Allen & Son Barbecue

(919) 942-7576

If you are looking for real Southern hospitality, and real North Carolina BBQ, don’t miss out on Allen & Son located just outside of Chapel Hill, NC. Sitting on the side of a tiny two-lane highway, with faded old signs out front, it looks like a BBQ treat. And gosh darn is it good!

The first clue is the wondrous smell of smoke that wafts through the air while you are just standing in the parking lot. Wander out back, and you will see owner and pit boss Keith Allen tending to a home-built double pit. Built 15 years ago, the pit is well-seasoned from years of cooking pork over hickory. The wood comes from the nearby woods, where Keith continually brings home dumptruck loads of hickory rounds to split. It takes about a half cord of hickory per smoking session!

Talk to Keith, and you can hear the passion in his voice for the barbecue he tends. “I don’t know how people can think to cook without wood,” he says. “The interaction between the wood and pork is what makes the whole thing work.” When asked his thoughts on the current trend to legislate wood-fired barbecue restaurants out of existence, Keith replies, “Ya know, people ought to just tend to their own affairs, and let their neighbors be.”

Walk inside Allen & Son, and take a step back in time. Simple tables and lots of duck paintings on the wall. In fact, just getting by the desserts board (yes, they are all homemade) is a piece of work. There are so many, and they all sound good. More about that later!

Sit down, and the waitress will bring a massive carafe of sweet tea, a North Carolina BBQ staple. The fare is all good, served simply, but with a lot of flavor! The pork is done perfectly, very moist and tender, with a gentle hint of hickory smoke. You can get it served as a sandwich topped with cole slaw (the spicy slaw has excellent crunch) or as a plate with baked beans and hush puppies (crunchy outside, soft and moist inside). Don’t pass up the fried okra which is fresh as can be, with a light, crispy batter. Everything tastes homemade because it is. Man, is it good!

Okay, when you eat in a place like this, there is rarely room for dessert. But this time, save a little space. All the pies and ice cream are made right in the kitchen, and the waitress ain’t lying when she says they are all good. Cream cheese pound cake, blueberry pie, pecan pie, and the list goes on. Here is the secret, though. Order up not one, but two slices of pie. Then, take a bite of chocolate pie (real chocolate here, no pudding) and mix it with a bite of coconut chess pie. It will taste like a homemade Mounds Bar! It may be the only way to be sinful in North Carolina without having to go to church to repent...

My dinner partner and BBQ aficionado Mark Rasner, would give you his opinion, but his mouth is prolly still full of PIE!!!!

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