Best Downtown Charlotte Barbeque

[Snooch]

Hi, Boston Chowhound here. Going to be in Charlotte for a wedding over the weekend. staying at the Omni downtown. Looking for an authentic BBQ joint nearby. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated

[ickymettle]

I copied and pasted this response from mikeh to another topic (but asking for similar types of recs). I hope he doesn't mind, but it's probably the best answer to your question:

"NC's bbq tradition is chopped pork, either western-style (vinegar-tomato-based sauce on smoked chopped pork shoulder), or eastern-NC-style (straight vinegar sauce on a chopped whole hog), both smoked over oak, hickory, or a combination of both, with no help from gas or electricity. You'll find neither authentic tradition in Charlotte. The best place to get a more generic-style disneyland tour of BBQ, and BBQ that's actually cooked over wood, is at Midwood Smokehouse, as mentioned previously. I would really try to go there as it's not too far without a car. http://www.midwoodsmokehouse.com. There's no place in downtown that does BBQ (good or bad) within walking distance, unless you're literally talking about roasted meat smothered in BBQ sauce. But as the locals know, that's not bbq, that's meat with bbq sauce. Big difference."

Authentic NC BBQ is just more of a rural thing.

[Snooch]

Thanks Icky, my research has pretty much told me the same as you have pointed out. We will be hitting the MidWood Sunday after the football game. Go Panthers!

[lynnlato]

I second his rec for Midwood Smokehouse. As good as you'll find in CLT. See ya at the game. ;-)

[HungryDonkey]

Does anyone know if Midwood is whole hog or shoulder? I couldn't find that on the menu. However, I did see that the brisket comes "fatty, lean or both" which is a very cool option for someone who's tired of dried out, super lean brisket.

[fredb2548]

Probably gonna need to define authentic - Eastern NC, Lexington, Ribs, Brisket, Chicken - even then there is going to be a problem, I think.