From Kelce to ‘Top Chef’: Charlotte’s barbecue scene is having a moment
If you’ve been keeping an eye on Charlotte’s food scene this past year, you’ve noticed a theme: Everyone — from Super Bowl champs to James Beard-nominated chefs — keeps circling back to barbecue. The smokers around the Queen City have been working overtime, and the rest of the country is finally taking notice.
Here’s your foodie’s roundup of the moments, the meats and the must-visit pit stops that put Charlotte-area barbecue on the map.
A Kelce-sized endorsement
Jason Kelce came, he saw, he ordered the seven-meat feast.
The retired NFL star and “New Heights” podcast co-host dropped into one of The Smoke Pit’s six locations recently, and the restaurant wasted no time sharing the news. “He said he was hungry, we said no problem. Thanks for dropping by Jason Kelce,” the spot wrote in a Tuesday Instagram post.
The photo showed a serious spread: sliced pork, brisket, ribs, sausage, greens, slaw, mac and cheese, okra and cornbread. Why was Kelce in town? Best guess connects to NASCAR’s Hendrick Motorsports — the elder Kelce brother spent the weekend on a pit crew at Talladega for driver Corey Day, who won the race.
Commenters didn’t hold back. “Best BBQ hands down!!!” one wrote. “He absolutely stopped at the right place,” added another. “SEVEN MEAT FEAST for the WIN!” one fan declared.
If a guy whose brother is engaged to Taylor Swift can pick a barbecue spot blind and land on a Charlotte favorite, that tells you something.
The reader-voted champ
Kelce didn’t just stumble into any old joint. The Smoke Pit was crowned the CharlotteFive Readers’ Choice Best Barbecue restaurant in 2024, beating out a deep field of regional contenders.
The story behind the brand is the kind foodies love. Co-owner Joey Graham took the leap from backyard barbecue to a brick-and-mortar spot he figured would sell out by 2 p.m. each day. Nearly a decade later, The Smoke Pit runs five smokers that can collectively handle 5,000 pounds of meat per day, plating North Carolina-style pulled pork, Texas-style chopped brisket, chicken and more in portions practically engineered for leftovers.
“A lot of new people that come in were brought by friends who have come in before,” general manager Daniel Tucker told CharlotteFive. “The line might be long at the door, but tables move fast, so don’t be intimidated. Come give us a try.”
The original Concord location sits right by Charlotte Motor Speedway, and a newest outpost opened in Mooresville to a line out the door.
Where to find The Smoke Pit:
📍 796 Concord Pkwy N, Concord, NC 28027
📍 328 W. Plaza Dr., Mooresville, NC 28117
📍 8136 Providence Rd, Charlotte, NC 28277
📍 421 Cox Rd, Gastonia, NC 28054
📍 1507 W Roosevelt Blvd., Monroe, NC 28110
📍 509 Faith Rd, Salisbury, NC 28146
What ‘Top Chef’ tasted
When Bravo brought “Top Chef” to Charlotte for Season 23, host Kristen Kish, judge Gail Simmons and judge Tom Colicchio made smoked meat a priority.
“Carolina obviously is known for barbecue, and all eyes are on barbecue when you come here,” Kish told Unpretentious Palate, according to CharlotteFive’s reporting. “You have incredible pit masters and barbecue.”
Simmons, a Canadian by birth, took a crash course in regional styles. Her stops included Midwood Smokehouse and Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge. The verdict?
“Generally the Eastern style seem to be more up my alley — a little less sweet, like more vinegar,” she told CharlotteFive. “I like that creamier slaw, as opposed to the ketchupy slaw. But, I love Red Bridges, which was very Western, right? So it was good.”
Colicchio — a self-described “huge UNC basketball fan” who has racked up nearly a dozen James Beard Award nominations — was a little pickier. “I tend to like it all,” he said. But: “I don’t love the fine chop that they do here. … I like to chew. I like whole hog, but I like eating the pieces.”
Colicchio also offered a peek at his own home setup: a rub on short ribs overnight, then about five hours in the smoker, then wrapped for another hour, then resting in an un-iced cooler for one more hour.
“I’m no expert — it’s something I mess around with. There’s other people who’ve spent a lifetime with it,” he said. “I use a pellet smoker, so it’s not like I’m tending the firebox or anything. It’s kind of cheating — you set the temperature and walk away.”
A Carolina classic worth the drive
The Red Bridges name keeps coming up, and there’s a reason. USA Today’s 10Best list of the Top 10 Carolina-style barbecue spots in the country put Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge in the Top 2, CharlotteFive reported.
That’s not a surprise to CharlotteFive readers, who voted Red Bridges as the No. 2 barbecue spot in the Charlotte area in 2024.
Red and Lyttle Bridges started slow-cooking pork over hickory wood in Shelby in 1946. Today, grandchildren Natalie Ramsey and Chase Webb are keeping the tradition alive 78 years later, packing the dining room with regulars and serving original recipes for chopped barbecue, slaw, baked beans and hush puppies.
“My grandfather was a cook in the war, and when he came back, he told my grandmother, ‘Common, we’re opening a barbecue restaurant,’” Ramsey told CharlotteFive.
Lyttle Bridges was posthumously inducted into the Barbecue Hall of Fame with a Legacy Award in 2021.
“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,” Ramsey said.
📍 2000 E Dixon Blvd, Shelby, NC 28150
Eastern vs. Western, a quick primer
If you’re newer to the area and the regional debate feels confusing, here’s the short version: Eastern North Carolina barbecue tends to be vinegar-forward and less sweet, often paired with a creamier slaw. Western (or Lexington-style) leans on a tomato-tinged dip and a red, vinegary “BBQ slaw.” Both are smoked low and slow. Both have their loyalists. And, as Colicchio’s plate-cleaning suggests, you don’t have to pick a side.
More to chew on
📰 Want the full breakdown of the readers’ favorites? Check out the complete CharlotteFive Readers’ Choice Best Barbecue guide for every nominated spot, plus the runners-up worth a road trip.
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This report was produced with the assistance of a proprietary tool powered by artificial intelligence and using our own originally reported, written and published content. It was reviewed and edited by our journalists. To learn more about how The Charlotte Observer is using AI in our newsroom, see our policy here.
