NCBBQII Pt 7: Lexington Barbecue No. 1

Our hearts race as we pull into the packed parking lot that we have finally found for the second time. The white woodframe restaurant is still open and bustling--no chance of them closing on us this year! I slam my camera against the car door with nervous excitement as I exit the vehicle and stumble to my feet. I'm here; we're there!


Going Home Happy, 2008

Arriving at Lexington Barbecue No. 1 this past May was like meeting a famous artist whose reputation I'd long admired. The highwayside eatery is perhaps the most famous barbecue establisment in North Carolina, the most preeminent purveyor of what is known as Lexington or "Western" style barbecue. While barbecue aficionados will point out that no simple distinction exists between Eastern and Western styles, western cue often uses ketchup or tomatoes in both barbecue and cole slaw. Western cue also tends to use pork shoulders instead of the whole hog. To me the following characteristic is a requirement for all true barbecue: the meat must be smoked over hickory coals.

As the menu states:


This is the True Lexington Style Barbecue, 2008

We use pork shoulders only. They are cooked about nine hours over hickory and oak coals. We salt the meat before cooking but we do not baste. This is the true Lexington Style Barbecue.

People take this stuff seriously. After walking through the very green, 1950s-era counter and checkout area, we're seated at the first table in the wood-paneled dining room. Just across the aisle, a family says grace as they are served their Saturday dinner. Of the two granddaughters present, one receives an order of chicken tenders and the other, the one closest to her grandmother, receives a barbecue platter (chopped pork, fries, red coleslaw). Both children become immediately engrossed by their meals.

The grandmother leans over to the closer granddaughter, and says softly, "I'm really glad that you like barbecue."

Barbecue Family, 2008

And this is what's all about:

Lexington No. 1's Product, 2008

I hope you can find a thousand words within that picture, because there really is no way to describe the food other than to say that the individual elements represent perfection and the whole a delicate synergy achieved over many years of cookery. Can you imagine the subtle smoke flavor and tenderness of pork smoked for nine hours? Does the red hue in the slaw communicate the tang of vinegar and ketchup found there? Does the golden tincture of the crinkle-cut fries convey their crispiness and how they pair perfectly with the slaw, ketchup, or barbecue sauce? And what about the hushpuppies? They're not in the shot, but it doesn't matter: refills are free.

And those hushpuppies soak up the bitter-tasting house sauce perfectly:

Smokehouse Barbeque Sauce, 2008

Rob and I both agreed that our meal here totally delivered. It was everything we had heard it would be, and a sharp contrast from our first experience here. Back in 2006, we were heading east from Greenville, where B's was closed for July 4th. We got a speeding ticket along the way, and had the usual hard time finding Lexington No. 1, which is located near a junction of two rural highways where everything looks exactly the same. When we finally arrived, the parking lot was deserted and our hearts plunged through the car floor when we realized that it too was closed.

But our planning paid off this time. As we exited, we saw all types of local folk getting take-out orders at the lunch counter...


Lunch Counter at Lexington No. 1, 2008

...and the parking lot was still packed. Above the adjoining smokehouse, the half dozen shiny, rusty exhaust pipes, their brick bases covered with seeping wood tar, belched heat into the dwindling daylight as we loaded ourselves into the Taurus and shipped off with only one destination in mind: the night.



Smoker Stacks, Take Three