The wife and I had an enjoyable time at the "Lexington BBQ" restaurant. Went
there on Saturday and the establishment was packed full, had a short line of
people waiting for seats and they were taking orders from cars lined up
outside for take out, it appeared to me.

We ordered sliced pork and coarse chopped with brown, we both preferred the
chopped with brown over the sliced. Mainly because of the flavor, all the
pork was tender, but the sliced had no noticeably Q flavor, the chopped with
brown did carry a light Q flavor which was good.

As my wife and I were standing in line, we struck up a pleasant conversion
with a lovely lady by the name of Mary Cook, she was there alone, her
husband, a retired pilot for Piedmont Airlines wasn't with her that day. As
the place was packed and she was just one, she offered to let us sit with
her, which we eagerly jumped at the chance. We had pleasant conversation and
she taught us the ins and outs of Q at the Lexington. Such as there is fine
or coarse chopped along with sliced. Plus she explained about the "brown".
We shared hush puppies and skins all around! Thanks Mary Cook!! She was the
one that knew the owner and staff and got us in to see the pits, event
though he was very busy.

As far a authentic, the Lexington bbq does indeed cook authentic. One of the
friendly and gracious owners took us back into the pit area and gave us a
Grand tour of the operation. Where he showed us the wood that they burned
down to coals and then took shovel fulls to place directly under the pork
shoulders. The pork was about 2 feet above the coals as best as I could
eyeball. He said they had started cooking around 7AM and would cook until
around 5PM.

He kept cardboard on top of the shoulders to keep ash from collecting on the
meat. The kitchen was very clean and spacious, a nice layout. Wood which
looked like leftover from a sawmill, bark and wood that looked like planks,
perhaps off-fall from the sawing operation. I believe he said that it was
oak and hickory. The wood is kept outside and they open metal doors located
on the outside to add the 2-3 foot long planks, then open a second door from
the inside to remove the hot coals. He said the coals were good when at
about the size of a quarter.

He also had the shrinkage figured out quite nicely, what the meat shrinkage
was from the cooking process and then what's left over after cutting up. He
stated he used premium pork shoulders only. When they have skins available
they can be purchased. We managed to get some to eat on Saturday, but when
we returned on Monday for the return trip home, they were out, this deeply
disappointed my wife as she truly enjoyed them.

The hushpuppies were good, I believe they had been flavored with onion
powder, they were light, not heavy dough with a good cornmeal taste to them.
The slaw was red and I assumed they used ketchup and horseradish, the
vinegar was red also and the ingredients showed they added ketchup to that,
which is why I assumed the slaw had ketchup also, but it is only a guess.

I myself believe this was good Q, though I prefer a more intense flavor and
prefer coals with wood for a more pronounced taste, but that is me. I would
recommend the Lexington bbq for the Q and good atmosphere. A place were a
lot of the diners are regulars and the waitress's know their names.

Thanks Greg and Michael for the tip!

"Piedmont"

"Piedmont" wrote:
> I myself believe this was good Q, though I prefer a more intense
> flavor and prefer coals with wood for a more pronounced taste, but
> that is me. I would recommend the Lexington bbq for the Q and good
> atmosphere. A place were a lot of the diners are regulars and the
> waitress's know their names.

Good report. Matches a lot of my observation when I was there a couple years
ago. The smoke flavor is very diminished in 'Q joints that use open pits. It
is also one of the reasons that good bbq is not a matter of smoke taste ---
even though smoke rings are very visible in open pit bbq. Smoke taste, like
all spices, is a matter of taste -- not necessity -- in 'Q.
Dave

I travel to Salisbury, NC. four to five time a year and satisfy my Q
fix. Twenty years ago all of the bbq joints had the white plumes of
smoke rising overhead, unfortunately most of them today have converted
to electric ovens. It's good but not the same, you were fortunate to
locate a restaurant still using coals. -RP

"Randy" > wrote in message
...
> I travel to Salisbury, NC. four to five time a year and satisfy my Q
> fix. Twenty years ago all of the bbq joints had the white plumes of
> smoke rising overhead, unfortunately most of them today have converted
> to electric ovens. It's good but not the same, you were fortunate to
> locate a restaurant still using coals. -RP
>
>

Wink's in Salisbury still cooks with wood.

Where is Wink's? I just remember it as being a fish camp. -RP

"Randy" > wrote in message
...
> Where is Wink's? I just remember it as being a fish camp. -RP
Wink's is at 509 Faith Rd (just past the shopping center that has a Lowe's
as their main tenant) ph 704 637 2410. I think it's the E. Innes St exit
off 85. They used to be on E Innes but moved due to road construction.

"Randy" > wrote in message
...
> Where is Wink's? I just remember it as being a fish camp. -RP
>
http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?ed...F&csz=SA LISB
URY+NC+28146&country=us