Southern Smoke BBQ Shines as One of NC’s Top Joints

Southern Smoke BBQ Shines As One Of NC’s Top Joints

This week’s guest article is written by Monk, a native of North Carolina and co-founder of the Barbecue Bros blog. Along with his friends and fellow Barbecue Bros Speedy and Rudy, Monk has traveled around eating, rating, ranking, and reviewing barbecue joints since 2012. Recently, Monk visited Southern Smoke BBQ, a highly regarded joint in eastern North Carolina. He had such high praise for it that we wanted to share his review with you. If you would like to write a guest article for The Smoke Sheet, please get in touch.

I’m a Lexington, NC-style barbecue guy through and through – as the saying goes, you prefer what you grew up on – but more than 8 years into my barbecue journey, I’ve learned not to be too dogmatic about it. I’ve learned that a slice of properly smoked brisket can be the best thing I’ve eaten in a long, long time and that a well-smoked sausage in a snappy case can be something both my wife and I happily share when I inevitably drag her and the kids to yet another barbecue restaurant.

I’ve also learned that the other style of North Carolina barbecue in the state rivalry – that is, eastern North Carolina style – can wow me too. Recently, Southern Smoke BBQ, in the small town of Garland (population 621 in eastern NC) did exactly that.

The Southern Smoke BBQ restaurant in Garland is currently taking orders outside during the pandemic.

Southern Smoke is the creation of Matthew Register, who released an excellent BBQ book in 2019. As the story goes, Register started the restaurant in 2014 after he was inspired by reading Holy Smoke by John Shelton Reed and his late wife Dale. Others have covered Register’s story better than I, but he and I have been circling each other on social media for the past few years and I’ve been meaning to find a way to get to Garland ever since.

It’s not an easy feat, mind you, since its 3.5 hours away from my hometown of Charlotte. Recently inspired by a recent John Tanner BBQ Blog entry, I made the decision to finally visit during my family’s week-long stay at Ocean Isle Beach. It was actually a real joy to drive the county roads and through the small towns of eastern NC on my way to Garland.

Southern Smoke's chopped pork is outstanding.

Once I reached Southern Smoke, I parked underneath the massive magnolia tree across the street, and then I walked up to place my order outside the restaurant where they’ve transitioned to taking orders during the pandemic. From there, I took my order of barbecue, ribs, and chicken out to their backyard seating area, which under normal times is used for themed “South Supper Series” dinner parties they host at different times of the year.

I’ll be danged if the eastern NC-style chopped pork didn’t hit the spot that day. It had the perfect balance of smoke and tang and my taste buds immediately thanked me for making the journey. Register and his team smoke pork butts instead of whole hogs before dressing it with their eastern-style sauce. Say what you will about other types of barbecue, but the simplicity of this style (perhaps the original style of barbecue in America) just makes sense. It definitely did on this day.

The ribs at Southern Smoke are also worthy of attention.

Each day that Southern Smoke BBQ is open – currently Thursdays and Fridays with plans to add Wednesdays next month – ribs and chicken of some sort (sometimes smoked, sometimes fried) are usually available in addition to the pork. The ribs are meaty baby backs and just like the pork, they were well smoked with a perfect balance of smoke, salt, and sweet in each bite. As for the chicken, I’m not usually a chicken-at-a-barbecue-restaurant kind of guy but the two-quarter chickens are certainly worthy of an order.

The sides at Southern Smoke rotate daily, and not all are typical barbecue sides. Register jokes that he has a reputation on the barbecue food festival scene of being the guy with “pretty sides.” In fact, on this day I got the tasty jambalaya. The cornbread I tried was on the sweeter end of the spectrum (which I always enjoy) and appeared to be cooked in a skillet. Both were mouth-wateringly wonderful.

The inventive backyard space at Southern Smoke BBQ.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Register for a good bit after I finished my meal, and the conversation wasn’t limited to barbecue. He’s a smart, thoughtful guy and our conversation ranged from soccer (we are both big Manchester United fans) to music to books to the current state of affairs. Of course, we talked a good bit of shop as well, and it was great to hear his perspective on what is happening in barbecue.

All in all, Southern Smoke BBQ is a destination-worthy barbecue restaurant in small-town eastern North Carolina. While you might be tempted to describe the town of Garland as being in the middle of nowhere, the barbecue from Matthew Register and his team is worth driving at least driving 200 miles for – if not more. Do yourself a favor and find time to make the trip as I did. You won’t regret it.

Monk
Co-Founder, Barbecue Bros


Thank you to this week's sponsor B&B Charcoal. Click here to learn more!

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Whole Smoked Chicken

by The Dawgfatha’s BBQ

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—Many of the largest barbecue events of 2020 have been canceled or postponed.—

In light of the constantly changing coronavirus crisis, we are leaving our events section blank for some time. Many events in 2020 have been canceled or postponed thus far. We’ll be updating our events section on our website with the most up-to-date information as we have it.

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