The Lexington Collection
 
Pretty Polly
 
  North Carolina Pulled Pork Barbecue Joints
 

    
Lexington Barbecue #1
10 Highway 29-70S, Lexington, NC 24465
(910) 249-9814

  This is it! If you were given but one chance in a lifetime to taste North Carolina pulled pork barbecue, this just might be the joint to choose for that singular occasion. It looks like one. It smells like one. And, the taste will remove any doubts whatsoever that it is one. Shoulders only - dozens of them at a time - are slow cooked over hickory and oak coals in immaculate pits. The finishing sauce is of the western North Carolina kind with a touch of tomato. Grab one of those swivel seats at the counter, and order a Q, HP, and T. Inhale them. The waitress, who seemingly can read your mind, will have that second sandwich on order almost before you even think to ask for it.

The pitmaster at Lexington Barbecue shows off his handiwork.

A plain white beacon on a hill by a service road, the establishment founded by Wayne Monk in 1962 is the epitome of Lexington barbecue. It is marked by a no-nonsense understatement. From the unornamented signs in the parking lot, to the unornamented menus on the counter, to the unornamented ticket on which your order is taken, to the unornamented WHITEWONDER paper sack in which that extra pound of takeout is stowed, the barbecue itself does the speaking.

It is told that Monk got a call from President Ronald Reagan to feed the attendees at the 1983 Economic Summit. Upon his return from the bash, Monk reported that the heads of state were not nearly as picky, or as smart, about their barbecue as the folks back home. Judging by the endless stream of happy customers, Monk is the smartest - and pickiest - of them all

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The Joints Collection