North of Charlotte, Bar-B-Q King is still feeding crowds what they crave after 50 years
An undeniable fact in North Carolina is that barbecue is king. There is a whole mess of disagreement about which style (Eastern or Piedmont) and which particular restaurant’s version is the best, but barbecue is king.
In Lincolnton, however, the undisputed king of barbecue is, well, Bar-B-Q King. And the king’s reign is marching up to the 50-year mark.
The restaurant sits at 2613 East Main St., where it intersects with Buffalo Shoals Road, the same place it’s been since the doors opened on Sept. 1, 1971. That’s when Steve and Becky Abernethy, a young farm hand and an elementary school teacher, respectively, looked around their town and saw a big need for a local barbecue joint.
“Becky and I thought that would be a great location for a restaurant, as there weren’t many, especially on the eastern side of town,” Steve Abernethy said.
With the support of friends and family, they built a 40 x 50-square-foot restaurant that stayed open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week. Abernethy describes 20-hour days, high staff turnover and a rocky start — “definitely not a smashing success.”
As the restaurant matured, the couple decided to close on Sundays, a move Abernathy says they never regretted.
Growing town, growing restaurant
Lincolnton is a small town about 50 miles northwest of Charlotte. In the 1980s, the town started growing, and its appetite for BBQ did too. The Abernethys took the opportunity to build an addition onto the restaurant, with a larger area for smoking meat, and expanded the menu. They also increased the seating space from 25 people to 150 people.
“We quickly became popular for our Piedmont-style barbecue, ketchup and vinegar based, sweet tea and homemade onion rings. Our burgers are hand-pattied every morning. During the colder winter months, we serve homemade Brunswick Stew,” he said. According to their website, that adds up to 25 pork shoulders, 180 pounds of hamburger and 200 pounds of onions each day.
As the business grew, the local traditions stayed the same. “We’re known for hollering our orders, and we only offer counter service. Even if the line is out the door, it’s a fairly quick wait,” he said.
A key figure in the success of Bar-B-Q King (not related to the Bar-B-Q King drive-in on Wilkinson Boulevard in Charlotte) is long-time employee Keith Smith, who started working there when he was a teenager in 1977.
In the early 2000s, the Abernethys asked Smith to become a partner. And when Smith’s son Jordan, marries the Abernathys’ daughter Stephanie next spring, they’ll continue the tradition of keeping things in the family.
On Sept.1, when the place celebrates 50 years of service, the plan is to give away free cups and stickers and to roll the price of a chopped pork sandwich back to $1.99 in appreciation to all the customers who have walked through the door to eat some ’cue and hear their orders hollered back into the kitchen, as has been done for five decades.
“I don’t want to change much,”Jordan Smith said about what the future holds. “We’ve got a lot of local culture eating here and working here. I hear from some customers who tell me they’ve been coming here since it opened. It’s just cool to see that keep going for all these years.”
Bar-B-Q King
Location: 2613 East Main St., Lincolnton, NC 28092
Neighborhood: Lincolnton
Cuisine: Lexington- or Piedmont-style barbecue
Hours: 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Monday-Saturday
To order: Dine in or call 704-735-1112 704.523.2822
This story was originally published August 17, 2021 at 6:30 AM.
