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Black Powder Smokehouse Pitmaster Keith Henning announced the launch of the Smoke & Ashe BBQ Festival coming to Asheboro’s Bicentennial Park, April 24-25.
See the interview exclusively on The Low & Slow Barbecue Show YouTube channel. The podcast launches officially in late March, but the news is so big we can’t sit on it.
Smoke & Ashe features 2 signature events:
- Friday: Smoke & Ashe Pitmaster Dinner hosted at Black Powder Smokehouse. Guests enjoy Keith’s signature barbecue, sides, and desserts. Live music, whiskey tasting, and a cash bar promise a fun kick-off to the weekend.
- Saturday: Smoke & Ashe Pitmaster Invitational is an all-day celebration of barbecue with 5 pitmasters from North Carolina and South Carolina. Tickets include a sample + side from each pitmaster. Product vendors and live entertainment join the barbecue enthusiasts in Asheboro’s downtown
Participating pitmasters:
- Keith Henning, Black Powder Smokehouse, Asheboro/Jamestown (LSBS Podcast with Keith Henning)
- Lewis Donald, Sweet Lew’s BBQ, Charlotte (LSBS Podcast with Lewis Donald)
- Nick Dampf, Dampf Good BBQ, Cary (LSBS Podcast with Nick Dampf – don’t miss Nick’s tips for brisket!)
- Claire Calvin, East of Texas, Winston-Salem
- Allen Wilson, Sr., Unity Barbecue Team, Bennettsville, S.C.
Ticket options include the Pitmaster Dinner, “Pig Out” with early admission and double the sampling, general admission, and kids admission (ages 12 and under eat free).
Improper Pig Expands with Midwood Flagship
The Improper Pig launched a rebrand and a new flagship location in Plaza Midwood.
Under an updated brand, the “American barbecue with Asian flair” restaurant’s newest site is former home of Pizza Peel & Tap Room, owned by The Improper Pig’s parent group Stomp, Chomp and Roll. Pizza ended in 2024, and renovations turned the space into a barbecue flagship, complete with expanded kitchen with a wood-fired grill and smoker.
Charlotte media previewed the new location with details of an updated menu of The Improper Pig’s favorites and new additions – coming to all locations:
- Kimchi burger with wayu beef and a fried egg
- Pimento burger with wagyu beef
- Smoked curry rolls with chicken and yellow curry
- Miso-glazed salmon with yuzu-sake butter
- Fried rice with protein options
- Skillet brownie
First open in Cotswold in 2014, the locally owned business added locations in Fort Mill and Rea Farms before the new flagship launch.
Don’t miss your chance to enjoy The Improper Pig’s barbecue selections during Carolina Barbecue Festival’s Friday night kick-off salute to Charlotte Barbecue. More details here.
Cary Celebrates Lawrence Barbecue
Lawrence Barbecue won Cary Magazine’s MAGGY Award winner for best new restaurant.
After closing in Boxyard RTP and renovating a space in Cary, Jake and Brandi Wood relaunched Lawrence Barbecue in mid-September “by the skin of our teeth with every penny we got … with every piece of equipment that we had,” Jake tells Cary Magazine.
In its March edition, Cary Magazine profiles Lawrence Barbecue and the “spirit of leisure” Jake works hard to maintain in the joint’s new digs.
“We’re not Texas Barbecue. We’re not North Carolina barbecue. We’re just Lawrence Barbecue. And I’ve said that before. And I really mean that,” he concludes.
Read the complete article in Cary Magazine’s March issue.
‘Barbecue Nerd’ Christopher Prieto Wins Top NCRLA Award
Prime BBQ’s Barbecue Nerd is North Carolina’s restauranteur of the year.
N.C. Restaurant and Leisure Association (NCRLA) presented the annual honor to Christopher Prieto and William Dissen.
In addition to Prime BBQ, Christopher is founder and owner of Primo Latin Cuisine, the barbecue speakeasy situated behind Prime’s Knightdale location. Coming this spring, Prieto’s Prime STQ steak and barbecue concept opens in Hub RTP.
Hear our 2025 podcast interview with Christopher or watch the video here.
Chef William owns and operates The Market Place in Asheville and Billy D’s Fried Chicken locations at N.C. Zoo, Elon University, and Wake Forest University. He sold the Haymaker in Charlotte in 2023.
Earlier this year, Christopher was recognized as a Bib Gourmand by the Michelin Guide and a James Beard Award Best Chef Southeast Semifinalist.
Chef William has been nominated as one of the James Beard Foundation’s Outstanding Chefs in America and is “The Most Sustainable Chef on the Planet,” according to Gordon Ramsay and National Geographic.
New TFS Edition Focuses on Queen City Food Scene
The Food Section smells Charlotte’s food scene cooking.
And publisher Hanna Raskin added a CLT:TFS edition to her digital portfolio serving eaters “the news they need to make their meals more meaningful.”
Expert Charlotte journalists Kathleen Purvis, Greg Lacour, and Taylor Bowler anchor the weekly Wednesday newsletter first publishing March 4.
With “Digging into Charlotte’s food scene – and yes, it has one,” Kathleen shares a bit of backstory, explains the motive, and offers a taste of upcoming content: a spotlight on Lupie’s Café and its place in a dwindling footprint of legacy restaurants in Charlotte.
Hanna helped The Low & Slow Barbecue Show mark Independence Day in 2023 with a discussion about barbecue traditions and benne wafers! Here’s the recipe she shared.
BBQ Business Fires Shifting
Fires are burning in new barbecue restaurants in the Carolinas – despite the increasingly difficult business climate.
Bordertown BBQ is open in Beaufort, offering Texas-style barbecue on Boundary Street.
Sun-seeking partners Sam Kochan and Kristen Miklinevich sold successful Massachusetts restaurants and moved South. Sam uses a 1,000-gallon stick smoker to cook a complete line-up of meats with brisket at the top of the bill.
Visit the Bordertown BBQ Instagram page to see the evolving project & full menu – and based on early traffic, they’re selling a lot of protein.
In Carrboro, Longleaf Swine advances on a third Triangle location, targeting a fall open date. It replaces Luna Rotisserie & Taproom in a “barbecue desert” owner Adam Cunningham told The Durham Herald-Sun.
A Longleaf Swine location in North Raleigh is expected to open later this spring.
On the flip side … the list is long for barbecue business closures. The latest:
MooHogz Craft BBQ closed after 3 ½ years serving Greenville, SC, first as a veteran-owned food truck and then in Unity Park’s Commons. MooHogz closed for smoker maintenance and did not reopen.
The Tasting Table shares opinions on why U.S. barbecue spots are closing like Bar-B-Q King in Charlotte. Spoiler: Food costs, operating expenses, and labor challenges.
Read the article to learn what some businesses are doing to offset the growing expenses.
Here Comes The Cheef
Cheef Eats is in brick-and-mortar after operating as a food truck around Western N.C.
Located at Pisgah Social, Cheef Eats is on the Hendersonville Highway between Asheville and Brevard.
Current hours for the wood-fired barbecue operation:
- Wednesday-Saturday 11 a.m. – 8 p.m. or sold out.
- Sunday 12-7 p.m. or sold out.
Check out the menu for a glimpse at what’s cooking at Cheef Eats.
Keep up with Cheef Eats on social media for menu details and meaty eye candy.
BBQ Business Bites
- Woody’s BBQ opens its first N.C. franchise in Durham – with 2 more coming under the same franchise owner. Woody’s BBQ operates 9 other locations – all in Florida, where it was founded in 1980.
- City Barbeque opens a second S.C. location in Rock Hill. Launched in 1999, the Ohio-based City Barbeque operates in 12 states and 75+ locations, including 14 in North Carolina.
- Mother Smokin’ Good BBQ adds brick-and-mortar in Beaufort in May. “Roscoe” Green and his wife + business partner Danielle are transforming YoYo’s Ice Cream in Waterfront Park into a barbecue take-out. The business has operated as a food truck and caterer in the region since 2014.
- Courtney’s BBQ and Brew in Clover kept serving barbecue in spite of a Saturday morning fire started by a cigarette butt in a flowerpot. Open in 1999, Courtney’s BBQ and Brew is the town’s first brewery with craft beer brewed on site.
- A S.C. woman was jailed for selling barbecue without a license. Yes, you read that correctly. S&M BBQ’s retail license was revoked in May 2025, but according to an arrest warrant, the operator continued selling barbecue in Kingstree (pop. 3,300). Maximum penalty: 30 days in jail and/or a $200 fine.
Luella’s Got Her ‘Mojo’ Back
Leulla’s Barbecue in North Asheville reclaimed “its barbecue mojo” according to Fork & Dagger’s anonymous Grub Scout.
Under a premise that brisket at the Merrimon Avenue location had “fallen off” post-pandemic, a new 4-out-of-5-fork review celebrates a restaurant-week pork sandwich special. The line-up of sides (fries, hushpuppies, Brunswick stew, and banana pudding) all received high marks.
The brisket? “… very moist and well-smoked.”
Carolina ‘Cue Coverage
East of Texas pitmaster Claire Calvin and her barbecue journey from Texas to North Carolina are featured in Winston-Salem Journal, which reports “With East of Texas, Calvin brings a community space that is welcoming and serves exceptional Lone State-style barbecue, an intriguing and brave concept for a state that touts its North Carolina-style pork barbecue.”
Sandwiches at Lexington Barbecue and Lewis Barbecue are worth traveling for, according to “locals” cited in a Fast Food Club report.
In Lexington, the choice is chopped pork and red slaw. For Lewis Barbecue’s Charleston location, a brisket sandwich. Other notables landing on the 50-state list:
- Pork sandwich at Saw’s BBQ in Homewood, AL
- Z-man sandwich at Joe’s KC BBQ in Kansas City, KS
- Brisket sandwich at Terry Black’s in Austin, TX
Grady’s in Dudley anchors an in-depth focus on the dwindling number of black-owned barbecue restaurants that still rely on whole-hog traditions.
Reporting in The Assembly, includes interviews with Geral Grady about her start in the barbecue business with her late husband Steve. Culinary historian Adrian Miller offers additional insight on the role and waning presence of black-owned barbecue joints across the South.
Choice Cuts
- Home Team BBQ raised more than $650,000 for children in need through the Charleston-based restaurant’s Rock the Block fundraiser.
- The Michelin Guide’s focus on South Carolina’s 7 classic foods includes a tribute to whole hog BBQ, with Rodney Scott’s BBQ cited as the place to find it.
- Southern Smoke BBQ of NC’s Matthew Register is featured in Southern Flavor magazine’s Spring 2026 edition. See the Q&A and his recipe for collard chowder starting on page 72.
- Barbecue Bros’ Monk visited King BBQ in North Charleston and ordered the chopped pork topped with fried pork skins, pork spare ribs, and BBQ red rice with house yum yum sauce. Read the review here.
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