Lexington Barbecue, Lexington, NC

Lexington Barbecue has been serving smoked pork shoulder in this location since 1962. We'd say they have it down. It says it all on their menu: "We use pork shoulders only. They are cooked about 9 hours over hickory and oak coals. We salt the meat before cooking but we do not baste. This is the true Lexington Style Barbecue." What they've created for our enjoyment is a barbecue that's very simple in style; pork shoulder chopped coarse or fine, depending on your preference, and dipped in the quintessential vinegar and pepper "sauce", which is more of a barbecue bath, used both as flavoring agent and meat moistener. On many barbecue blogs that categorize the two distinct styles of North Carolina 'cue, Lexington or Western NC style barbecue is said to use ketchup or tomato in the sauce, but at this particular restaurant the chopped meat arrives at the table swimming in a pool of broth that is slightly sweet and vinegary, spiced with cayenne and black pepper. We had read the reviews before our excursion here, and knew to ask for the brown, or bark, of the meat...the slightly charred exterior, which lends such flavor to the whole. I like it chopped coarsely, so asked for "coarse chopped brown". The chopped barbecue plate comes with slaw, fries and hush puppies; I asked to substitute baked beans for the fries, and this was no problem. Doug had the large chopped barbecue tray, as he wanted more meat. The tray only comes with the slaw and hush puppies, not the fries. The coarsely chopped brown is a mix of deliciously caramelized bark and moist meat, just slightly smokey, with a good pork flavor. The coleslaw is interesting...what they call red slaw here, which refers to the color of the vinegar based sauce the cabbage is in, not the color of the cabbage itself. We both like this slaw very much. Like the barbecue broth, it's a little sweet and a little spicy, with a nice vinegar bite. The hush puppies are little torpedo shaped morsels, smaller than the ones we've had elsewhere. Doug thought the size went against them, as the interior tends to be a bit creamier when they're a little larger, as they don't dry out. I was more fond of them than he, and appreciated the perfectly fried quality they had...there was not a speck of grease in the cardboard container that held them. We both liked the baked beans very much, which were simple and just a little sweet. The portions here are not impressive, and Doug could have eaten another serving of the meat right there. My more modest appetite was appeased. One thing I like about this barbecue is that it doesn't leave you feeling like you've eaten too much of a bad thing. There's no heavy, overly sweet, thick sauce to load you down, and the vinegar slaw is light and refreshing. As we talked about it in the car after leaving, we agreed that we don't find this barbecue particularly cravable for some reason, but if we lived here, we'd be dining at Lexington Barbecue often.