August 10, 2012

While in North Carolina with our friend Vinny for the 2012 “Festival of Cheese” at the American Cheese Society’s Conference and Competition, we visited 7 top-rated Barbecue eateries in the eastern part of the state, in and around Raleigh.

Below are the places we tried and our notes on each:

The Pit
328 West Davie St. at Harrington
Raleigh, NC 27601
http://www.thepit-raleigh.com/
(919) 890-4500
Our Rating: A+
Cooking Method: Whole hog, pit-cooked
Pulled pork was so flavorful without any sauce! Sauces: vinegar based and tomato molasses; Delicious NC stew called Brunswick Stew; Vinny loved the collard greens; Bacon and spinach bruschetta!
$11.99 pulled pork, $2.50 cup of Brunswick stew, $7.59 bacon bruschetta

02 December 2010
Amtrak Surfliner from Los Angeles to Goleta, CA

I have survived the Thanksgiving carbohydrate overdose, followed by the airline’s flight cancellation due to (inperceptable) weather conditions and the subsequent overnight at Syracuse Airport’s Holiday Inn Express, as well as the perk of making the most of it by indulging in Dinosaur BBQ, a 40-some-odd smokehouse and watering hole. The pulled pork at Dinosaur was actually recommended to me by Culture’s own David Newhoff, a man whose taste in food I would trust in even the worst of times. Believe me, being stranded in Syracuse qualified as such, but the AMAZING pulled pork at Dinosaur was definitely a big reward for my not having throttled the rude and flat-affective staff at the Hancock Airport (except you, Denise, Ms. Fabulous at US Airways!)