Chow-worthy dinner west of Charlotte airport?

[BernieBrewer]

We're visiting Asheville in August, and our flight home out of Charlotte is LATE in the evening. We'll likely be stopping in the Lake Lure area earlier in the day, as we slowly make our way to the airport.

Any suggestions for a Chow-worthy dinner stop west of Charlotte? (Best guess is that we'll be coming in on Hwy 74, but we're willing to deviate the route for food!)

[carolinadawg]

There's not much along that route. Bridge's BBQ Lodge in Shelby is excellent, if bbq interests you. It closes at 8:00, and is closed on Monday and Tuesday.

[BernieBrewer]

BBQ would have interested me, but we're flying out on a Tuesday -- nuts!

Thanks for the tip, though. Perhaps we'll just have to pack a picnic dinner before leaving Asheville.

[carolinadawg]

There is another Bridges bbq in Shelby that I think is open on Tuesday. I can't remember the full story, there is some family connection between the owners. I've never eaten at it, but supposedly its also very good. Alston Bridges BBQ is the name. Here's a link to the Urbanspoon.com listing for it. I'd call to confirm days and hours of operation.

http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/230/11047...

[mikeh]

I'd heard that Alston Bridges doesn't use wood anymore to prepare their BBQ (unlike Bridge's BBQ Lodge, which most assuredly does), so if that matters to the OP I'd take that into consideration.

[billyjack]

BTW, (Red) Bridges had a fire the other night. They expected to spend their normally closed Monday and Tuesday cleaning up, and be ready to open again yesterday. I haven't heard if they finished.

[Tom from Raleigh]

I've eaten at both Bridges locations in Shelby this year and you can't go wrong at either place if you get the bbq. I preferred the Alston Bridges version to the other Bridges. Again, both were excellent examples of Carolina BBQ.