Food and Drink

Best Carolina-style barbecue? These NC restaurants ranked among Top 10 in the US

In the South, we all know there’s a soft spot in our hearts for barbecue. Now, a new report is revealing which restaurants are the very best for Carolina-style barbecue.

USA Today released a list of the Top 10 standout Carolina-style BBQ spots that are cooking up the tastiest smoky meats with classic Southern sides.

Of all the popular places to fill up on flavor-packed barbecue, North Carolina has the majority of the prime picks on the list:

Top Carolina-style barbecue joints in NC

Even among our local food scene, two of the top-rated restaurants — Red Bridges and Lexington — were also featured in CharlotteFive’s best barbecue poll — for being so good that they’re worth the trip nearly an hour outside the Queen City.

Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge was even voted among the Top 2, and it was a must-stop spot for “Top Chef” judge Gail Simmons while filming in the Carolinas.

A low-angle, wide shot on a sunny day showing the exterior of Bridges Barbecue. In the foreground, a large sign with a brick base reads “Bridges Barbecue” in red and yellow text, with a smaller yellow “Lodge” sign below it. The restaurant, a single-story green building with a red roof, sits in the background. Cars are parked in the asphalt lot, and an American flag hangs from a pole on the left.
Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge in Shelby. Alex Cason CharlotteFive

As mentioned in USA Today’s report, the Cleveland County restaurant has been a staple spot for barbecue lovers for decades.

“Red Bridges and his wife Lyttle started making BBQ in 1946 in Shelby, North Carolina, following the Western/Lexington style of slow-cooking pork shoulders over hickory wood smoke, chopping it up, slathering on a vinegar-based sauce, and adding BBQ slaw to the platter,” the report says.

“Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge hasn’t changed much over the years. And with Lyttle Bridges being posthumously inducted into the Barbecue Hall of Fame with a Legacy Award in 2021, it seems this third-generation family business is still doing everything right.”

An indoor shot of a barbecue pit room, where a pitmaster with short dark hair and glasses, wearing a white shirt and jeans, stands between two large smokers. To the left is a built-in brick pit. To the right, the pitmaster is looking down into an open, stainless steel smoker filled with large cuts of cooked barbecue meat on a metal rack.
Red Bridges Barbecue owner Natalie Ramsey in the pit smoking area at Red Bridges BBQ Lodge. Alex Cason CharlotteFive
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Nearly 80 years later, some of Red Bridges’ original recipes are still on the menu, CharlotteFive previously reported, served by staff members who have been around for years, too.

“What holds us separate from everybody else is we still pit cook our meat. We have somebody come in and use wood, fire it all night long. And basically, that’s where you get your flavor,” third-generation owner and grandchild Natalie Ramsey previously told C5.

A top-down view of a meal from Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge. A large plate is filled with chopped pork barbecue, french fries, baked beans, and red slaw. This is accompanied by a separate basket of onion rings, a brisket sandwich, a cup of sauce, and the restaurant’s paper menu.
Red Bridges BBQ Lodge menu items including the barbecue plate, hush puppies and the brisket sandwich. Alex Cason CharlotteFive

You can find USA Today’s full list of the top Carolina-style barbecue spots online at 10best.usatoday.com.

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