The Best BBQ Chicken on the Planet?

John Tanner writes about the magnificent chicken (and pork) at B's in Greenville, North Carolina.

This week’s guest article is written by John Tanner, founder of John Tanner’s Barbecue Blog. John is based in Washington, D.C., and has been writing about barbecue joints, events, and notable people in BBQ since 2015.

I recently traveled to North Carolina with a carefully thought-out plan of the barbecue places I would try out, including rechecks of some of my favorite places I’d been before. I’d been to B’s within the last year, so I planned to skip it.

But then I got a ridiculously early start, and the roads were virtually empty, so I made great time. I arrived in Greenville so early that the only barbecue places open were B’s and Bum’s. Now, I dearly love Bum’s, but I was just there a few months ago. So B’s it was.

I hit B’s at the perfect time, during the brief window between the early rush and the lunch rush. I reflexively ordered a pork plate and a quarter chicken. The bill was $12.75. That was for enough food for two meals.

Here’s a closer look at the pork.

Now that’s a lot of pork, and it is very good pork. Tender, almost succulent, with great depth of flavor. It’s some of the best barbecue in Eastern North Carolina, and most places would kill, or at least maim, to be able to make pork that good. But the star at B’s is the chicken.

No one can match the barbecued chicken at B’s. Take a look.

I had some superb barbecued chicken at Stephenson’s and at Sam Jones BBQ in Raleigh, but B’s is the best, a clear No. 1. The chicken is so moist and as tender as a lover’s sigh. The smoke embraces the chicken but doesn’t smother the flavor. There is nothing you could do to make this chicken better.

The chicken meat is heartbreakingly tender and juicy, with a permeating flavor of smoke. Not many places can do that, and I don’t know of any that do it as well as B’s.

Some of you might be confused because I haven’t mentioned those corn sticks above. All the world knows of my deep and abiding love for corn sticks. These particular corn sticks were outstanding.

They were almost, I mean this close to as good as the corn sticks at Parker’s in Wilson, the Platonic ideal of the corn stick. I showed real restraint, however, and only ate two of them with my meal. I saved the other three for the 12-minute drive to my next stop, the Skylight Inn.

I also love B’s because there is not one single thing that is remotely fancy about it. It has no pretense and nothing boastful. There’s no self-promotion, not even a Facebook page. They just do what they do surpassingly well, and they do it with a friendly word and a smile for everyone. That’s something to treasure, a pearl of great price.

I don’t care where you live; you need to find a way to get to B’s. If you can’t find a way, make one.

John Tanner
Founder, John Tanner’s Barbecue Blog