaurants in North Carolina, it's hard to say what the best is. And that's honestly a personal preference. Your choice may be different than mine which may be different from your coworker's. But while we can't objectively tell you the best barbecue restaurants in North Carolina, we can tell you the most popular.

Did you know that May is National BBQ Month? It is and in celebration, our friends at BetCarolina used Google Trends to determine the most popular barbecue restaurants in North Carolina. The data used in this analysis is from May 1, 2022-September 6, 2022. And there is a dominant winner that's right here in the Queen City. It's one that many celebrities choose to dine at when visiting Charlotte. And funny enough, when we told you about the best Charlotte BBQ Restaurants (per TripAdvisor) last year, it was also the winner. So even with different methods, it's still coming out on top.

Keep reading to see which that is, you'll also find the best Charlotte BBQ Restaurants list at the end of this one. You can read BetCarolina's full study and analysis here.

5. Buxton Hall BBQ (Asheville)

Location: 32 Banks Ave, Asheville, NC 28801

Search Volume: 2%

4. Skylight Inn BBQ (Ayden)

Location: 4618 Lee St, Ayden, NC 28513

Search Volume: 3%

3. Switzerland Cafe (Little Switzerland)

Location: 9440 NC-226A, Marion, NC 28752

Search Volume: 4%

2. Red Bridges BBQ (Shelby)

Location: 2000 E Dixon Blvd, Shelby, NC 28150

Search Volume: 8%

1. Midwood Smokehouse (Charlotte & Raleigh)

Location: View all Carolina locations here

Search Volume: 83%

The 15 Best Charlotte North Carolina BBQ Restaurants

Here in North Carolina, we love our barbeque. And we do it well if I may so so myself. There is no shortage of fantastic restaurants across the state and the Queen City is no exception to that. But if you only can eat at one which should you choose? While I have my favorite (and it didn't make this list near the top), I decided to turn to the public for their thoughts on the matter. A quick search on TripAdvisor led me to a list of 30 Charlotte BBQ restaurants. It included chains, multiple locations of some, the heavy hitters, and some I hadn't heard of before. For this list, I took the top 15 restaurants (combining anywhere that had multiple locations).

Trip Advisor compiles these rankings based on average rating and number of reviews. Therefore you will see a couple of places that are ranked higher with a slightly lower rating. This means they probably had a higher number of higher-rated reviews. I have to say for the most part I do agree with this list the top 3 didn't surprise me at all and I feel could have been ranked in any order. What's your favorite of the many Charlotte BBQ restaurants?

15. Let's Meat Kbbq

Address: 1400 S Church St, Charlotte, NC 28203-4114

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Reviews: 31

This Popular North Carolina Barbecue Joint Cited For Lots of Flies and A Dirty Kitchen

Flies, a dirty kitchen and improper food preparations. These are not the words you want to hear when describing your favorite restaurant. When you go out to eat you have…

Catherine Lane

What Are the Most Popular Barbecue Restaurants In North Carolina?

5. Buxton Hall BBQ (Asheville)

4. Skylight Inn BBQ (Ayden)

3. Switzerland Cafe (Little Switzerland)

2. Red Bridges BBQ (Shelby)

1. Midwood Smokehouse (Charlotte & Raleigh)

The 15 Best Charlotte North Carolina BBQ Restaurants

15. Let's Meat Kbbq

14. Sweet Lew's BBQ

13. Bubba's Barbecue

12. Smithfield's Chicken 'N Bar-B-Q

11. Bill Spoon's Barbecue

10. Bobbee O's BBQ

9. The Q Shack

8. City Barbeque

7. Noble Smoke

6. Bar-b-q King

5. Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Q

4. Sauceman's

3. Mac's Speed Shop

2. McKoy's Smokehouse and Saloon

1. Midwood Smokehouse

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