8 NC barbecue restaurants make Southern Living’s Best in the South list
Eight North Carolina barbecue joints are included in the newest ranking of the best barbecue in the South by Southern Living, including two in the Triangle.
Southern Living’s barbecue editor Robert Moss released his 2023 list on Tuesday, naming Snow’s BBQ in Texas as the South’s top barbecue restaurant. In all, 15 of the 50 spots went to Texas, followed by North Carolina’s eight restaurants.
The highest North Carolina ranking went to Ayden’s Skylight Inn, the famed Jones family restaurant whose whole hog barbecue has earned it a James Beard America’s Classic award.
As far as North Carolina barbecue is concerned, Southern Living seems to prefer the state’s old school restaurants, with six of the eight awarded restaurants firmly in the historic camp.
Among those old school spots, Skylight is followed by Lexington Barbecue at No. 7, Grady’s Barbecue outside of Goldsboro at No. 12, Stamey’s Barbecue at No. 18, Red Bridges at No. 36 and Bar-B-Q Center at No. 48.
But Moss and Southern Living show some love for the modern pitmasters picking up the torch of this old tradition.
Landing at No. 27 is Sam Jones BBQ outside of Greenville, also with a Raleigh location, serving similar chopped whole hog barbecue as the family’s Skylight Inn, plus more modern trappings like spare ribs and a full bar.
And rounding out the list is Prime Barbecue in Knightdale, which serves a mix of Texas and North Carolina styles.
Best Barbecue in NC list
Here are Southern Living’s ranked North Carolina spots, plus their ranking last year:
6. Skylight Inn, Ayden (2022 ranking 4)
7. Lexington Barbecue, Lexington (2022 ranking 8)
12. Grady’s Barbecue, Dudley (2022 ranking 16)
18. Stamey’s Barbecue, Greensboro (2022 ranking 20)
27. Sam Jones BBQ, Winterville (and Raleigh) (2022 ranking 30)
36. Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge, Shelby (2022 ranking 18)
48. Bar-B-Q Center, Lexington (2022 ranking 37)
50. Prime Barbecue, Knightdale (2022 ranking 27)
These 64 North Carolina BBQ joints make up the landscape of the state’s most famous food
