2009 has been kind to me thus far. After a bit of a rocky start I managed to stumble into a sweet job (Consultant at Cardinal Solutions Group) which frees my mind to concentrate on more important things…like barbecue. Before I moved down to C-town, I remember JB telling me about the Great Burger Tour of 2008. Our group of friends would pick a new burger joint and get together for lunch there every week. After a thorough combing of Charlotte’s finest establishments, the only conclusive result was this: Bar-B-Q King has the worst burgers in Charlotte. Oh well.
In 2009 we’re going to do things right. I proposed another Tour, except this time with barbecue. There are plenty of candidates throughout the greater Charlotte area and we intend to hit up most of them. Our current Quest results stand thusly:

Week 1: Bubba’s BBQ (4400 Sunset Rd)

• Q: pretty decent, a little dry as I recall, decent sauce (ketchup/vinegar combo base)
• Fixins: no Brunswick stew (-1); hushpuppies decent
• Other: quick service; nice staff

Week 2: Art’s Barbecue and Deli (900 E Morehead St)

• Q: bad, almost as bad as the crap you get at a baseball game or a school cafeteria (sorry Short); sauce already on the Q was dreck and the stuff on the table did little to cover it up
• Fixins: decent selection, don’t think they had Brunswick stew though (-1); hushpuppies decent
• Other: sweet location and quick service

Week 3: Elliot’s BBQ (Windsor Square Shopping Center, Matthews)

• Q: Outstanding, especially considering the fact that this place is in a strip mall. There are 4 different sauces to choose from and the Hot Vinegar is the stuff!
• Fixins: good selection, and they have Brunswick stew (!) although it was a little watery for my taste
• Other: If you mentioned a TV ad then you got buy one, get one free on any BBQ plate. How can you beat that? The atmosphere was probably the one drawback to this place…Short compared the ambiance to that of a library.

Week 4: Old Hickory House (6538 N Tryon St)

• Q: Very good. Unfortunately I made the rookie mistake of ordering a barbecue sandwich instead of a plate so I’m factoring in other people’s opinions here as well. The sauce was delicious, but I prefer a little more spice and/or vinegar
• Fixins: Brunswick stew = A+; Hush puppies = A (awesome texture, but too sweet for me)
• Other: The atmosphere at Old hickory House cannot go unmentioned in any review. You walk in and immediately notice how dark and smokey it is. Part of that comes from the unsegregated smoking section and part is from the exposed brick wood-fired grill right out in the open dining room. This is a rarity and actually technically illegal (according to Short). Since the restaurant was built before the legislation, though, it got grandfathered in. Long live Old Hickory House!!

Future updates to come.